NPI registry status
Active
2026 NPPES data Orthopaedic Surgery Physician NPI 1285628966 MD
Verify on CMS → Russell Nelson, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery Physician in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This profile is drawn from the federal National Provider Identifier Registry (CMS NPPES), which lists more than 7 million U.S. healthcare providers - including 25,781 in Orthopaedic Surgery 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
632
Medicare Part D claims · 207 beneficiaries · Orthopaedic Surgery Physician avg: 324
Generic prescribing
95%
generic claims · 5% brand-name · higher generic rates reduce patient out-of-pocket costs
MIPS score
18.1/100
▼ 65 pts below national avg 83.1 · Penalty band
Industry payments
$14.42
1 payments · CMS Open Payments (Sunshine Act)
Source: CMS Medicare Part D Prescriber Public Use File, 2023
Compiled from official public sources by the PlainDoctor editorial team.
What the federal data shows
Russell Nelson, MD reported a CMS MIPS final score of 18.1/100 - below the 83.1 national average - and filed 632 Medicare Part D claims in 2023.
- 18.1/100
- MIPS score · -65 vs avg
- 632
- Part D claims, 2023
- 95%
- generic prescribing
- 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.
Russell Nelson, MD's MIPS score vs every scored U.S. clinician
CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) final score, 2023, the federal quality measure
18 2nd percentile higher than 2% 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 Russell Nelson, MD sits
This provider among orthopaedic surgery physician peers
Across the 8,194 orthopaedic surgery physician providers who report both Medicare Part D prescribing and a MIPS quality score, Russell Nelson, MD writes more Part D claims than 80% of them and scores higher on MIPS quality than 4% - 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 orthopaedic surgery physician peer from a representative sample of 60; the gold marker is Russell Nelson, MD. Source: CMS Medicare Part D Prescriber data and the CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System, 2023.
✓
Board certification likely (heuristic, not verified)
Russell Nelson, MD practices in an ABMS-board-eligible specialty and shows active CMS Medicare participation + MIPS quality reporting + 1 hospital affiliation - 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 Russell Nelson, MD?
Below national averagePrimary specialty
Orthopaedic Surgery Physician
Medicare Part D claims
632 95% vs specialty avg
MIPS final score
18.1/100 65 pts vs avg
Specialty distribution in Utah
How Orthopaedic Surgery Physician compares to other specialties among Utah providers
Medicare quality performance, MIPS
Russell Nelson, MD's 2023 MIPS final score plotted against the Orthopaedic Surgery Physician national average
- MIPS Final Score
- 18.1/100
- vs 83.1 national avg · 2023 performance year
MIPS final score (Orthopaedic Surgery Physician) - 18.1/100 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).
Russell Nelson, MD appears in the CMS NPPES registry as a Orthopaedic Surgery Physician provider holding MD credentials at 5316 S WOODROW ST STE 200, Salt Lake City, UT, 84107, with a listed phone of (801) 747-1020. NPI 1285628966 was issued on 09/08/2005.
Medicare Part D records for calendar year 2023 show 632 prescription claims written by this provider, covering 207 Medicare beneficiaries and totaling roughly $20K in drug spend, split 5% brand-name and 95% generic by claim count, with an opioid prescribing rate of 37.5%. On the CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System, this provider earned a Final Score of 18.1/100 for the 2023 performance year (Quality 13.7, Cost 41.9), compared with the national average of 83.1.
Orthopaedic Surgery Physician is a mid-sized specialty nationwide, with 25,781 enrolled providers across 56 states and an average of 324 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 | 1285628966 |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Orthopaedic Surgery Physician |
| Credentials | MD |
| Gender | Male |
| NPI Issued | 09/08/2005 |
CMS Quality Score (MIPS)
Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) scores from CMS, 2023 performance year.
18.0528
Final Score
Avg: 83.1
13.7377
Quality
41.859
Cost
Reporting: Individual
Hospital and facility affiliations
Facilities where Russell Nelson, MD bills Medicare from. Star ratings (1-5) are CMS Hospital Compare's "Hospital overall rating" - a composite of mortality, readmission, patient experience, safety, timely care, and efficient use of medical imaging measures. Source: CMS Care Compare.
Russell L Nelson MD PC
Murray, UT
Affiliations sourced from CMS Doctors and Clinicians National Downloadable File; hospital ratings from CMS Hospital General Information dataset (cross-referenced by facility name + state).
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 Russell Nelson, MD. Source: openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Total received
$14
Largest payer
Bioventus LLC
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.
Brand vs generic prescribing mix · Generic-heavy
Russell Nelson, MD - brand share 5.0%
Orthopaedic Surgery Physician average
5% brand-name claims vs 95% generic, on 632 2023 Medicare Part D claims.
The federal Medicare Part D Generic Dispensing Rate national benchmark sits near 90% generic / 10% brand for primary-care prescribers, per CMS Office of the Actuary 2024 estimates. Higher brand share is common in specialty prescribing where generic equivalents are not available.
Medicare Part D Prescribing Data
CMS Medicare Part D prescriber-level data for calendar year 2023.
