Medicare Enrolled
Dr. Bruce Nicholson, M.D.
Pain Medicine · Allentown, PA
Practice pattern: Clinical Cardiology
— Primarily office-based clinical cardiology
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. Nicholson 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. Nicholson
Dr. Bruce Nicholson is a pain medicine specialist in Allentown, PA, with 20 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Nicholson performed 927 Medicare services in 2023. These records do not provide a deduplicated patient total.
Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Nicholson received a total of $107,226 from 35 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 309 payment records. A record can group multiple payments. These transfers are publicly reported through CMS Open Payments. Disclosure alone does not establish their effect on care. A reliable breakdown by payment category is not available in this snapshot. Patients may wish to discuss these relationships with their provider.
The Data Coverage level for Dr. Nicholson 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 of NPI registration
▲ Top 36% volume in PA
$107,226 industry payments
Medicare Practice Summary — 2023
Medicare Utilization ↗927
Medicare services
Top 36% in PA for pain medicine
Not available
Unique patients (not deduplicated)
$108
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · How to read this →
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. |
378 | $89 | $213 |
| Injection into lower spine canal with imaging guidance A procedure where a substance is injected into the lower part of the spinal canal. The injection is performed using imaging guidance to ensure accurate placement. |
109 | $72 | $475 |
| 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. |
77 | $119 | $316 |
| Telephone medical discussion, 11-20 minutes A phone conversation with a physician lasting between 11 and 20 minutes. |
50 | $65 | $180 |
| Spine facet joint injection with imaging guidance, single level An injection is administered into a single facet joint of the lower or sacral spine while using imaging guidance to ensure accurate placement. |
33 | $91 | $460 |
| Facet joint injection, second level, with imaging guidance An injection into a lower or sacral spine facet joint using imaging guidance for the second level treated. |
31 | $51 | $231 |
| Spinal neurostimulator electrode insertion A procedure to place an electrode array into the spine through the skin. The electrode is used to deliver electrical stimulation to the nervous system. |
29 | $255 | $3,180 |
| Facet joint nerve destruction, additional joint This procedure uses imaging guidance to destroy nerves in an additional lower or sacral spinal facet joint. |
29 | $42 | $326 |
| Spinal drug pump reprogramming and refill A physician electronically adjusts the settings of a spinal drug infusion pump and refills its medication reservoir. |
27 | $33 | $255 |
| Facet joint nerve destruction, single joint A procedure to destroy nerves in a single lower or sacral spinal facet joint using imaging guidance to target pain signals. |
27 | $140 | $804 |
| 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. |
27 | $62 | $146 |
| Minimally invasive spine decompression, lower spine A minimally invasive procedure to remove bone from the lower spine to relieve pressure on nerve tissue, guided by imaging and accessed through the skin. |
25 | $697 | $2,525 |
| Spinal injection with imaging guidance A procedure where medication is injected into the middle or upper part of the spinal canal. Imaging technology is used to guide the needle to the correct location. |
25 | $80 | $485 |
| Injection of anesthetic or steroid into sacroiliac joint with imaging guidance This procedure involves injecting an anesthetic or steroid medication into the joint connecting the lower spine and hip bone. Imaging guidance is used to ensure accurate placement of the injection. |
21 | $61 | $1,175 |
| Spinal neurostimulator generator insertion Surgical placement of a spinal neurostimulator generator or receiver device. |
15 | $169 | $1,945 |
| Sacral spine nerve root injection with imaging guidance An injection of anesthetic and/or steroid medication into a sacral spine nerve root. The procedure uses imaging guidance to ensure accurate placement. |
13 | $86 | $508 |
| Insertion of programmable spinal drug infusion pump A surgical procedure to implant a programmable pump into the spinal canal for delivering medication. |
11 | $206 | $1,425 |
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. These counts do not measure clinical quality or years of experience.
1.2% high complexity
25.0% medium
73.8% routine
Industry Payment Transparency
Open Payments through 2024 ↗$107,226
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $15,318/year across 7 years
Top 1% in PA for pain medicine
A higher payment rank reflects disclosed industry relationships (consulting, research, speaking) common among subspecialists — not wrongdoing.
35
Companies
309
Payment records
Payments are publicly reported; disclosure does not establish legality · Not evidence of wrongdoing · How to interpret →
Payment categories are unavailable while the source breakdown is being rebuilt. Company and year totals do not identify how much belongs to each category.
Payment trend by year
Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
2024
$1,811
2023
$4,319
2022
$5,198
2021
$9,391
2020
$19,505
2019
$16,211
2018
$50,793
Payments by company (2024)
Medtronic, Inc.
$1,558
Vertos Medical, Inc.
