Thomas Gleason, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Asheville, NCNPI 1134164239
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (51.3%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Abbott accounts for 65.6% of it on its own, with 9 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $9,817 and has fallen 81.5% since, to $1,812 in 2025.
Across 60 payments — averaging $209.99 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$8K
- Artivion, Inc.$2K
- Medtronic$1K
- Baxter Healthcare$200
- Bolton Medical Inc$165
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$96
- plus $122 from 4 others
Across 72 payments — averaging $6405.76 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Medtronic$300K
- Boston Scientific$71K
- Edwards Lifesciences$63K
- Abbott$18K
- Cook Research Incorporated$10K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6,45951%
- Travel & lodging$4,10633%
- Food & beverage$2,03516%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 31 | $8,264 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 4 | $2,466 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 12 | $1,286 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 4 | $200 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 3 | $165 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $96 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 1 | $41 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Medistim USA, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
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.
- Trifecta GT Tissue Heart Valve$3,896
- Mitra Clip system$1,957
- TENDYNE$1,699
- Freestyle$563
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$363
- Relay Plus$133
- Mosaic$105
How this compares
$12,599 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 132 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in North Carolina.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in North Carolina →
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.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Asheville
- Carsten SchroederAsheville$26K
- Mark GrohAsheville$12K
- Hyde RussellAsheville$8K
- Joseph RubelowskyRaleigh$2.2M
- Matthew HartwigDurham$406K
- Gregory SmaroffNew Bern$205K
- David HarpoleDurham$177K
- Carmelo MilanoLumberton$169K
- Walter ChitwoodGreenville$139K
- Michael MillChapel Hill$137K
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.