Medicare Enrolled

Dr. Ron James, MD

Orthopedic Surgery · Sacramento, CA
Practice pattern: Clinical Cardiology — Primarily office-based clinical cardiology
Low-engagement
3160 FOLSOM BLVD, Sacramento, CA 95816
9167333333
In practice since 2006 (19 years)
NPI: 1437237104 verify on NPPES ↗
Very High
DATA COVERAGE
Data in 4 of 4 federal sources
Measures public federal data availability — not provider quality
Informational, not a quality rating. This page presents federal public records about Dr. James from CMS (NPPES, Open Payments, Medicare Provider Utilization, PECOS). It is not medical advice, an endorsement, or a judgment of clinical quality. Always consult the provider directly and a licensed clinician for medical decisions. Read methodology →
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What this data tells you about Dr. James

Dr. Ron James is an orthopedic surgery specialist in Sacramento, CA, with 19 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. James performed 1,240 Medicare services across 595 unique beneficiaries.

Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. James received a total of $52,411 from 29 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 181 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common in orthopedic surgery. Most payments are for meals and travel — low-value interactions common across virtually all practicing physicians. Patients may wish to discuss these relationships with their provider.

The Data Coverage level for Dr. James is Very High — reflecting how much public federal data is available about this provider. Patients are encouraged to use this data as one of several factors when choosing a healthcare provider.

✓ 19 years in practice ▲ Top 40% volume in CA $52,411 industry payments

Medicare Practice Summary

Medicare Utilization ↗
1,240
Medicare services
Top 40% in CA for orthopedic surgery
595
Unique beneficiaries
$84
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · How to read this →
~65 Medicare services per year of practice

Top procedures by volume

Ranked by number of services performed for Medicare patients. Avg. submitted charge is what the provider billed; avg. Medicare payment is what CMS paid.

Procedure Volume Avg. paid Avg. submitted
Steroid injection (triamcinolone)
A 10 mg injection of triamcinolone acetonide, a corticosteroid medication. This code specifies the drug and dosage administered.
540 $1 $30
Office visit, established patient (30-39 min)
A follow-up office visit for an existing patient lasting between 30 and 39 minutes. The visit involves medical evaluation and management of the patient's condition.
409 $84 $200
Joint injection, major joint
Removal of fluid from a large joint and/or injection of medication into the joint space.
120 $54 $185
New patient office visit (45-59 min)
An initial office visit for a new patient lasting between 45 and 59 minutes. This code covers the total time spent by the physician or qualified healthcare professional on the date of the encounter.
61 $107 $350
Office visit, established patient (20-29 min)
An office visit for an existing patient lasting between 20 and 29 minutes. The visit involves medical evaluation and management of the patient's condition.
25 $62 $150
Total hip replacement
Surgical procedure to replace the thigh bone and hip joint with artificial components.
20 $1,037 $4,200
Total knee replacement 19 $986 $4,137
Initial hospital admission, low complexity
Initial hospital inpatient or observation care for a new patient involving straightforward or low-level medical decision making, with at least 40 minutes total time on the date of the encounter.
19 $65 $454
Computer-assisted surgery for muscle and bone procedure
A surgical procedure involving muscles or bones that utilizes computer technology to assist with planning or execution.
14 $115 $500
Knee joint replacement
Surgical procedure to replace a knee joint with an artificial implant.
13 $915 $3,625
How to read this data: This reflects Medicare patients only (typically 65+). Payment amounts are what Medicare paid the provider, not your out-of-pocket cost. A higher procedure volume generally indicates more experience with that procedure.
5.3% high complexity
53.2% medium
41.5% routine

Industry Payment Transparency

Open Payments through 2024 ↗
$52,411
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $7,487/year across 7 years
Top 13% in CA for orthopedic surgery
A higher payment rank reflects disclosed industry relationships (consulting, research, speaking) common among subspecialists — not wrongdoing.
29
Companies
181
Individual payments
All payments are legal and publicly reported · Not evidence of wrongdoing · How to interpret →

Payment profile

Industry payments classified by relationship type. Not all payments are equal — research and consulting reflect different relationships than speaking programs or meals.

