Medicare Enrolled
Dr. Alexander Postalian, M.D.
Interventional Cardiology · Houston, TX
Practice pattern: Cardiac Imaging
— Practice with significant diagnostic imaging and stress testing
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. Postalian 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. Postalian?
Request a correction or review of any data shown here. Provider portal →
What this data tells you about Dr. Postalian
Dr. Alexander Postalian is an interventional cardiology specialist in Houston, TX, with 12 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Postalian performed 2,023 Medicare services across 1,434 unique beneficiaries.
Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Postalian received a total of $35,592 from 59 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 786 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common in interventional cardiology. 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. Postalian is Very High — reflecting how much public federal data is available about this provider. This is not a quality rating. Patients are encouraged to use this data as one of several factors when choosing a healthcare provider.
✓ 12 years in practice
▲ 2,023 Medicare services
$35,592 industry payments
Medicare Practice Summary
Medicare Utilization ↗2,023
Medicare services
Bottom 46% in TX for interventional cardiology
1,434
Unique beneficiaries
$188
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · Not a quality rating · How to read this →
~169 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regadenoson injection (Lexiscan) for heart stress test An injection of regadenoson, a medication used to stress the heart during diagnostic testing. |
349 | $47 | $74 |
| 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. |
322 | $94 | $170 |
| Electrocardiogram (EKG), 12-lead A standard heart rhythm test using at least 12 leads to record electrical activity. A healthcare provider interprets the results and provides a written report. |
239 | $11 | $33 |
| Exercise or drug-induced heart stress test with ECG A heart stress test performed using exercise or medication while monitoring the electrocardiogram under physician supervision and review. |
142 | $52 | $145 |
| Rubidium rb-82, diagnostic, per study dose, up to 60 millicuries | 123 | $214 | $284 |
| Nuclear stress test with CT scan A nuclear medicine imaging test that evaluates blood flow in the heart muscle at rest and during stress, performed alongside a concurrent CT scan. |
117 | $1,923 | $3,026 |
| PET scan of heart muscle blood flow A nuclear medicine imaging test that uses positron emission tomography (PET) to evaluate blood flow within the heart muscle. |
117 | $144 | $229 |
| 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. |
111 | $64 | $88 |
| 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. |
99 | $95 | $126 |
| Ultrasound of head and neck blood flow, bilateral An ultrasound exam that uses sound waves to visualize and assess blood flow in the vessels of both the head and the neck. |
46 | $148 | $335 |
| 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. |
46 | $10 | $30 |
| External EKG monitoring, 8-15 days Continuous external electrocardiogram recording and review over a period of 8 to 15 days to monitor heart rhythm. |
45 | $21 | $35 |
| Continuous external EKG monitoring, 8-15 days This procedure involves recording heart rhythm continuously using an external EKG device over a period of 8 to 15 days. |
44 | $9 | $20 |
| 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. |
43 | $55 | $121 |
| 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. |
40 | $139 | $238 |
| 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. |
39 | $127 | $220 |
| Coronary stent placement A procedure to insert a stent into a coronary artery or its branch to keep it open, using balloon dilation during the process. |
19 | $415 | $752 |
| Ultrasound of heart blood vessel or graft An ultrasound exam to evaluate blood flow in a heart blood vessel or graft, including a radiologist's review of the initial vessel. |
16 | $76 | $219 |
| Hospital discharge day management, 30 minutes or less This service covers the final day of hospital care when the patient is being discharged. It includes coordination of care and instructions for the patient within a time frame of 30 minutes or less. |
15 | $65 | $87 |
| Coronary angiography A procedure to insert a tube into a coronary artery to capture diagnostic images of the heart's blood vessels. |
14 | $170 | $403 |
| Chest X-ray, 2 views An X-ray imaging test of the chest that captures two different angles to visualize the lungs, heart, and chest wall. |
13 | $27 | $47 |
| New patient office visit, complex (60-74 min) | 13 | $137 | $287 |
| Cardiac catheterization | 11 | $203 | $490 |
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.
1.5% high complexity
33.1% medium
65.4% routine
Industry Payment Transparency
Open Payments through 2024 ↗$35,592
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $5,085/year across 7 years
Top 13% in TX for interventional cardiology
59
Companies
786
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
$28,772 (80.8%)
Consulting
Expert advisory fees, typically reflecting recognized clinical expertise
$6,070 (17.1%)
Speaking / Promotional
Speaker programs, honoraria, and industry-sponsored educational events
$750 (2.1%)
Payment trend by year
Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
2024
$8,547
2023
$3,370
2022
$5,126
2021
$3,880
2020
$5,452
2019
$4,543
2018
$4,675
Payments by company (2024)
Consulting
Speaking
Meals & Travel
Research
Medtronic Vascular, Inc.
$6,950
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
$5,545
Abbott Laboratories
$4,794
Medtronic, Inc.
$2,221
ARGON MEDICAL DEVICES, INC.
$1,650
Boston Scientific Corporation
$1,363
Amgen Inc.
$1,326
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc
$1,072
Endologix LLC
$1,071
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
$1,035
BARD PERIPHERAL VASCULAR, INC.
$930
E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.
$686
PFIZER INC.
$672
Novo Nordisk Inc
$506
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$415
Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc.
$403
Astellas Pharma US Inc
$359
Amarin Pharma Inc.
$314
CARDIVA MEDICAL, INC.
$303
W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
$298
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
$275
Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.
$275
Shockwave Medical, Inc
$238
ZOLL Services LLC (A/K/A ZOLL LifeCor Corp)
$218
Inari Medical, Inc.
$200
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.
$196
Teleflex LLC
$180
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
$172
SANOFI-AVENTIS U.S. LLC
$166
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
$165
Penumbra, Inc.
