Prescriber Checkup

Prescriber Checkup

The Doctors and Drugs in Medicare Part D

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Prescriber Checkup » Washington » Pasco

VENKATARAMAN SAMBASIVAN MD, FACC

1200 N 14TH AVE STE 295

Pasco | Washington | 99301

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At A Glance: This Prescriber in 2015

Cardiovascular Disease

Self-Reported Primary Specialty

See Other Prescribers With This Specialty in This State »

1,809Medicare Part D Prescriptions Filled, Including Refills

Rank: 174 out of 260

$174K Total Retail Price of All Prescriptions

Rank: 102 out of 260

219 Patients Receiving at Least One Drug in Part D
94% Patients 65 Years and Older

24% Subsidized Claims for Low-Income Patients

How Does This Prescriber Compare to Peers?

In the same specialty and state. Caveats »

Drugs That Present Special Risks
Costs of Prescribing
higher than average Average for
this specialty
in Washington lower than average

Antipsychotics

0% of this provider’s 205 patients who are 65 and older filled at least one prescription for an antipsychotic drug, compared to an average of 0%.

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Antibiotics

0% of this provider’s 219 patients filled at least one prescription for an antibiotic drug, compared to an average of 2%.

More resources »

Risky Drugs for Seniors

This provider prescribed potentially inappropriate drugs to at least one but fewer than 11 patients who are 65 and older, so Medicare redacted the exact figure. Comparisons are not shown.

More resources »

Opioids

0% of this provider’s 219 patients filled at least one prescription for an opioid, compared to an average of 1%.

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Brand Name Drugs

27% of this provider’s prescriptions were for brand-name drugs, compared to an average of 21%.

Prescription Price

$96 was the average price of a prescription from this provider, compared to $62 among peers.

Prescriptions per Patient

8 is the average number of prescriptions (including refills) per patient, compared to an average of 8.


How This Provider’s Patients Compare

Doctors often say their patients are sicker or more complex than those of their peers. The measure displayed below, used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, takes into account patients’ characteristics to estimate whether they are expected to have above-average Medicare spending. It considers patients’ age, sex, diagnoses from the past year and other factors. This provider’s score below takes into account all patients.

This Provider's History

A comparison of this provider’s prescribing in Part D since 2012. All years may not be shown if there is insufficient data.

Cost of Claims

$213K

2012

$194K

2013

$194K

2014

$174K

2015

Number of Claims

2,344

2012

2,063

2013

1,934

2014

1,809

2015

This Prescriber's Drugs

The table below list this provider’s drugs, the number of prescriptions and how many went to seniors. Drugs are ranked by volume and compared with the rank for all providers in the same specialty and state. The list below includes only those drugs for which this provider wrote 50 or more prescriptions.

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O

An opioid drug. More » Prescription opioids (painkillers) can help alleviate certain kinds of pain in the short term but carry serious health risks.

A

An antibiotic drug. More » Used to treat bacterial infections but are often prescribed incorrectly to treat viral infections, such as chest colds or the flu.

P

An antipsychotic drug. More » Antipsychotics are frequently given to dementia patients, though it increases their risk of death.

R

A risky drug for seniors. More » The American Geriatrics Society has said this drug is "potentially dangerous" for seniors and might be inappropriate.

10

This provider is among the top 10 prescribers of this drug in the country.

This provider’s prescriptions for this drug were for more days than those of peers. More » Because of this, his or her prescription count may be lower.

This provider’s prescriptions for this drug were for fewer days than those of peers. More » Because of this, his or her prescription count may be higher.

This Drug's Rank
Drug Name Total Prescriptions Filled with Refills Prescriptions
to 65+ 		Patients Receiving this Drug Category For this Prescriber For this Prescriber's Peers
ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM

Treats high cholesterol and... +

Treats high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Source: National Library of Medicine

255

prescriptions, 14% of all prescriptions

 230

prescriptions.