632
Total Claims
$20K
Total Drug Cost
207
Medicare Beneficiaries
Prescribing Breakdown
- 30-Day Fills
- 644
- Total Day Supply
- 9,338
- Brand vs Generic
- 5% brand / 95% generic
- Brand Drug Cost
- $11K
- Generic Drug Cost
- $9K
- Opioid Claims
- 237 (37.5% rate)
- Antibiotic Claims
- 136
Patient Demographics
- Average Patient Age
- 73.8 years
- Avg HCC Risk Score
- 0.96
- Gender Split
- 67% female / 33% male
Top Prescribed Drugs (Medicare Part D)
Top drugs by claim count for calendar year 2023. Based on Medicare Part D data only.
What Russell Nelson, MD prescribes most
Top Medicare Part D drugs by claim count, 2023
- Oxycodone Hcl
Oxycodone Hcl
146 claims
- Celecoxib
Celecoxib
141 claims
- Amoxicillin
Amoxicillin
61 claims
- Tramadol Hcl 44
Tramadol Hcl
44 claims
- Cephalexin 33
Cephalexin
33 claims
- Hydromorphone Hcl 23
Hydromorphone Hcl
23 claims
- Meloxicam 23
Meloxicam
23 claims
- Hydrocodone-Acetam… 22
Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen
22 claims
| Drug | Claims |
|---|---|
| Oxycodone Hcl | 146 |
| Celecoxib | 141 |
| Amoxicillin | 61 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 44 |
| Cephalexin | 33 |
| Hydromorphone Hcl | 23 |
| Meloxicam | 23 |
| Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 22 |
| Eliquis Apixaban | 20 |
| Clindamycin Hcl | 17 |
* Counts below 11 are suppressed by CMS for patient privacy. Generic names shown where available from CMS Part D data.
Orthopaedic Surgery Physician Overview
How Russell Nelson, MD fits within the Orthopaedic Surgery Physician landscape nationally.
25,781
Orthopaedic Surgery Physician Providers in US
56
States with Orthopaedic Surgery Physician
324
Avg Claims per Provider
Russell Nelson, MD's 632 claims are above the specialty average of 324.
Nearby Orthopaedic Surgery Physician Providers in Utah
Other clinicians with the same primary specialty enrolled in Utah, drawn from the same CMS NPPES roster as Nelson.
Dr. Gordon Affleck
M.D.
Bountiful, UT
Dr. Darin Allred
D.O
St George, UT
Dr. Bejan Alvandi
MD
Salt Lake City, UT
Dr. Robert Amick
MD
Salt Lake City, UT
Dr. Spencer Amundsen
M.D.
Draper, UT
Compare Orthopaedic Surgery 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 Utah medical board, federal registration is not a license check. Credential verification guide
- Weigh a second option: compare this provider with a nearby Orthopaedic Surgery 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.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Russell Nelson, MD's specialty? ▼
Russell Nelson, MD specializes in Orthopaedic Surgery Physician and practices in Salt Lake City, Utah. Credentials: MD.
How much does Russell Nelson, MD prescribe under Medicare Part D? ▼
In 2023, Russell Nelson, MD wrote 632 Medicare Part D claims totaling $20K in drug costs for 207 beneficiaries.
What is Russell Nelson, MD's Medicare quality score? ▼
Russell Nelson, MD has a CMS MIPS Final Score of 18.1/100 (Quality: 13.7, Cost: 41.9). The national average MIPS Final Score is 83.1. Source: CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2023.
Where is Russell Nelson, MD located? ▼
Russell Nelson, MD is located at 5316 S WOODROW ST STE 200, Salt Lake City, UT, 84107. Phone: (801) 747-1020.
What is Russell Nelson, MD's NPI number? ▼
Russell Nelson, MD's National Provider Identifier (NPI) is 1285628966, issued on 09/08/2005.
Does Russell Nelson, MD prescribe more brand-name or generic drugs? ▼
Russell Nelson, MD's prescribing is 5% brand-name and 95% generic drugs by claim count, with $11K in brand drug costs.
Does Russell Nelson, MD prescribe opioids? ▼
Yes, Russell Nelson, MD had 237 opioid claims in 2023 with an opioid prescribing rate of 37.5%.
How many Orthopaedic Surgery Physician providers are there in the US? ▼
There are 25,781 Orthopaedic Surgery Physician providers across 56 states in the US. The average Orthopaedic Surgery Physician provider writes 324 Medicare Part D claims per year.
What drugs does Russell Nelson, MD prescribe most often? ▼
Based on 2023 Medicare Part D data, Russell Nelson, MD's most frequently prescribed drugs include Oxycodone Hcl, Celecoxib, Amoxicillin. This reflects Medicare Part D prescriptions only and does not include commercial insurance or other payer types.
Does Russell Nelson, MD accept Medicare? ▼
Russell Nelson, MD appears in CMS Medicare data with 632 Part D claims and 207 Medicare beneficiaries in 2023. Contact the provider's office directly to confirm current Medicare enrollment and accepted plans.
How can I verify Russell Nelson, MD's credentials? ▼
Russell Nelson, MD's NPI is 1285628966 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.