Medicare Enrolled
Dr. Mario Cole, MD
Internal Medicine · Salinas, CA
Practice pattern: Clinical Cardiology
— Primarily office-based clinical cardiology
Low-engagement
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. Cole 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. Cole
Dr. Mario Cole is an internal medicine specialist in Salinas, CA, with 20 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Cole performed 1,148 Medicare services across 878 unique beneficiaries.
Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Cole received a total of $10,369 from 37 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 398 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common in internal medicine. 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. Cole 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.
✓ 20 years in practice
▲ Top 28% volume in CA
$10,369 industry payments
Medicare Practice Summary
Medicare Utilization ↗1,148
Medicare services
Top 28% in CA for internal medicine
878
Unique beneficiaries
$91
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · How to read this →
~57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. |
240 | $102 | $250 |
| Critical care, first 30-74 min Emergency medical care for a critically ill or injured patient lasting between 30 and 74 minutes. This service involves direct patient care and medical decision making to stabilize the patient. |
187 | $171 | $651 |
| 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. |
131 | $63 | $167 |
| Hospital follow-up visit, moderate complexity Follow-up hospital visit for an existing patient involving moderate medical decision making. The visit requires at least 35 minutes of time spent on the date of service. |
104 | $65 | $173 |
| Pulmonary gas exchange test A test to examine how well the lungs exchange gases. |
61 | $7 | $24 |
| Lung volume test using sensors A test that measures the amount of air in the lungs using sensors. |
57 | $10 | $32 |
| Office visit, established patient, complex (40-54 min) An office or outpatient visit for an existing patient lasting between 40 and 54 minutes. This level of service is determined by the total time spent on the date of the encounter. |
57 | $152 | $336 |
| 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. |
53 | $125 | $382 |
| Spirometry test before and after medication A test that measures the amount of air you can exhale and the speed of your breathing before and after taking a medication. |
51 | $8 | $34 |
| Telephone medical discussion, 11-20 minutes A phone conversation with a physician lasting between 11 and 20 minutes. |
39 | $64 | $167 |
| Hospital follow-up visit, high complexity Subsequent hospital inpatient or observation care for an existing patient involving high-level medical decision making, with at least 50 minutes total time on the date of the encounter. |
31 | $98 | $248 |
| New patient office visit (30-44 min) An initial office visit for a new patient lasting between 30 and 44 minutes. This code is used when the total time spent on the date of the encounter falls within this range. |
30 | $70 | $247 |
| Initial hospital admission, moderate complexity Initial hospital inpatient or observation care for a new patient involving moderate-level medical decision making, with at least 55 minutes total time on the date of the encounter. |
29 | $109 | $323 |
| Hospital follow-up visit, low complexity Follow-up hospital visit for an established patient with straightforward or low-level medical decision making. The visit requires at least 25 minutes of time spent on the day of service. |
29 | $42 | $96 |
| Bronchial irrigation and suction for cell collection This procedure uses an endoscope to flush and suction the lung airways in order to collect cells for testing. |
20 | $62 | $775 |
| New patient office visit, complex (60-74 min) | 15 | $189 | $480 |
| Sedation by physician, initial 15 minutes Administration of a drug to induce depression of consciousness by the physician performing a procedure. This code covers the initial 15 minutes of sedation for patients aged 5 years or older. |
14 | $10 | $139 |
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.
Industry Payment Transparency
Open Payments through 2024 ↗$10,369
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $1,481/year across 7 years
Top 10% in CA for internal medicine
A higher payment rank reflects disclosed industry relationships (consulting, research, speaking) common among subspecialists — not wrongdoing.
37
Companies
398
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
$10,292 (99.3%)
Speaking / Promotional
Speaker programs, honoraria, and industry-sponsored educational events
$77 (0.7%)
Payment trend by year
Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
2024
$2,007
2023
$1,108
2022
$1,050
2021
$448
2020
$472
2019
$1,183
2018
$4,099
Payments by company (2024)
Consulting
Speaking
Meals & Travel
Research
Noah Medical Corporation
$1,189
GlaxoSmithKline, LLC.