 81

patients, 37% of all patients

 1 1
BISOPROLOL FUMARATE

Bisoprolol is used alone or... +

Bisoprolol is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. Source: National Library of Medicine

147

prescriptions, 8% of all prescriptions

 142

prescriptions.

 40

patients, 18% of all patients

 2 37
LOSARTAN POTASSIUM

Losartan is used alone or i... +

Losartan is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. Source: National Library of Medicine

113

prescriptions, 6% of all prescriptions

 96

prescriptions.

 26

patients, 12% of all patients

 3 8
ZETIA

Lowers cholesterol in your ... +

Lowers cholesterol in your blood. Source: National Library of Medicine

108

prescriptions, 6% of all prescriptions

 88

prescriptions.

 33

patients, 15% of all patients

 4 27
AMLODIPINE BESYLATE

Amlodipine is used alone or... +

Amlodipine is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure and chest pain (angina). Source: National Library of Medicine

103

prescriptions, 6% of all prescriptions

 98

prescriptions.

 30

patients, 14% of all patients

 5 7
LISINOPRIL

Treats high blood pressure ... +

Treats high blood pressure and heart failure. Source: National Library of Medicine

91

prescriptions, 5% of all prescriptions

 80

prescriptions.

 31

patients, 14% of all patients

 6 3
CARVEDILOL

Treats high blood pressure ... +

Treats high blood pressure and congestive heart failure (CHF). Source: National Library of Medicine

91

prescriptions, 5% of all prescriptions

 86

prescriptions.

 27

patients, 12% of all patients

 6 4
SIMVASTATIN

Treats high cholesterol and... +

Treats high cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood. Source: National Library of Medicine

88

prescriptions, 5% of all prescriptions

 83

prescriptions.

 26

patients, 12% of all patients

 8 11
METOPROLOL TARTRATE

Metoprolol is used alone or... +

Metoprolol is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. Source: National Library of Medicine

75

prescriptions, 4% of all prescriptions

 70

prescriptions.

 19

patients, 9% of all patients

 9 6
RAMIPRIL

Treats high blood pressure ... +

Treats high blood pressure and heart failure after a heart attack. Source: National Library of Medicine

63

prescriptions, 3% of all prescriptions

 58

prescriptions.

 16

patients, 7% of all patients

 10 32
CRESTOR

Lowers high levels of chole... +

Lowers high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (fats) in your blood. Source: National Library of Medicine

61

prescriptions, 3% of all prescriptions

 56

prescriptions.

 13

patients, 6% of all patients

 11 16
FUROSEMIDE

Treats fluid retention (ede... +

Treats fluid retention (edema) and high blood pressure (hypertension). Source: National Library of Medicine

55

prescriptions, 3% of all prescriptions

 55

prescriptions.

 14

patients, 6% of all patients

 12 5
About This Data

Prescribing data from Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, known as Part D, was compiled and released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees the program. The data for 2015 includes more than 1.4 billion prescriptions written by nearly 1.4 million doctors, nurses and other providers. This database lists about 447,000 of those providers who wrote 50 or more prescriptions for at least one drug that year. More than three-fourths of these prescriptions went to patients 65 and older; the rest were for disabled patients. Methodology »

Incorrect Info?

If you are a provider and you believe your address is incorrect, check the listing you created on the National Provider Identifier registry. If you change your listing, send a note to [email protected] and we will update your information. If you have other questions about this data, send a note to [email protected].

Caveats
  • No comparisons are shown if there are fewer than 20 prescribers in the state share this specialty.
  • Comparisons do not take into account the medical conditions of patients. Medications for certain conditions do not have generic alternatives, so patients would receive more expensive brand name drugs.
  • This provider's address and specialty information was last updated on July 8, 2007.
  • Comparisons are based on each provider’s current address, not necessarily where he or she worked during the time period covered in this database.
  • In rare circumstances, providers' prescription tallies may be inflated. Sometimes providers are credited with prescriptions written by colleagues (this happens in long-term care facilities) or are victims of fraud involving theft of their provider number.