Medicare Enrolled

Dr. Carlos Cigarroa, MD

Internal Medicine · Laredo, TX
Practice pattern: Clinical Cardiology — Primarily office-based clinical cardiology
Low-engagement
702 E CALTON RD, Laredo, TX 78041
9567288255
In practice since 2006 (19 years)
NPI: 1891899084 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. Cigarroa 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. Cigarroa

Dr. Carlos Cigarroa is an internal medicine specialist in Laredo, TX, with 19 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Cigarroa performed 7,397 Medicare services across 4,226 unique beneficiaries.

Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Cigarroa received a total of $6,378 from 23 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 256 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. Cigarroa 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.

✓ 19 years in practice ▲ Top 4% volume in TX $6,378 industry payments

Medicare Practice Summary

Medicare Utilization ↗
7,397
Medicare services
Top 4% in TX for internal medicine
4,226
Unique beneficiaries
$45
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · Not a quality rating · How to read this →
~389 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) 2,060 $80 $140
EKG interpretation and report 1,461 $5 $30
Routine electrocardiogram (ecg) using at least 12 leads with tracing 1,405 $4 $30
Echocardiogram, transthoracic 360 $71 $187
Initial hospital admission, moderate complexity 299 $86 $205
Programming of dual lead pacemaker system 257 $25 $65
Electrocardiogram (ecg) 2-day continuous with review by health care professional 157 $13 $350
Hospital follow-up visit, moderate complexity 157 $57 $97
Nuclear medicine studies of heart muscle at rest and with stress and spect 148 $160 $327
New patient office visit (30-44 min) 129 $75 $120
Exercise or drug-induced heart stress test with electrocardiogram (ecg) with review by physician 122 $10 $48
Exercise or drug-induced heart stress test with electrocardiogram (ecg) 118 $21 $100
Programming of dual lead implantable defibrillator system 89 $32 $78
Technetium tc-99m sestamibi, diagnostic, per study dose 78 $56 $185
Review by radiologist of 1 arm or leg vein of 1 arm or leg image 64 $37 $250
Injection, dipyridamole, per 10 mg 64 $3 $10
Evaluation of single, dual, multiple lead or leadless pacemaker system 53 $21 $45
Exercise or drug-induced heart stress test with electrocardiogram (ecg) with supervision by physician 46 $16 $48
Cardiac catheterization 40 $198 $500
Coronary stent placement 39 $373 $2,198
Heart rhythm review and interpretation of continous external ekg over 8-15 days 31 $19 $40
Heart rhythm recording continous external ekg over more than 48 hours up to 7 days 30 $8 $30
Heart rhythm review, and interpretation of continous external ekg over more than 48 hours up to 7 days 30 $17 $40
Heart rhythm recording of continous external ekg over 8-15 days 30 $9 $30
Electrocardiogram (EKG), 12-lead 26 $6 $60
Insertion of pacemaker and upper and lower heart chamber electrode 20 $369 $1,501
Hospital discharge day management, 30 minutes or less 20 $60 $115
Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of established patient that may not require presence of healthcare professional 19 $14 $25
Injection, furosemide, up to 20 mg 17 $0 $20
Ultrasound of heart, follow-up 14 $16 $117
Office visit, established patient (20-29 min) 14 $58 $120
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.
11.6% high complexity
7.2% medium
81.2% routine

Industry Payment Transparency

Open Payments through 2024 ↗
$6,378
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $911/year across 7 years
Top 13% in TX for internal medicine
23
Companies
256
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
$6,378 (100.0%)

Payment trend by year

Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

2024
$795
2023
$637
2022
$670
2021
$1,283
2020
$763
2019
$577
2018
$1,652

Payments by company (2024)

Consulting
Speaking
Meals & Travel
Research
Medtronic Vascular, Inc.
$1,787
Abbott Laboratories
$1,559
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
$704
Medtronic, Inc.
$337
ABIOMED
$334
ZOLL Services LLC (A/K/A ZOLL LifeCor Corp)
$224
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc
$217
Amgen Inc.
$200
ATRICURE, INC.
$199
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
$149
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$136
PFIZER INC.
$97
Amarin Pharma Inc.
$89
E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.
$87
SCPHARMACEUTICALS INC.
$56
Cook Medical LLC
$40
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
$39
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation
$29
Shockwave Medical, Inc
$25
Itamar Medical Inc
$22
Lilly USA, LLC
$18
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$16
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.
$14
Top 3 companies account for 63.5% of total payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
ADVISA DR MRI SURESCAN · ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM · ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOSPHERE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM · ATTESTA SR MRI SURESCAN · Advisa · Amplia MRI · Attain · Azure · CAMZYOS · CARDIOMEMS · CHANTIX · COMPIA MRI QUAD CRT-D SURESCAN · CareLink · Cobalt · Compia MRI · Cook Medical Lead Management - Lead Extraction · DRAGONFLY OPSTAR · Dragonfly OCT · ELIQUIS · ENSITE · ENTRESTO · Evera · FARXIGA · FUROSCIX · Hi-Torque Advance guide wire · Hi-Torque Command guide wire · Hi-Torque Floppy guide wire · Impella · Inpefa · JANUVIA · JARDIANCE · LEQVIO · LifeVest · MICRA · MINI TREK · MOUNJARO · Micra · Mini Trek catheters · NC TREK coronary catheters · NEXLETOL · OPTIS · PERCEPTA QUAD CRT-P MRI SURESCAN · PRESSUREWIRE · Repatha · Resolute · Reveal LINQ · TYRX · ULTREON · VERQUVO · Vascepa · Vascular Lithotripsy · WatchPATONE · XARELTO · XIENCE ALPINE · XIENCE SIERRA · XIENCE SKYPOINT · Xience Sierra Coronary Stent · Xience Sierra Coronary Stent System · Xience V coronary stent system
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 (100%) are for meals and travel — low-value interactions that are common across virtually all practicing physicians.

Equivalent to $86 per 100 Medicare services performed
Looking for an internal medicine specialist in Laredo?
Compare internal medicine physicians in the Laredo area by procedure volume, costs, and industry payment transparency.
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Geographic Context

Internal medicine physicians within 10 mi
31
Per 100K population
11.6
County median income
$62,506
Nearest hospital
DOCTORS HOSPITAL OF LAREDO
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. Cigarroa is a clinical cardiology specialist, with above-average Medicare volume (top 4% in TX), with low-engagement industry engagement in the top 13% of TX peers, with 19 years of NPI registration.

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. Cigarroa experienced with office visit, established patient (30-39 min)?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. Cigarroa performed 2,060 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. Cigarroa receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. Cigarroa received a total of $6,378 from 23 companies across 256 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. Cigarroa's costs compare to other internal medicine physicians in Laredo?
Dr. Cigarroa's average Medicare payment per service is $45. 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. Cigarroa) 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. 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

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 →