$148
Stryker Corporation
$105
Top 3 companies account for 100.0% of 2024 payments
All-time payments by company (2018-2024) ›
Medtronic USA, Inc.
$62,666
Medtronic, Inc.
$15,947
Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.
$15,546
Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
$4,140
Lilly USA, LLC
$3,325
Myovant Sciences Inc.
$2,050
GRT US Holding, Inc.
$1,349
Vertos Medical, Inc.
$420
PFIZER INC.
$260
Stryker Corporation
$172
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
$169
Vertiflex, Inc.
$166
PAINTEQ LLC
$158
Boston Scientific Corporation
$120
Averitas Pharma Inc.
$95
Spinal Simplicity, LLC
$88
Nevro Corp.
$77
Salix Pharmaceuticals, a division of Bausch Health US, LLC
$61
Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.
$57
Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.
$51
Daiichi Sankyo Inc.
$34
Assertio Therapeutics, Inc.
$29
Merz North America, Inc.
$29
Abbott Laboratories
$29
Amgen Inc.
$25
UCB, Inc.
$20
BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc.
$19
Almatica Pharma LLC
$19
Flexion Therapeutics, Inc.
$18
Radius Health, Inc.
$17
ABBVIE INC.
$17
TerSera Therapeutics LLC
$15
Kaleo, Inc.
$15
BIODELIVERY SCIENCES INTERNATIONAL, INC.
$13
Saol Therapeutics Inc.
$12
Top 3 companies account for 87.8% of all-time payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
ADAPTIVESTIM · AUTOFILL · BELBUCA · BOTOX · BUNAVAIL 2.1 mg 30-count box · Cimzia · DePuy Synthes Advantage · Enbrel · Evzio · GENERAL PAIN MANAGEMENT · Gralise · HA MINUTEMAN G3-R · INFINION · INTELLIS · INTELLIS ADAPTIVESTIM · Infinion 16 · KYPHON Balloon Kyphoplasty · LYRICA · Lioresal Intrathecal (baclofen injection) · MILD DEVICE KIT · Morphabond ER · NAPRELAN · Nucynta · NucyntaER · OSTEOCOOL RF ABLATION · PAINTEQ · PRIALT · PROCLAIM · Proclaim Family of SCS IPGs · QUTENZA · Qutenza · RELISTOR ORAL · RESTORE · SPINEJACK · SYNCHROMED · SYNCHROMEDII · Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System · Superion ISS · TARGETSTIM · Tymlos · VANTA ADAPTIVESTIM · VECTRIS SURESCAN · Vanta · XTAMPZA · XTAMPZAER · Xeomin · Xtampza ER · XtampzaER · ZOHYDRO ER · ZTLido 30 POUCH in 1 CARTON 1 PATCH in 1 POUCH · Zilretta · Zipsor · mild Device Kit
Should you be concerned? Industry payments are disclosed through CMS Open Payments. Disclosure alone does not establish their purpose, legality, or effect on care. 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 →
Geographic Context
Pain medicines in nearby ZIP areas
23
County median income
$77,493
Nearest hospital to ZIP centroid (approximate)
LEHIGH VALLEY HOSPITAL
0.0 mi
0.0 mi
Data Sources
| Provider Registry | ✓ NPPES | NPPES snapshot; verify current record |
| Medicare Enrollment | ✓ PECOS | PECOS snapshot |
| Practice Data | ✓ Medicare Util. | Annual (CY lag) |
| Industry Payments | ✓ Open Payments | CY 2024 |
| Disciplinary History | — Not included | 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. Nicholson is a clinical cardiology specialist, with moderate Medicare volume, 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. Nicholson experienced with office visit, established patient (30-39 min)?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. Nicholson performed 378 office visit, established patient (30-39 min) services. These records cover Medicare fee-for-service activity, including eligible younger beneficiaries; they do not measure total practice volume or clinical quality.
Does Dr. Nicholson receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. Nicholson received a total of $107,226 from 35 companies across 309 payment records. A record can group multiple payments. These transfers are publicly disclosed through CMS Open Payments. Disclosure alone does not establish their legality or effect on care. 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. Nicholson's costs compare to other pain medicines in Allentown?
Dr. Nicholson's average Medicare payment per service is $108. 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. Nicholson) 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 the presence of registry, enrollment, activity or payment records, not verified experience or clinical quality. 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?
Source publication dates and the snapshots loaded on this site can differ. Rebuilding a page does not refresh its source records. Check the Medicare reporting year and the payment interval shown above; consult the linked official sources for newer releases and current registry details. See our data freshness policy →
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About this page
This page combines public CMS records with calculated summaries and explanatory procedure labels. These transformations are not verbatim federal records. Sources: 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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