Walter Chien
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology · Stockton, CANPI 1386615631
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (42.9%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Medtronic accounts for 78.1% of it on its own, with 20 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $12,899 and has fallen 77.3% since, to $2,932 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for clinical cardiac electrophysiology clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $26,911.
Across 261 payments — averaging $106.17 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$22K
- Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc.$3K
- Boston Scientific$1K
- Abbott$413
- Novo Nordisk$338
- Amgen$196
- plus $929 from 15 others
Across 27 payments — averaging $3489.15 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$92K
- Abbott$2K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$2,83410%
- Speaking & faculty fees$11,90043%
- Travel & lodging$5,09118%
- Food & beverage$7,88428%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 160 | $21,646 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 3 | $3,085 |
| Boston Scientific | 9 | $1,102 |
| Abbott | 5 | $413 |
| Novo Nordisk | 27 | $338 |
| Amgen | 11 | $196 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 7 | $136 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 6 | $124 |
| Pfizer | 7 | $122 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 7 | $120 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 5 | $84 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $75 |
| CSL Behring | 2 | $45 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $39 |
| Biocryst US Sales Co., LLC | 2 | $38 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $36 |
| Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $24 |
| Biocryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Novartis | 1 | $21 |
| AbbVie | 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.
- Arctic Front$978
- Reveal LINQ$698
- Watchman$621
- OPTIMIZER$353
- SelectSecure$253
- Micra$248
- Ensite Cardiac Mapping System$247
- Attain$146
- Azure$136
- WATCHMAN Access System$134
- LINQ II$119
- Amplia MRI$100
How this compares
$27,709 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 290 clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in California.
See all clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in California →
Other clinical cardiac electrophysiology in Stockton
- Shephal DoshiSanta Monica$2.1M
- Jonathan HsuSan Diego$1.2M
- Leslie SaxonLos Angeles$1.1M
- Rahul BhardwajLoma Linda$935K
- Nicholas Olsonla Jolla$801K
- Jonathan DukesVentura$775K
- Brett GidneySanta Barbara$756K
- John Rogersla Jolla$738K
- Rajesh BankerNewport Beach$538K
- Rahul DoshiLos Angeles$469K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.