Walter Choate, MD
Sports Medicine · Jefferson, LANPI 1861682791
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (48.7%), travel and lodging and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 18 manufacturers reported payments, led by Arthrex at 32.5% of the total.
Across 138 payments — averaging $97.60 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$4K
- ALON Medical Technology$4K
- Stryker$2K
- Vericel Corporation$661
- Bioventus LLC$276
- Orthalign Inc$254
- plus $2K from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$5,53441%
- Food & beverage$6,56149%
- Education$1,37310%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | 61 | $4,374 |
| ALON Medical Technology | 18 | $4,125 |
| Stryker | 27 | $2,055 |
| Vericel Corporation | 8 | $661 |
| Bioventus LLC | 4 | $276 |
| Orthalign Inc | 2 | $254 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 2 | $225 |
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $223 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $206 |
| Ossur Americas, Inc. | 2 | $197 |
| Linvatec Corporation | 2 | $176 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 1 | $114 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $113 |
| Vertex | 1 | $103 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $95 |
| Hydrocision, Inc. | 1 | $82 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 1 | $66 |
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.
- MACI$509
- MAKO$275
- INSPACE$273
- BLUEPRINT PATIENT SPECIFIC INSTRUMENTATION$259
- ORTHALIGN PLUS$254
- Zilretta$250
- ALPHAVENT$164
- BioBrace 23mm$163
- Durolane$141
- CROSSFIRE$137
- Unloader One X$133
- Bone Anchors with Arthroscopic Delivery System$127
- Iovera$125
- OFIRMEV$114
- Comp Reverse Shoulder E$113
- Exogen Ultrasound Bone Healing System$108
- REUNION$101
- EXPAREL$101
How this compares
$13,469 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 82 sports medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Celecoxib | 79 | $1,137 |
| Methylprednisolone | 11 | $60 |
| Meloxicam | 14 | $23 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Jefferson
- Andrew GottschalkJefferson$45K
- David LeslieJefferson$4K
- Shannon GoodeJefferson$3K
- Olabode AgajaJefferson$2K
- Felix SavoieNew Orleans$1.4M
- Misty SuriNew Orleans$1.2M
- Michael ObrienNew Orleans$391K
- Brett CascioLake Charles$82K
- Brian GodshawNew Orleans$69K
- Michael LeddyAlexandria$44K
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.