William Brinkman, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Plano, TXNPI 1902950983
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (36.4%), speaking fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 13 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 44.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $94,787 and has fallen 53.7% since, to $43,865 in 2025. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) 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 348 payments — averaging $763.11 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$118K
- Bolton Medical Inc$45K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$44K
- Artivion, Inc.$36K
- Edwards Lifesciences$19K
- Maquet Cardiovascular L.L.C.$2K
- plus $1K from 7 others
Across 231 payments — averaging $3923.39 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.
- Artivion, Inc.$274K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$232K
- Medtronic$199K
- Edwards Lifesciences$109K
- Bolton Medical Inc$54K
- Abbott$31K
- plus $7K from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$96,67636%
- Speaking & faculty fees$93,34035%
- Travel & lodging$55,16821%
- Food & beverage$14,3055%
- Education$6,0722%
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) | 125 | $118,450 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 48 | $44,810 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 73 | $43,671 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 40 | $36,382 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 44 | $19,233 |
| Maquet Cardiovascular L.L.C. | 1 | $2,000 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 5 | $359 |
| Abbott | 7 | $302 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $135 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $122 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $48 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $17 |
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.
- Avalus$49,355
- TREO ABDOMINAL STENT-GRAFT SYSTEM$15,948
- Valiant Navion$15,875
- Valiant Captivia$14,875
- RELAY THORACIC STENT-GRAFT WITH PLUS DELIVERY SYSTEM$14,672
- Endurant$14,620
- TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$12,459
- Cardiac non-SynerGraft$10,877
- Conformable TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$9,246
- GORE TAG Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis$9,225
- AMDS-Ascyrus Medical$8,918
- Grafts$7,303
- ARCEVO LSA$7,200
- EXCLUDER AAA Endoprosthesis$6,491
- Mosaic$4,729
- Product in Development$3,727
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$3,415
- Relay Grafts$2,366
- ON-X AORTIC HEART VALVE WITH CONFORM-X SEWING RING AND EXTENDED HOLDER$2,000
- iCAST$2,000
How this compares
$265,561 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 424 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prednisone | 13 | $15 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Plano
- Gary JettPlano$277K
- Katherine HarringtonPlano$182K
- Timothy GeorgePlano$146K
- Gregory MessnerPlano$112K
- Michael MackPlano$97K
- Fred LeePlano$92K
- Robert SmithPlano$55K
- Faraz KerendiAustin$906K
- Robert HebelerDallas$723K
- Michael ReardonHouston$713K
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.