$158
iRhythm Technologies, Inc.
$156
ShockWave Medical, Inc
$148
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$138
Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.
$127
Philips Electronics North America Corporation
$121
ZOLL Circulation Inc
$84
Cardiovascular Systems Inc.
$84
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.
$61
Avinger Inc.
$57
Vifor Pharma, Inc.
$50
Chiesi USA, Inc.
$50
Philips North America LLC
$43
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.
$39
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation
$29
Bolton Medical Inc
$26
PORTOLA PHARMACEUTICALS, LLC
$21
Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.
$21
Saranas, Inc.
$21
GENZYME CORPORATION
$20
Inspire Medical Systems, Inc.
$19
Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc.
$18
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC.
$17
MEDICOMP INC
$17
HeartFlow, Inc.
$16
Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, plc
$14
HEARTFLOW, INC.
$14
Tactile Systems Technology Inc
$13
Medicure Pharma Inc.
$12
Top 3 companies account for 48.6% of total payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
(5027) Intact Vascular Und · (BH4) IGT Devices Undivided · AFX2 Bifurcated Endograft System · AMBULATORY CARDIAC MONITOR · ANDEXXA · AVVIGO · Alto Abdominal Stent Graft System · Arcalyst · Asahi Fielder coronary guide wire · Assurity Pacemaker · BRILINTA · CAMZYOS · CARDIOMEMS · CARDIVA VASCADE 6/7F VCS · CARDIVA VASCADE MVP VVCS 6-12F · CHANTIX · CLOT MGMT · COREVALVE EVOLUT R · CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT · CardioMEMS HF System · Cardiogen-82 · Cardiovascular- Research only · Cleaner · Confirm Rx · Connectivity and Remote care · CoreValve Evolut · Corlanor · Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System · CryoConsole · ELELYSO · ELIQUIS · ELUVIA · ENDURANT IIS · ENTRESTO · EXCLUDER Conformable AAA Endoprosthesis with Active Control · Ellipse ICD · Endurant · FABRAZYME · FARXIGA · FFRct · FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER · Flexitouch Plus · Fortify Assura · GENERAL THERAPIES · GENERAL STENTS · GENERAL STRUCTURAL HEART · GENERAL - THROMBECTOMY · GENERAL - VASCULAR ACCESS · HeartWare HVAD · INSPIRE · Indigo · Indigo System · Inpefa · Intracardiac Echocardiography (ICE) · JARDIANCE · KENGREAL · Kerendia · LEQVIO · LEXISCAN · LIVALO · LUTONIX · LifeVest · Livalo · MAMBA · MANTA · MITRACLIP · MULTAQ · Merlin Connectivity and Remote · Mitra Clip system · MitraClip System · NAVITOR · NEXLETOL · ONPATTRO · OPSUMIT · OPTIMIZER · Omnilink Elite vascular stent system · Optimizer · Optimizer Smart System · Ozempic · PANTHERIS · PASCAL · Perclose ProGlide suture mediated closure system · Peripheral Orbital Atherectomy System · Quadra Assura CRT Defibrillator · ROTABLATOR · ROTAPRO · RUBY Coil · Ranger · Repatha · Resolute · S · SHOCKWAVE IVL SYSTEM WITH THE SHOCKWAVE C2 CORONARY IVL CATHETER · SUPERA · SYNERGY · Supera peripheral stent system · THROMBECTOMY · TREO ABDOMINAL STENT-GRAFT SYSTEM · Temperature Management System · UPTRAVI · VERQUVO · VYNDAQEL · Valiant Captivia · Vascepa · Vascular Lithotripsy · Veltassa · Verquvo · ViewFlex Xtra ICE Catheter · WATCHMAN Access System · Wegovy · XACT · XARELTO · XIENCE SIERRA · XIENCE SKYPOINT · Xience Sierra Coronary Stent · Xience V coronary stent system · ZIO XT Patch · ZYPITAMAG · Zio monitor
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 (81%) are for meals and travel — low-value interactions that are common across virtually all practicing physicians.
Equivalent to $1,759 per 100 Medicare services performed
Geographic Context
Interventional cardiologists within 10 mi
62
Per 100K population
1.3
County median income
$73,104
Nearest hospital
MEMORIAL HERMANN - TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER
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 measures how much public data is available about a provider — not how good they are. How we calculate this →
Summary
Dr. Postalian is a cardiac imaging specialist, with moderate Medicare volume, with low-engagement industry engagement in the top 13% of TX peers.
This summary is auto-generated from federal data. It describes data availability and patterns — not clinical quality. Read our methodology →
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dr. Postalian experienced with regadenoson injection (lexiscan) for heart stress test?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. Postalian performed 349 regadenoson injection (lexiscan) for heart stress test 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. Postalian receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. Postalian received a total of $35,592 from 59 companies across 786 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. Postalian's costs compare to other interventional cardiologists in Houston?
Dr. Postalian's average Medicare payment per service is $188. 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. Postalian) 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 →
Explore related providers
Same specialty & city
Interventional Cardiologists in Houston
Browse interventional cardiologists in Houston ranked by procedure volume and transparency data.
Highest volume
Top Interventional Cardiologists in TX
Interventional cardiologists ranked by total Medicare services performed statewide.
Industry payments
Pharma Payments to Interventional Cardiologists in TX
Which TX interventional cardiologists receive the most from drug and device companies.
By company
Medtronic Vascular, Inc. Payments to Doctors
See all physicians who received payments from Medtronic Vascular, Inc.
By company
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Payments to Doctors
See all physicians who received payments from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
By company
Abbott Laboratories Payments to Doctors
See all physicians who received payments from Abbott Laboratories.
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. The Transparency Score measures 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