NPI registry status
Active
2026 NPPES data Internal Medicine Physician NPI 1518063718 MD
Verify on CMS → Fernando Castro, MD
Internal Medicine Physician in West Columbia, South Carolina.
This profile is drawn from the federal National Provider Identifier Registry (CMS NPPES), which lists more than 7 million U.S. healthcare providers - including 172,737 in Internal Medicine Physician, and covers specialty classification, practice address, and Medicare Part D prescribing data when reported. According to CMS, every field reflects the provider's official federal registration, see our methodology.
Federal data, no proprietary rating.
We show these CMS records as-is - no composite score, no star rating, no editorial opinion layered on top.
Prescribing volume
4K
Medicare Part D claims · 481 beneficiaries · Internal Medicine Physician avg: 3K
MIPS score
83/100
▼ 0 pts below national avg 83.1 · Above neutral
Industry payments
$490.35
18 payments · CMS Open Payments (Sunshine Act)
Compiled from official public sources by the PlainDoctor editorial team.
What the federal data shows
Fernando Castro, MD reported a CMS MIPS final score of 83/100 - below the 83.1 national average - and filed 3,931 Medicare Part D claims in 2023.
- 83/100
- MIPS score · 0 vs avg
- 4K
- Part D claims, 2023
- Likely
- board-certified (heuristic)
Every figure on this page comes straight from federal CMS records (NPPES, Medicare Part D, MIPS, Open Payments) - no proprietary rating or editorial opinion is applied.
Fernando Castro, MD's MIPS score vs every scored U.S. clinician
CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) final score, 2023, the federal quality measure
83 42nd percentile higher than 42% of 477,587 scored providers
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more scored providers. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) · 2023
Where Fernando Castro, MD sits
This provider among internal medicine physician peers
Across the 36,260 internal medicine physician providers who report both Medicare Part D prescribing and a MIPS quality score, Fernando Castro, MD writes more Part D claims than 76% of them and scores higher on MIPS quality than 41% - placing this provider in the high-volume, lower-quality quadrant. Volume reflects patient-panel size and specialty, not quality; the two axes are independent.
Part D claim volume vs MIPS quality, by specialty percentile
Each dot is one internal medicine physician peer from a representative sample of 60; the gold marker is Fernando Castro, MD. Source: CMS Medicare Part D Prescriber data and the CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System, 2023.
✓
Board certification likely (heuristic, not verified)
Fernando Castro, MD practices in an ABMS-board-eligible specialty and shows active CMS Medicare participation + MIPS quality reporting - signals consistent with board-certified status. For verified board certification, see CertificationMatters.org (the official ABMS public lookup).
What does the federal data show about Fernando Castro, MD?
Near national averagePrimary specialty
Internal Medicine Physician
Medicare Part D claims
3,931 45% vs specialty avg
MIPS final score
83/100 0.1 pts vs avg
Specialty distribution in South Carolina
How Internal Medicine Physician compares to other specialties among South Carolina providers
Medicare quality performance, MIPS
Fernando Castro, MD's 2023 MIPS final score plotted against the Internal Medicine Physician national average
- MIPS Final Score
- 83/100
- vs 83.1 national avg · 2023 performance year
MIPS final score (Internal Medicine Physician) - 83/100 vs national avg 83.1
How MIPS and board certification work
The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) scores providers 0–100 across four performance categories: Quality, Cost, Promoting Interoperability, and Improvement Activities, weighted under 42 CFR §414.1380. Reporting is voluntary for many small practices, so absence of a MIPS score is not a quality signal.
Board certification through an ABMS or AOA member board signals voluntary post-licensure examination plus continuous Maintenance of Certification cycles. Verify any individual provider's status through certificationmatters.org (ABMS) or osteopathic.org (AOA).
Fernando Castro, MD appears in the CMS NPPES registry as an Internal Medicine Physician provider holding MD credentials at 146 E HOSPITAL DR, West Columbia, SC, 29169, with a listed phone of (803) 936-7410. NPI 1518063718 was issued on 09/15/2006.
Medicare Part D records for calendar year 2023 show 3,931 prescription claims written by this provider, covering 481 Medicare beneficiaries and totaling roughly $3.2 million in drug spend, with an opioid prescribing rate of 18.6%. On the CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System, this provider earned a Final Score of 83/100 for the 2023 performance year (Quality 80.5, Cost 72.2), compared with the national average of 83.1.
