Tu Cao, DO
Interventional Cardiology · El Paso, TXNPI 1316238736
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 531 payments — averaging $185.55 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Penumbra, Inc.$39K
- Medtronic$21K
- Chiesi USA, Inc.$10K
- Abbott$9K
- Angiodynamics, Inc.$4K
- Abiomed$4K
- plus $13K from 27 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $33.14 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Abiomed$33
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$16,79417%
- Travel & lodging$55,76357%
- Food & beverage$25,80726%
- Education$550%
- Gifts$750%
- Entertainment$330%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Penumbra, Inc. | 90 | $38,571 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 125 | $20,612 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 31 | $10,271 |
| Abbott | 48 | $8,610 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 17 | $3,583 |
| Abiomed | 37 | $3,518 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 11 | $2,915 |
| Philips North America LLC | 26 | $2,628 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 18 | $2,145 |
| Boston Scientific | 32 | $1,790 |
| Asahi Intecc USA, Inc. | 5 | $513 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 8 | $460 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 8 | $452 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 6 | $321 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 15 | $289 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 5 | $262 |
| Novartis | 14 | $226 |
| AstraZeneca | 8 | $220 |
| Stryker | 2 | $216 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 3 | $176 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $144 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $143 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 2 | $127 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 4 | $66 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $49 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $43 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 2 | $43 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Amgen | 2 | $34 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| EKOS Corporation | 1 | $16 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $13 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- Indigo System$20,241
- Indigo$16,914
- KENGREAL$9,751
- HawkOne$8,443
- Penumbra Coil 400$3,655
- Auryon Laser System 100-120 Vac$3,303
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$2,948
- Penumbra Ruby Coil$2,899
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$2,614
- Impella$2,559
- Micra$2,423
- CARDIOMEMS$1,848
- Omnilink Elite vascular stent system$1,762
- IN.PACT Admiral$1,520
- PERCLOSE PROGLIDE$1,500
- SUPERA$1,496
- Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System$1,435
- (9520) IGT Devices Undivided$1,306
- GENERAL VASCULAR ACCESS$1,060
- CoreValve Evolut$744
How this compares
$98,527 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology providers in Texas.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 127 | $138,924 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 43 | $46,207 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 34 | $41,126 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 111 | $1,153 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 91 | $709 |
| Carvedilol | 82 | $697 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 85 | $605 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 100 | $571 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 27 | $447 |
| Losartan Potassium | 49 | $404 |
| Spironolactone | 62 | $395 |
| Furosemide | 74 | $306 |
| Losartan-HydrochlorothiazideLosartan/Hydrochlorothiazide | 38 | $305 |
| Lisinopril | 41 | $190 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 12 | $165 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaBrilinta | $220 | $46,20743 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $226 | $41,12634 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 85th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology providers in Texas.
Other interventional cardiology in El Paso
- Mohammad RajaEl Paso$319K
- Robert StolerDallas$8.2M
- James ChoiDallas$5.2M
- Srinivasa PotluriPlano$5.1M
- Neal KleimanHouston$4.8M
- Juan GranadaHouston$4.3M
- Ira LieberKingwood$3.3M
- Cara Ann EastDallas$3M
- Abhijeet DhobleHouston$2.7M
- Jeffrey CarrTyler$2.7M
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.