Medicare Enrolled

Dr. Maria Velasco, M.D.

Internal Medicine · Victoria, TX
Practice pattern: Clinical Cardiology — Primarily office-based clinical cardiology
Low-engagement
601 E SAN ANTONIO ST, Victoria, TX 77901
3615753775
In practice since 2006 (19 years)
NPI: 1497704357 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. Velasco 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. Velasco

Dr. Maria Velasco is an internal medicine specialist in Victoria, TX, with 19 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Velasco performed 1,625 Medicare services across 1,159 unique beneficiaries.

Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Velasco received a total of $10,235 from 48 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 554 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. Velasco 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 22% volume in TX $10,235 industry payments

Medicare Practice Summary

Medicare Utilization ↗
1,625
Medicare services
Top 22% in TX for internal medicine
1,159
Unique beneficiaries
$63
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · Not a quality rating · How to read this →
~86 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, complex (40-54 min) 413 $116 $251
Office visit, established patient (20-29 min) 192 $59 $125
Influenza vaccine, quadrivalent, 0.5 ml dosage 148 $20 $50
Flu vaccine administration 146 $30 $35
Evaluation of neuropsychological test, first hour 123 $97 $250
Administration of psychological or neuropsychological test by technician, first 30 minutes 118 $23 $100
Drug injection, under skin or into muscle 105 $10 $35
Detection test by immunoassay with direct visual observation for influenza virus 54 $16 $36
Ceftriaxone antibiotic injection 48 $0 $20
Detection test by immunoassay technique for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 44 $35 $149
Office visit, established patient (30-39 min) 42 $92 $156
Injection, vitamin b-12 cyanocobalamin, up to 1000 mcg 42 $1 $25
Injection, methylprednisolone acetate, 80 mg 36 $8 $80
Transitional care management services for problem of high complexity 30 $207 $300
Electrocardiogram (EKG), 12-lead 24 $10 $80
New patient office visit, complex (60-74 min) 21 $137 $332
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, 20 valent (pcv20), for intramuscular use 14 $282 $325
Pneumonia vaccine administration 13 $30 $45
Physician or allowed practitioner certification for medicare-covered home health services under a home health plan of care (patient not present), including contacts with home health agency and review of reports of patient status required by physicians and 12 $41 $86
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.

Industry Payment Transparency

Open Payments through 2024 ↗
$10,235
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $1,462/year across 7 years
Top 9% in TX for internal medicine
48
Companies
554
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
$10,040 (98.1%)
Speaking / Promotional
Speaker programs, honoraria, and industry-sponsored educational events
$195 (1.9%)

Payment trend by year

Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

2024
$610
2023
$563
2022
$893
2021
$1,429
2020
$1,489
2019
$1,759
2018
$3,493

Payments by company (2024)

Consulting
Speaking
Meals & Travel
Research
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
$1,180
Lilly USA, LLC
$918
Novo Nordisk Inc
$773
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc
$754
Amgen Inc.
$704
Amarin Pharma Inc.
$698
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation
$597
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$518
PFIZER INC.
$484
Radius Health, Inc.
$451
Astellas Pharma US Inc
$340
Allergan Inc.
$255
SANOFI-AVENTIS U.S. LLC
$243
GlaxoSmithKline, LLC.
$220
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.
$217
AbbVie Inc.
$204
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
$201
Inari Medical, Inc.
$115
Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc.
$113
AbbVie, Inc.
$95
Salix Pharmaceuticals, a division of Bausch Health US, LLC
$90
Eisai Inc.
$76
Allergan, Inc.
$75
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.
$75
Medtronic USA, Inc.
$69
Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$68
ARBOR PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
$67
Medtronic, Inc.
$61
Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$55
Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.
$51
Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd.
$48
Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
$47
ABBVIE INC.
$39
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.
$38
AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$36
Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc
$30
Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc.
$29
Corcept Therapeutics
$25
Nevro Corp.
$25
Sanofi Pasteur Inc.
$22
Medtronic MiniMed, Inc.
$22
Exeltis, USA Inc.
$20
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
$18
Exact Sciences Corporation
$17
IDORSIA PHARMACEUTICALS US INC
$14
Horizon Pharma plc
$13
Shire North American Group Inc
$12
Horizon Therapeutics plc
$12
Top 3 companies account for 28.0% of total payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
AJOVY · AREXVY · AUSTEDO · Aimovig · Austedo XR · BASAGLAR · BELSOMRA · BREZTRI · BYSTOLIC · Belviq · CHANTIX · COLOGUARD · CREON · Cologuard Collection Kit · Creon · DISEASE STATE · Dayvigo · ELIQUIS · EMGALITY · ENTRESTO · EUCRISA · EVENITY · Edarbi · Edarbyclor · FARXIGA · FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER · FLUZONE HIGH-DOSE · FORTEO · GEMTESA · Horizant · INTELLIS · INTRAROSA · INVOKANA · JANUMET XR · JANUVIA · JARDIANCE · KAPSPARGO · Kerendia · Korlym · Kyprolis · LINZESS · LYRICA · Livalo · MICRA · MOUNJARO · MYDAYIS · MYRBETRIQ · Myrbetriq · NAMZARIC · NEXLETOL · NURTEC ODT · Otezla · Ozempic · PENNSAID · PNEUMOVAX 23 · PRALUENT · PRALUENT ALIROCUMAB INJECTION · PREVNAR 13 · PREVNAR 20 · Prolia · QULIPTA · QUVIVIQ · RIOMET ER · Repatha · Rybelsus · S · SHINGRIX · SLYND · SOLIQUA · SOLIQUA 100/33 · STEGLATRO · STEGLUJAN · SYMBICORT · Saxenda · Senza · Synthroid · TOUJEO · TRADJENTA · TRULICITY · Tresiba · Trulance · Tymlos · UBRELVY · VESICARE · VRAYLAR · Vascepa · Victoza · XARELTO · XIFAXAN · ZENPEP · iPro2
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 (98%) are for meals and travel — low-value interactions that are common across virtually all practicing physicians. Total industry engagement is in the top 9% for internal medicine in TX.

Equivalent to $630 per 100 Medicare services performed
Looking for an internal medicine specialist in Victoria?
Compare internal medicine physicians in the Victoria area by procedure volume, costs, and industry payment transparency.
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Geographic Context

Internal medicine physicians within 10 mi
24
Per 100K population
26.3
County median income
$70,101
Nearest hospital
CITIZENS MEDICAL CENTER
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. Velasco is a clinical cardiology specialist, with above-average Medicare volume (top 22% in TX), with low-engagement industry engagement in the top 9% 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. Velasco experienced with office visit, established patient, complex (40-54 min)?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. Velasco performed 413 office visit, established patient, complex (40-54 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. Velasco receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. Velasco received a total of $10,235 from 48 companies across 554 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. Velasco's costs compare to other internal medicine physicians in Victoria?
Dr. Velasco's average Medicare payment per service is $63. 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. Velasco) 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.

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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 →