Internal Medicine Physician is a high-volume specialty nationwide, with 172,737 enrolled providers across 56 states and an average of 2,716 Part D claims per prescriber, so the context for interpreting these metrics differs meaningfully from a primary-care baseline.
Important: PlainDoctor is a directory of publicly available government data, not medical advice, a malpractice database, or a quality rating. Inclusion here does not imply a recommendation, and absence of complaints or sanctions on this page does not mean none exist, always verify credentials through the NPPES NPI Registry, your state medical board, and the ABMS or AOA before making healthcare decisions.
Practice Address
Provider Details
| NPI | 1518063718 |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Internal Medicine Physician |
| Credentials | MD |
| Gender | Male |
| NPI Issued | 09/15/2006 |
CMS Quality Score (MIPS)
Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) scores from CMS, 2023 performance year.
83.0384
Final Score
Avg: 83.1
80.4541
Quality
72.1739
Cost
89
Promoting Interoperability
Reporting: Group practice
Industry payments received (2024) - CMS Open Payments transparency data
The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act (part of the Affordable Care Act) requires drug and medical-device manufacturers + group purchasing organizations to publicly report payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals. The data below covers 2024 for Fernando Castro, MD. Source: openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Total received
$490
Largest payer
Octapharma USA, Inc.
Most common payment type
Food and Beverage
Industry payments are not necessarily indicators of bias, they include research funding, consulting fees for evidence-based work, royalties for inventions, food at conferences, and similar items. The disclosure exists for transparency. Read our methodology for how we interpret this data.
Medicare Part D Prescribing Data
CMS Medicare Part D prescriber-level data for calendar year 2023.
3,931
Total Claims
$3.2M
Total Drug Cost
481
Medicare Beneficiaries
Prescribing Breakdown
- 30-Day Fills
- 6,305
- Total Day Supply
- 183,916
- Generic Drug Cost
- $95K
- Opioid Claims
- 731 (18.6% rate)
Patient Demographics
- Average Patient Age
- 67.2 years
- Avg HCC Risk Score
- 1.74
- Gender Split
- 75% female / 25% male
- Age Distribution
- <65: 141, 65-74: 228, 75-84: 95, 85+: 17
Top Prescribed Drugs (Medicare Part D)
Top drugs by claim count for calendar year 2023. Based on Medicare Part D data only.
What Fernando Castro, MD prescribes most
Top Medicare Part D drugs by claim count, 2023
- Prednisone
Prednisone
476 claims
- Methotrexate
Methotrexate
472 claims
- Hydroxychloroquine…
Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate
355 claims
- Hydrocodone-Acetam…
Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen
256 claims
- Oxycodone-Acetamin…
Oxycodone-Acetaminophen
230 claims
- Gabapentin
Gabapentin
228 claims
- Tramadol Hcl
Tramadol Hcl
218 claims
- Leflunomide 140
Leflunomide
140 claims
| Drug | Claims |
|---|---|
| Prednisone | 476 |
| Methotrexate Methotrexate Sodium | 472 |
| Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate | 355 |
| Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 256 |
| Oxycodone-Acetaminophen Oxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 230 |
| Gabapentin | 228 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 218 |
| Leflunomide | 140 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 116 |
| Meloxicam | 105 |
* Counts below 11 are suppressed by CMS for patient privacy. Generic names shown where available from CMS Part D data.
Internal Medicine Physician Overview
How Fernando Castro, MD fits within the Internal Medicine Physician landscape nationally.
172,737
Internal Medicine Physician Providers in US
56
States with Internal Medicine Physician
2,716
Avg Claims per Provider
Fernando Castro, MD's 3,931 claims are above the specialty average of 2,716.
Nearby Internal Medicine Physician Providers in South Carolina
Other clinicians with the same primary specialty enrolled in South Carolina, drawn from the same CMS NPPES roster as Castro.
Dr. John Abbott
M.D.
Sumter, SC
Dr. Murad Abdelsalam
MD
Rock Hill, SC
Dr. Mohammed Abdulfatah
MD
Orangeburg, SC
Dr. Amjad Abdulrahman
MD
Irmo, SC
Dr. Elizabeth Abell
MD
Spartanburg, SC
Compare Internal Medicine Physician nationally: see state-by-state distribution →
Before you book an appointment
Use this federal record as your verification checklist, not as a recommendation.