Meals & Travel
Food, beverages, travel, and lodging — typically low-value
$37,867 (72.2%)
Speaking / Promotional
Speaker programs, honoraria, and industry-sponsored educational events
$13,281 (25.3%)
Consulting
Expert advisory fees, typically reflecting recognized clinical expertise
$1,264 (2.4%)

Payment trend by year

Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

2024
$5,344
2023
$905
2022
$3,074
2021
$6,843
2020
$1,549
2019
$19,647
2018
$15,049

Payments by company (2024)

Consulting
Speaking
Meals & Travel
Research
restor3d, inc.
$1,744
Smith+Nephew, Inc.
$1,736
Maxx Orthopedics, Inc.
$723
International Life Sciences
$338
ORTHALIGN INC
$271
Insight Medical Systems, Inc.
$149
Bioventus LLC
$132
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.
$125
Stryker Corporation
$111
Abbott Laboratories
$15
Top 3 companies account for 78.6% of 2024 payments
All-time payments by company (2018-2024) ›
Lima USA, Inc.
$18,415
Ortho Development Corporation
$13,253
Smith+Nephew, Inc.
$7,521
Conformis, Inc.
$3,600
Stryker Corporation
$3,211
restor3d, inc.
$1,744
ENCORE MEDICAL, LP
$1,193
Maxx Orthopedics, Inc.
$723
NextStep Arthropedix, LLC
$344
International Life Sciences
$338
ORTHO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
$321
ORTHALIGN INC
$271
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.
$223
Miach Orthopaedics, Inc.
$177
Sanara MedTech Inc.
$166
Bioventus LLC
$151
Insight Medical Systems, Inc.
$149
Medtronic USA, Inc.
$143
Onkos Surgical, Inc.
$117
Exactech, Inc.
$88
Flexion Therapeutics, Inc.
$73
Smith & Nephew, Inc.
$43
Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc.
$42
Ethicon US, LLC
$28
Baudax Bio Inc.
$22
Baxter Healthcare
$17
Abbott Laboratories
$15
Orthogenrx Inc.
$13
Orthofix Medical, Inc.
$9
Top 3 companies account for 74.8% of all-time payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
660HD-E IMAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM · ACCOLADE · ALLOMATRIX · ANJESO · ANTHOLOGY · AQUAMANTYS · Alpine · Arvis · BKS TriMax · BONESCALPEL & SONICONE (O.R.) · Balanced Knee Revision System · Biomet Orthopak · Bone Anchors with Arthroscopic Delivery System · COLLAGENASE SANTYL · CORI · CellerateRx · DJO Surgical AltiVate Anatomic System · DJO Surgical AltiVate Reverse · ELEOS LIMB SALVAGE SYSTEM · EXOGEN ULTRASOUND BONE HEALING SYSTEM · Entrada · Exogen · FLEXBAND · FLOSEAL · GAMMA · GenVisc 850 · H-Max · HOFFMANN · Hip · Hip System · JOURNEY II · Journey II XR · LANTERN SURGICAL ASSISTANT · MAKO · Master SL · NAVIO · Navio Surgical System · ORTHALIGN PLUS · PICO7 · POLARSTEM · PROCLAIM · Physica · Physio-Stim · Polaris S.S. Spinal System · REAL INTELLIGENCE · REGENETEN · REGRANEX · Regeneten · SMR SHOULDER · Santyl · T2 · TRIATHLON · TRULIANT · VARIAX · VISIONAIRE · Zilretta · iNSitu Hip System · iTotal CR · iTotal Identity CR · iTotal PS · iUni
Should you be concerned? Payments from pharmaceutical and device companies are legal and common — 57% of U.S. physicians receive at least one. They often reflect legitimate consulting, research, or education. What matters is whether a recommended drug or device appears in your doctor's payment records. If so, consider asking your doctor about it. How to interpret this data →

Most payments (72%) are for meals and travel — low-value interactions that are common across virtually all practicing physicians.

