Vern Keller, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Lafayette, LANPI 1639176472
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (34.3%), consulting fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 46 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 59.0% of the total. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in LA 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 1,079 payments — averaging $365.06 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$232K
- Edwards Lifesciences$45K
- Stryker$42K
- Silk Road Medical, Inc.$17K
- Zimmer Biomet$16K
- Butterfly Network, Inc.$14K
- plus $26K from 40 others
Across 9 payments — averaging $17,998 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$157K
- Stryker$5K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$122,29931%
- Speaking & faculty fees$135,26634%
- Grants$1230%
- Travel & lodging$50,03713%
- Food & beverage$46,20912%
- Education$22,6006%
- Gifts$2,0941%
- Other$15,2724%
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.
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.
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$92,137
- CoreValve Evolut$89,007
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$31,288
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$18,249
- DALL-MILES$16,505
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent$15,934
- ENROUTE Enflate Transcarotid RX Balloon Dilatation Catheter$15,251
- COLORADO NEEDLE$14,888
- Butterfly iQ$14,394
- SternaLock Blu$9,182
- CMF & Thoracic Product Portfolio$6,000
- NA$4,664
- NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT$3,696
- Avalus$2,934
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$2,507
- Mosaic$2,140
- Octopus$2,059
- SternaLock 360$2,000
- MEDPOR$1,781
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$721
How this compares
$393,900 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 75 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Louisiana.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Louisiana →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mupirocin | 35 | $262 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Lafayette
- David AllieLafayette$666K
- Safi HaqLafayette$28K
- Mohamad AllamLafayette$6K
- Mitchell LirtzmanLafayette$2K
- Richard GitterMetairie$1.5M
- Emily CassidyBaton Rouge$1.3M
- Aditya BansalNew Orleans$140K
- Daniel BecklesLake Charles$80K
- Nicholas LeblancBaton Rouge$70K
- Sarah AhmadMonroe$58K
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.