Medicare Enrolled

Dr. James Hemp, M.D.

Thoracic Surgery · San Diego, CA
Practice pattern: Clinical Cardiology — Primarily office-based clinical cardiology
Speaking/Promotional
4033 3RD AVE, San Diego, CA 92103
6192975600
In practice since 2006 (20 years)
NPI: 1124006382 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. Hemp 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 →
Are you Dr. Hemp? Request a correction or review of any data shown here. Provider portal →

What this data tells you about Dr. Hemp

Dr. James Hemp is a thoracic surgery specialist in San Diego, CA, with 20 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Hemp performed 384 Medicare services across 360 unique beneficiaries.

Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Hemp received a total of $337,466 from 24 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 604 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common in thoracic surgery. The majority of payments are for speaking programs and promotional activities, reflecting participation in industry-sponsored events. Patients may wish to discuss these relationships with their provider.

The Data Coverage level for Dr. Hemp 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 19% volume in CA $337,466 industry payments

Medicare Practice Summary

Medicare Utilization ↗
384
Medicare services
Top 19% in CA for thoracic surgery
360
Unique beneficiaries
$252
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · How to read this →
~19 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
Telephone medical discussion, 11-20 minutes
A phone conversation with a physician lasting between 11 and 20 minutes.
109 $72 $248
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.
107 $137 $453
Initial hospital admission, high complexity
Initial hospital inpatient or observation care for a new patient involving high-level medical decision making, with at least 75 minutes total time on the date of the encounter.
31 $143 $520
Telephone medical discussion, 5-10 minutes
A phone conversation with a physician lasting between 5 and 10 minutes to discuss medical matters.
31 $49 $155
Office visit, established patient (10-19 min)
An office visit for an existing patient lasting 10 to 19 minutes. The visit involves medical evaluation and management of the patient's condition.
30 $47 $156
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement via femoral artery
A minimally invasive procedure to replace a diseased aortic heart valve using a catheter inserted through the skin and femoral artery.
20 $580 $2,694
Endoscopic vein harvest
A surgical procedure to remove a vein using an endoscope, which is a thin, lighted tube inserted through small incisions.
15 $12 $58
Coronary artery bypass graft, 1 artery
Surgical procedure to bypass a blocked coronary artery using a graft from another artery. This restores blood flow to the heart muscle.
14 $1,308 $6,696
Arterial thrombectomy, chest, neck, or brain
A procedure to remove a blood clot and part of an artery in the chest, neck, or brain.
14 $863 $3,996
Radical mitral valve reconstruction on heart-lung machine
Surgical repair of the mitral valve using a heart-lung machine to maintain circulation during the procedure.
13 $1,903 $8,707
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.
12.2% high complexity
0.0% medium
87.8% routine

Industry Payment Transparency

Open Payments through 2024 ↗
$337,466
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $48,209/year across 7 years
Top 2% in CA for thoracic surgery
A higher payment rank reflects disclosed industry relationships (consulting, research, speaking) common among subspecialists — not wrongdoing.
24
Companies
604
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.

Speaking / Promotional
Speaker programs, honoraria, and industry-sponsored educational events
$299,687 (88.8%)
Consulting
Expert advisory fees, typically reflecting recognized clinical expertise
$29,829 (8.8%)
Meals & Travel
Food, beverages, travel, and lodging — typically low-value
$7,950 (2.4%)

Payment trend by year

Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

2024
$553
2023
$773
2022
$13,623
2021
$41,576
2020
$74,590
2019
$107,730
2018
$98,621

Payments by company (2024)

Consulting
Speaking
Meals & Travel
Research
ATRICURE, INC.
$274
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
$161
ABIOMED
$44
W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
$39
HISTOSONICS,INC.
$35
Top 3 companies account for 86.6% of 2024 payments
All-time payments by company (2018-2024) ›
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
$299,687
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
$34,537
Medtronic Vascular, Inc.
$1,054
Medtronic, Inc.
$409
ATRICURE, INC.
$307
Abbott Laboratories
$283
AtriCure, Inc.
$205
HemoSonics LLC
$195
Cook Medical LLC
$163
ABIOMED
$149
Phadia US Inc.
$106
Maquet Cardiovascular U.S. Sales, L.L.C.
$53
Ethicon US, LLC
$42
W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
$39
HISTOSONICS,INC.
$35
LSI SOLUTIONS INC
$32
DAVOL INC.
$28
LivaNova USA, Inc.
$27
BAXTER HEALTHCARE
$25
ZOLL Services LLC (A/K/A ZOLL LifeCor Corp)
$24
Grifols USA, LLC
$20
CryoLife, Inc.
$16
Chiesi USA, Inc.
$15
Haemonetics Corporation
$13
Top 3 companies account for 99.4% of all-time payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
ARISTA AH · ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2) · ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOSPHERE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM · ATRICURE CRYOSURGICAL SYSTEM · AtriCure AtriClip LAA Exclusion System · CARPENTIER-EDWARDS PHYSIO ANNULOPLASTY RING WITH HOLDER - MITRAL · CLEVIPREX · COOK MEDICAL ZILVER PTX · COREVALVE EVOLUT R · Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT Magna Mitral Ease Pericardial Valve · Carpentier-Edwards Physio Annuloplasty Ring · Carpentier-Edwards Physio II Annuloplasty Ring · Cook Medical AAA · Cook Medical Thoracic · CoreValve Evolut · Da Vinci Surgical System · ECHELON FLEX Stapler · EDWARDS INTUITY Elite valve system · EDWARDS MC3 TRICUSPID ANNULOPLASTY RING · EDWARDS SAPIEN 3 TRANSCATHETER HEART VALVE (THV) · Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve · Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve · Endurant · Epi-Sense Guided Coagulation System with VisiTrax · Express · FLOSEAL · GORE TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis · HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev · INSPIRIS RESILIA AORTIC VALVE · INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve · ImmunoCAP · Impella · KONECT RESILIA · LifeVest · MITRACLIP · MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve · Mitra Clip system · Models · On-X · Perceval · QUANTRA QPLUS SYSTEM · RAM · SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM · TEG · Thrombate III · Ultra Vac · VASOVIEW · Valiant Captivia
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 →

The majority of payments (89%) are for speaking programs and promotional activities, which reflect participation in industry-sponsored educational or marketing events. This is common in thoracic surgery and does not inherently indicate bias, but patients may wish to be aware. Total industry engagement is in the top 2% for thoracic surgery in CA.

Looking for a thoracic surgery specialist in San Diego?
Compare thoracic surgerists in the San Diego area by procedure volume, costs, and industry payment transparency.
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Geographic Context

Thoracic surgerists within 10 mi
44
Per 100K population
1.3
County median income
$102,285
Nearest hospital
UC SAN DIEGO HEALTH HILLCREST - HILLCREST MED CTR
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. Hemp is a clinical cardiology specialist, with above-average Medicare volume (top 19% in CA), with speaking/promotional industry engagement in the top 2% 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. Hemp experienced with telephone medical discussion, 11-20 minutes?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. Hemp performed 109 telephone medical discussion, 11-20 minutes 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. Hemp receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. Hemp received a total of $337,466 from 24 companies across 604 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. Hemp's costs compare to other thoracic surgerists in San Diego?
Dr. Hemp's average Medicare payment per service is $252. 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. Hemp) 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 →