William Hiesinger, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Palo Alto, CANPI 1093913667
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $1,300 of the $1,905 with a category attached, or 68.2%. Abbott accounts for 87.0% of it on its own, with 3 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,516 and has fallen 95.3% since, to $71 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $4,430.
Across 11 payments — averaging $173.18 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$2K
- Paragonix Technologies, Inc.$122
- Abiomed$71
- Livanova USA, Inc.$54
Across 172 payments — averaging $4729.32 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.
- Edwards Lifesciences$544K
- Abbott$150K
- Medtronic$119K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,30068%
- Food & beverage$60532%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 8 | $1,658 |
| Paragonix Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $71 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $54 |
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.
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev$1,408
- SherpaPak$122
- LIVERguard$122
- LUNGguard$122
- BaroGuard$122
- PancreasPak$122
- CARDIOMEMS$115
How this compares
$1,905 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 546 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in California.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in California →
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.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Palo Alto
- Chawannuch RuaengsriPalo Alto$188K
- Vincent GaudianiPalo Alto$101K
- Leah BackhusPalo Alto$74K
- Joseph ShragerPalo Alto$56K
- Thomas FogartyPortola Valley$3.7M
- Steven GundryPalm Springs$1.6M
- Armin KiankhooySaint Helena$941K
- Ara KlijianMurrieta$916K
- Gregory FontanaThousand Oaks$875K
- Gansevoort DunningtonSaint Helena$764K
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.