Thomas Tsai, MD
Surgery · Boston, MANPI 1053636217
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (59.1%), speaking fees and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Johnson & Johnson accounts for 62.4% of it on its own, with 4 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $11,954, 5.5 times the $2,158 reported in 2019. Among surgery clinicians in MA with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 32 payments — averaging $604.71 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Johnson & Johnson$12K
- Covidien LP$4K
- Intuitive Surgical$2K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$1K
- Dexcom, Inc.$23
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$11,43559%
- Speaking & faculty fees$3,60019%
- Travel & lodging$1,6348%
- Food & beverage$6814%
- Education$2,00010%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 9 | $12,065 |
| Covidien LP | 10 | $4,079 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 5 | $2,158 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 7 | $1,025 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
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.
- Sonicision$3,600
- Da Vinci Surgical System$2,000
- LINX Reflux Management System$965
- Signia$362
How this compares
$19,351 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 694 surgery providers in Massachusetts.
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 surgery in Boston
- Michael TarnoffBoston$1.4M
- Omar KudsiBoston$886K
- Ankit MehtaBoston$278K
- Johannes KratzBoston$79K
- Ian BehrBoston$56K
- Parsia VagefiBoston$53K
- Abdelrahman NimeriBoston$50K
- Denise GeeBoston$40K
- Matthew HutterBoston$37K
- Barbara BlancoBoston$36K
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.