Dr. David Portugal, MD, FACC
What this data tells you about Dr. Portugal
Dr. David Portugal is a nuclear cardiology physician in Houston, TX, with 19 years in practice. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Portugal performed 2,190 Medicare services across 1,770 unique beneficiaries.
Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Portugal received a total of $15,080 from 46 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 480 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common in nuclear cardiology physician. 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. Portugal 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.
Medicare Practice Summary
Medicare Utilization ↗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) | 494 | $86 | $256 |
| Electrocardiogram (EKG), 12-lead | 476 | $10 | $30 |
| Regadenoson injection (Lexiscan) for heart stress test | 204 | $44 | $122 |
| Echocardiogram, transthoracic | 194 | $142 | $397 |
| Hospital follow-up visit, moderate complexity | 105 | $63 | $159 |
| Exercise or drug-induced heart stress test with electrocardiogram (ecg) with supervision and review by physician | 103 | $51 | $142 |
| Technetium tc-99m sestamibi, diagnostic, per study dose | 81 | $58 | $875 |
| Nuclear medicine studies of heart muscle at rest and with stress and spect | 79 | $345 | $885 |
| Office visit, established patient (20-29 min) | 63 | $60 | $182 |
| New patient office visit (45-59 min) | 59 | $110 | $336 |
| Heart muscle strain imaging | 53 | $30 | $74 |
| Hospital follow-up visit, high complexity | 49 | $98 | $240 |
| Use of a drug to induce depression of consciousness by physician performing a procedure (5 years or older), initial 15 minutes | 40 | $10 | $58 |
| Office visit, established patient, complex (40-54 min) | 33 | $134 | $360 |
| Initial hospital admission, high complexity | 30 | $143 | $350 |
| Ultrasound of both sides of head and neck blood flow | 29 | $144 | $386 |
| Initial hospital admission, moderate complexity | 29 | $103 | $262 |
| Coronary stent placement | 23 | $464 | $1,180 |
| Cardiac catheterization | 20 | $189 | $586 |
| Electrocardiogram (ecg) up to 30 days continuous with symptom monitoring, transmission and review and report by health care professional | 15 | $18 | $48 |
| Electrocardiogram (ecg) up to 30 days continuous with symptom monitoring | 11 | $6 | $20 |
Industry Payment Transparency
Open Payments through 2024 ↗Payment profile
Industry payments classified by relationship type. Not all payments are equal — research and consulting reflect different relationships than speaking programs or meals.
Payment trend by year
Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
Payments by company (2024)
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
Most payments (71%) are for meals and travel — low-value interactions that are common across virtually all practicing physicians.
Geographic Context
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. Portugal is a cardiac & electrophysiology specialist, with moderate Medicare volume, and high industry engagement (low-engagement, top 16%), with 19 years of practice experience.
This summary is auto-generated from federal data. It describes data availability and patterns — not clinical quality. Read our methodology →
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.
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