Valentin Almendarez, MD
Obstetrics & Gynecology · San Antonio, TXNPI 1326037615
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by education: $148,000 of the $215,163 with a category attached, or 68.8%. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 84.9% of it on its own, with 12 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $52,522 and has fallen 59.0% since, to $21,553 in 2025. Among obstetrics & gynecology clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 286 payments — averaging $752.32 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$183K
- Meditrina$27K
- Alliance Partners LLC$5K
- Gynesonics, Inc.$381
- AbbVie$229
- Caldera Medical, Inc$26
- plus $111 from 7 others
Across 201 payments — averaging $2532.86 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.
- Exeltis, USA Inc.$276K
- AbbVie$233K
- Merck$500
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$27,10013%
- Speaking & faculty fees$5000%
- Travel & lodging$24,53011%
- Food & beverage$14,4147%
- Education$148,00069%
- Gifts$400%
- Entertainment$5800%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 243 | $182,693 |
| Meditrina | 5 | $27,100 |
| Alliance Partners LLC | 17 | $4,623 |
| Gynesonics, Inc. | 5 | $381 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 8 | $229 |
| Caldera Medical, Inc | 1 | $26 |
| Exeltis, USA Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Acessa Health Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $18 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $17 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $16 |
| Covidien LP | 1 | $14 |
| Allotrope Medical, Inc | 1 | $7 |
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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$180,628
- aveta$10,000
- Aveta System$5,000
- NAKOMA CERVICAL SYSTEM$3,849
- Swannshidi$2,700
- SONATA SONOGRAPHY-GUIDED TRANSCERVICAL FIBROID ABLATION SYSTEM$270
- Orilissa$115
How this compares
$215,163 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 3,099 obstetrics & gynecology providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Estradiol | 39 | $1,058 |
| Medroxyprogesterone Acetate | 20 | $431 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 24 | $257 |
| Oxybutynin Chloride ErOxybutynin Chloride | 29 | $243 |
| Norethindrone-E.Estradiol-Iron | 11 | $102 |
| Ibuprofen | 26 | $101 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other obstetrics & gynecology in San Antonio
- Henry Garza IiiSan Antonio$258K
- Camilo GonimaSan Antonio$203K
- Paulina RamirezSan Antonio$51K
- Paula BilicaSan Antonio$41K
- Devin GarzaAustin$2M
- Shawn TassoneAustin$1.3M
- Dale StovallDallas$590K
- Karyn-Anne CumberbatchMissouri City$452K
- Robert AsgharianEl Paso$366K
- Catherine HansenWebster$357K
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.