William Kessler, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Austin, TXNPI 1013925585
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $17,184 of the $20,188 with a category attached, or 85.1%. 16 manufacturers reported payments, led by Abiomed at 32.4% of the total.
Across 212 payments — averaging $95.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abiomed$7K
- Medtronic$6K
- Abbott$5K
- Elutia, Inc.$903
- Edwards Lifesciences$604
- Bolton Medical Inc$357
- plus $1K from 10 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $15,158 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.
- Atricure, Inc.$61K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,00415%
- Food & beverage$17,18485%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abiomed | 65 | $6,550 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 64 | $5,953 |
| Abbott | 54 | $4,693 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 6 | $903 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 6 | $604 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 3 | $357 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 2 | $187 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $183 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 2 | $145 |
| Medinc Of Texas | 1 | $133 |
| Stryker | 3 | $118 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $118 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 1 | $108 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $94 |
| Preventice Services, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Haemonetics Corporation | 1 | $20 |
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.
- Impella$3,981
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$1,647
- HeartWare HVAD$1,196
- MC3 NAUTILUS(TM) ECMO OXYGENATOR$1,007
- ECM Patch,Pouch$903
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev$776
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$719
- CoreValve Evolut$637
- Epic$520
- CARDIOMEMS$470
- Gelweave$190
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$183
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$183
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$183
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist Device$160
- Avalus$157
- Relay Grafts$150
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$149
- Crescent Catheter$149
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$149
How this compares
$20,188 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th 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.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Austin
- Faraz KerendiAustin$906K
- Brannon HydeAustin$214K
- Jonathan YangAustin$178K
- Masahiro OnoAustin$119K
- Eric HoenickeAustin$61K
- Jeffrey McNeilAustin$49K
- Brendan DewanAustin$46K
- Robert HebelerDallas$723K
- Michael ReardonHouston$713K
- Danny RamzyHouston$527K
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.