Steven Wahlmeier, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Lincoln, NENPI 1104277128
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (44.2%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 15 manufacturers reported payments, led by Alphatec Spine, Inc at 36.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $3,616 and has fallen 94.4% since, to $204 in 2025.
Across 69 payments — averaging $129.60 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alphatec Spine, Inc$3K
- Stryker$1K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$1K
- Medtronic$989
- Synthes GmbH$888
- Seaspine Orthopedics Corporation$704
- plus $671 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,95744%
- Food & beverage$3,77242%
- Education$1,21414%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 8 | $3,221 |
| Stryker(2 entities) | 21 | $1,448 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 9 | $1,021 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 10 | $989 |
| Synthes GmbH | 1 | $888 |
| Seaspine Orthopedics Corporation | 7 | $704 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $144 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $105 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $84 |
| Paragon 28, Inc. | 1 | $80 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 4 | $79 |
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $72 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $65 |
| Linvatec Corporation | 1 | $30 |
| Amgen | 1 | $14 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- Other - Miscellaneous$2,826
- Mariner$548
- NewPort$416
- Atoll$416
- Sierra$416
- XIA 3$313
- CD HORIZON SPINAL SYSTEM$249
- GMRS$228
- MAZOR X SYSTEM$194
- NONE$165
- Trestle Luxe$159
- ES2$144
- TRITANIUM$144
- Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System$144
- SALVATION$143
- EXETER$122
- ADAPTIX INTERBODY SYSTEM WITH TITAN NANOLOCK SURFACE TECHNOLOGY$109
- MAKO$106
- Zilretta$105
How this compares
$8,943 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 155 orthopaedic surgery providers in Nebraska.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Methocarbamol | 129 | $1,528 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 76 | $680 |
| Methylprednisolone | 76 | $610 |
| Gabapentin | 90 | $463 |
| Pregabalin | 23 | $271 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 56 | $264 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 83 | $257 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 19 | $166 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 24 | $137 |
| Meloxicam | 28 | $123 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 21 | $75 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Lincoln
- Benjamin WoodheadLincoln$48K
- Matthew FreemanLincoln$30K
- Lukas HashemLincoln$25K
- David SamaniLincoln$22K
- Matthew ByingtonLincoln$10K
- Nickolas van RoekelLincoln$9K
- Dane ToddLincoln$9K
- Brandon SeifertLincoln$7K
- Todd SekundiakElkhorn$7.3M
- Heber CrockettKearney$4.2M
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.