Looking for an orthopedic surgery specialist in Sacramento?
Compare orthopedic surgeons in the Sacramento area by procedure volume, costs, and industry payment transparency.
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Geographic Context

Orthopedic surgeons within 10 mi
135
Per 100K population
8.5
County median income
$88,724
Nearest hospital
SUTTER MEDICAL CENTER, SACRAMENTO
0.0 mi

Data Sources

Provider Registry NPPES Weekly updates
Medicare Enrollment PECOS Monthly updates
Practice Data Medicare Util. Annual (CY lag)
Industry Payments Open Payments CY 2024
Disciplinary History — Not public N/A

This provider has data in 4 of 4 available federal datasets, with a Data Coverage level of Very High. This reflects how much public data is available about a provider. How we calculate this →

Summary

Dr. James is a clinical cardiology specialist, with moderate Medicare volume, with low-engagement industry engagement in the top 13% of CA peers, with 19 years of NPI registration.

This summary is auto-generated from federal data, describing data availability and patterns. Read our methodology →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dr. James experienced with steroid injection (triamcinolone)?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. James performed 540 steroid injection (triamcinolone) services. Research suggests that higher procedure volume is often associated with better outcomes, particularly for complex procedures. Note that Medicare data only captures patients aged 65 and older, so the total practice volume across all patients is likely higher.
Does Dr. James receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. James received a total of $52,411 from 29 companies across 181 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common among physicians — 57% of all U.S. physicians receive at least one industry payment. Patients may wish to ask their doctor about these relationships, especially if a recommended drug or device appears in the payment records.
How do Dr. James's costs compare to other orthopedic surgeons in Sacramento?
Dr. James's average Medicare payment per service is $84. Note that these figures represent what Medicare pays, not your out-of-pocket cost, which depends on your specific insurance plan and deductible. Procedure-level data above shows both what was submitted and what Medicare paid for each service type.
What does Data Coverage mean?
Data Coverage (currently Very High for Dr. James) measures how much public federal data is available about a provider. It is not a quality rating. A "Very High" or "High" level means the provider has data across multiple federal sources (NPPES, PECOS, Medicare Utilization, Open Payments), indicating a long track record of practice, Medicare participation, and industry disclosure. A "Low" or "Moderate" level may simply mean the provider is newer, does not see Medicare patients, or has not received any industry payments — none of which are inherently negative. Read our full methodology →
Is this data up to date?
Each data source has its own update cycle. Provider registry data (NPPES) is updated weekly. Medicare enrollment (PECOS) is updated monthly. Medicare practice data has a ~2 year lag — the most recent available is typically 2 years prior. Industry payment data (Open Payments) is published annually, usually in June, covering the prior calendar year. We display the data date prominently on each section so you always know how current it is. See our data freshness policy →
About this page

All data on this page is sourced verbatim from public federal records published by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): NPPES ↗, Open Payments ↗, Medicare Provider Utilization ↗, and PECOS. Publication is mandated by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (§6002 ACA, 42 U.S.C. §1320a-7h) and the Freedom of Information Act.

This page is not medical advice, an endorsement, a recommendation, or a quality rating. Data Coverage reflects data completeness — how much federal information exists for this provider — not clinical performance, patient outcomes, or quality of care. Always verify information directly with the provider and consult a licensed clinician before making medical decisions.

Provider corrections: Provider portal · Privacy questions: Privacy Policy · Terms: Terms of Use · Methodology: Methodology

Data Disclaimer — Data sourced from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), Open Payments program, Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data, and Provider Enrollment & Certification data (PECOS). Published under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This website is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by CMS, HHS, or the U.S. Government. Data may contain errors as reported to CMS by providers and reporting entities. Payments from industry are legal and do not indicate wrongdoing. Medicare data reflects only patients aged 65+ or those with qualifying disabilities. For corrections, contact CMS directly. This information does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as the sole basis for choosing a healthcare provider. Procedure descriptions use plain language and do not reference CPT® codes, which are copyrighted by the American Medical Association. Full methodology → · Report a data error → · Privacy policy →