- Confirm the NPI record is current in the official CMS registry, providers update their own NPPES details, and moves can lag. Verify this NPI
- Check the active license and any disciplinary history with the South Carolina medical board, federal registration is not a license check. Credential verification guide
- Weigh a second option: compare this provider with a nearby Internal Medicine Physician peer on Medicare volume and prescribing patterns. Compare providers
Medicare Part D and MIPS figures describe practice patterns in federal programs only, they are not quality ratings, and PlainDoctor does not rate, rank, or recommend providers.
Healthcare Guides
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Medical Specialties Explained
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Understanding Medicare Claims Data
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How insurance networks affect your costs
Telehealth Guide
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Explore South Carolina
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Fernando Castro, MD's specialty? ▼
Fernando Castro, MD specializes in Internal Medicine Physician and practices in West Columbia, South Carolina. Credentials: MD.
How much does Fernando Castro, MD prescribe under Medicare Part D? ▼
In 2023, Fernando Castro, MD wrote 3,931 Medicare Part D claims totaling $3.2M in drug costs for 481 beneficiaries.
What is Fernando Castro, MD's Medicare quality score? ▼
Fernando Castro, MD has a CMS MIPS Final Score of 83/100 (Quality: 80.5, Cost: 72.2). The national average MIPS Final Score is 83.1. Source: CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2023.
Where is Fernando Castro, MD located? ▼
Fernando Castro, MD is located at 146 E HOSPITAL DR, West Columbia, SC, 29169. Phone: (803) 936-7410.
What is Fernando Castro, MD's NPI number? ▼
Fernando Castro, MD's National Provider Identifier (NPI) is 1518063718, issued on 09/15/2006.
Does Fernando Castro, MD prescribe opioids? ▼
Yes, Fernando Castro, MD had 731 opioid claims in 2023 with an opioid prescribing rate of 18.6%.
How many Internal Medicine Physician providers are there in the US? ▼
There are 172,737 Internal Medicine Physician providers across 56 states in the US. The average Internal Medicine Physician provider writes 2,716 Medicare Part D claims per year.
What drugs does Fernando Castro, MD prescribe most often? ▼
Based on 2023 Medicare Part D data, Fernando Castro, MD's most frequently prescribed drugs include Prednisone, Methotrexate, Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate. This reflects Medicare Part D prescriptions only and does not include commercial insurance or other payer types.
Does Fernando Castro, MD accept Medicare? ▼
Fernando Castro, MD appears in CMS Medicare data with 3,931 Part D claims and 481 Medicare beneficiaries in 2023. Contact the provider's office directly to confirm current Medicare enrollment and accepted plans.
How can I verify Fernando Castro, MD's credentials? ▼
Fernando Castro, MD's NPI is 1518063718 with credentials MD. You can verify this through the NPPES NPI Registry, check state medical board records, and confirm board certification through the ABMS or AOA.
Data Sources
View source datasets and methodology notes
- Provider Directory
- CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), download.cms.gov/nppes, updated monthly. Contains NPI, specialty, credentials, and practice location.
- Specialty Classification
- NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy (nucc.org), the industry standard for classifying provider specialties in Medicare and Medicaid billing.
- Prescribing Data
- CMS Medicare Part D Prescriber Public Use File (2023). Includes claims, drug costs, beneficiaries, and opioid prescribing rates.
- Quality Performance
- CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) - 2023 performance year.
- Limitations
- Provider data is self-reported to CMS. Prescribing data reflects Medicare Part D only and does not include commercial insurance, Medicaid, or cash prescriptions. Claims below 11 beneficiaries are suppressed by CMS for privacy.
See our complete data methodology for details on how we collect and process government data.
Data as of April 2026 (NPPES) / 2023 (Medicare Part D). Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Disclaimer: Data from CMS NPPES and Medicare Part D. PlainDoctor does not rate or rank providers. Provider information is self-reported and may not be current. Always verify information directly with the provider. About · Methodology
Compiled from official public sources by the PlainDoctor editorial team.
Every figure on PlainDoctor is rendered directly from the federal CMS NPPES registry, Medicare Part D, MIPS, and Open Payments records, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.