$233
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
$151
GENZYME CORPORATION
$96
Amgen Inc.
$71
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$66
Philips North America LLC
$45
Mylan Specialty L.P.
$31
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc
$31
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
$29
Boston Scientific Corporation
$24
Grifols USA, LLC
$22
Pulmonx Corporation
$19
Top 3 companies account for 78.4% of 2024 payments
All-time payments by company (2018-2024) ›
GlaxoSmithKline, LLC.
$2,951
Pinnacle Biologics, Inc
$2,244
Noah Medical Corporation
$1,189
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
$627
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$479
Grifols USA, LLC
$363
GENZYME CORPORATION
$271
Genentech USA, Inc.
$190
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
$183
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
$167
Veran Medical Technologies, Inc.
$150
Electromed, Inc.
$148
Philips Electronics North America Corporation
$125
Amgen Inc.
$111
ABBVIE INC.
$110
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
$102
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.
$98
Olympus America Inc.
$93
SANOFI-AVENTIS U.S. LLC
$77
Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.
$69
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc
$64
LivaNova USA, Inc.
$55
Mylan Specialty L.P.
$55
Medtronic Vascular, Inc.
$54
AbbVie Inc.
$53
Circassia Pharmaceuticals Inc
$53
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.
$49
Philips North America LLC
$45
Baxter Healthcare
$26
Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$25
Boston Scientific Corporation
$24
United Therapeutics Corporation
$23
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation
$23
Harmony Biosciences LLC
$22
Pulmonx Corporation
$19
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company
$17
Allergan, Inc.
$17
Top 3 companies account for 61.6% of all-time payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
(8874) inCourage · AIRSUPRA · ANORO · ANORO ELLIPTA · APTIOM · AREXVY · ASMANEX · AUSTEDO · Adempas · AirDuo Digihaler · BEVESPI AEROSPHERE · BOSENTAN TABLETS · BREO · BREZTRI · BROVANA · CHARTIS CATHETER · CINQAIR · CareLink Express · DUPIXENT · Enbrel · Esbriet · FASENRA · GALAXY · GIAPREZA · Hillrom - Life 2000 Ventilation System · KEYTRUDA · LONHALA MAGNAIR · Letairis · NUCALA · Nuedexta · OFEV · OPSUMIT · ORENITRAM · Olympus · Photofrin · Prolastin-C · Prolastin-C Liquid · QULIPTA · Respiratoriy Care Undiv · Reusable Vest · Reveal LINQ · SEEBRI · SMARTVEST · SPIRIVA · SPIRIVA RESPIMAT · STIOLTO RESPIMAT · SYMBICORT · Single Use Aspiration Needle · Spin · Spiration Valve System · TAGRISSO · TEFLARO · TEZSPIRE · TRELEGY ELLIPTA · TUDORZA PRESSAIR · Tandem Heart kit · Tandem Life - ProtekDuo kit · Trilogy 100 · UBRELVY · UPTRAVI · Utibron · Wakix · WaveWriter Alpha Prime 16 · Wellcentive Undiv · XARELTO · XOLAIR · Xolair · YUPELRI · Yupelri
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 (99%) are for meals and travel — low-value interactions that are common across virtually all practicing physicians. Total industry engagement is in the top 10% for internal medicine in CA.
Geographic Context
Internal medicine physicians within 10 mi
162
Per 100K population
37.2
County median income
$94,486
Nearest hospital
SALINAS VALLEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
0.0 mi
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. Cole is a clinical cardiology specialist, with above-average Medicare volume (top 28% in CA), with low-engagement industry engagement in the top 10% of CA peers, with 20 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. Cole experienced with office visit, established patient (30-39 min)?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. Cole performed 240 office visit, established patient (30-39 min) 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. Cole receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. Cole received a total of $10,369 from 37 companies across 398 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. Cole's costs compare to other internal medicine physicians in Salinas?
Dr. Cole's average Medicare payment per service is $91. 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. Cole) 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 →
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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.
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