NPI registry status
Active
2026 NPPES data Nuclear Cardiology Physician NPI 1982600607 M.D.
Verify on CMS → Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.
Nuclear Cardiology Physician in Somerset, New Jersey.
This profile is drawn from the federal National Provider Identifier Registry (CMS NPPES), which lists more than 7 million U.S. healthcare providers - including 374 in Nuclear Cardiology 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
3K
Medicare Part D claims · 311 beneficiaries · Nuclear Cardiology Physician avg: 4K
Generic prescribing
84%
generic claims · 16% brand-name · higher generic rates reduce patient out-of-pocket costs
MIPS score
93.7/100
▲ 10 pts above national avg 83.5 · Exceptional
Industry payments
$30.63
2 payments · CMS Open Payments (Sunshine Act)
Source: CMS Medicare Part D Prescriber Public Use File, 2023
What the federal data shows
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. reported a CMS MIPS final score of 93.7/100 - above the 83.5 national average - and filed 2,781 Medicare Part D claims in 2023.
- 93.7/100
- MIPS score · +10 vs avg
- 3K
- Part D claims, 2023
- 84%
- 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.
Federal trust snapshot
What official records show about Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.
Federal records show an active NPI with both Medicare prescribing volume and a measured CMS quality score — objective registry data, not patient reviews.
- Verified
NPI registry status
Active listing in the CMS National Provider Identifier Registry (NPI 1982600607), first enumerated 06/27/2005.
Source: CMS NPPES
- Reported
Medicare Part D participation
Filed 2,781 Medicare Part D prescription claims in the 2023 CMS public use file — indicates active Medicare prescribing participation.
Source: CMS Part D Prescriber PUF
- Reported
CMS quality reporting (MIPS)
Reported a CMS MIPS final score of 93.7/100 in the Quality Payment Program — a federal quality measure, not a patient review.
Source: CMS Quality Payment Program
- Reported
Board certification signal
Heuristic suggests board-certified status based on ABMS-eligible specialty taxonomy plus active CMS participation signals — not a direct ABMS verification.
- Reported
Hospital affiliations
1 CMS Care Compare hospital affiliation on record — practice footprint from the Doctors and Clinicians file.
Source: CMS Care Compare
- Reported
Industry payment transparency
$30.63 in reported industry payments (2 transfers) in 2024 under the federal Sunshine Act — disclosed transfers of value, not a quality rating.
Source: CMS Open Payments
- Not in federal data
Individual sanction lookup
PlainDoctor does not publish per-provider disciplinary determinations. Confirm current license and any individual actions through the state medical board or FSMB verification service.
Source: State medical board / FSMB
This trust snapshot summarizes only what appears in federal CMS/NPPES public records. It is not a composite score, star rating, patient review, or clinical recommendation. PlainDoctor never fabricates reviews or AggregateRating schema.
CMS NPPES provider registry desk
NPI 1982600607 · Nuclear Cardiology Physician
NPI-10 · ENUM-LEGACY · TAX-TRACE · MIPS-ELITE · RX-MID · BOOK-THIN · PHOTO-FINISH
- NPI-10 1982600607
- ENUM-LEGACY 2005
- TAX-TRACE 374
- MIPS-ELITE 93.7/100
- RX-MID 2,781
- BOOK-THIN 33 in New Jersey
- PHOTO-FINISH Liliya Yanovskaya · ±0.0
MIPS final-score neighbourhood
Same-specialty nationwide peers by CMS final score, not geographic proximity
- Kukafka · this p…
Kukafka · this provider
93.7 MIPS pts
- Liliya Yanovskay…
Liliya Yanovskaya
93.7 MIPS pts
- Venkatraman Srin…
Venkatraman Srinivasan
93.8 MIPS pts
- David Murello · …
David Murello
94.1 MIPS pts
- Mubashir Ahmed ·…
Mubashir Ahmed
94.1 MIPS pts
What this shows Nearest measured MIPS peers for this NUCC specialty (2023 performance year).
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s MIPS score vs every measured U.S. clinician
CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) final score, 2023, the federal quality measure. Clinicians whose score CMS assigned without scoring any category are excluded.
94 ≥ 69th percentile 69% of 454,083 measured providers are in lower value bands
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more measured 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.
The percentile is a conservative whole-score-point band: it counts only measured clinicians in lower score bands. A CMS MIPS metric is not a recommendation or a clinical-quality rating by PlainDoctor. See methodology § corpus placement.
Source CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) · 2023
Where Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. sits
This provider among nuclear cardiology physician peers
Across the 147 nuclear cardiology physician providers who report both Medicare Part D prescribing and a MIPS quality score, Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. writes more Part D claims than 37% of them and scores higher on MIPS quality than 65% - placing this provider in the lower-volume, high-quality quadrant. Volume reflects patient-panel size and specialty, not quality; the two axes are independent.
Each dot is one nuclear cardiology physician peer from a representative sample of 60; the gold marker is Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.. Source: CMS Medicare Part D Prescriber data and the CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System, 2023.
✓
Board certification likely (heuristic, not verified)
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. 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 Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.?
High performer (top quartile)Primary specialty
Nuclear Cardiology Physician
Medicare Part D claims
2,781 31% vs specialty avg
MIPS final score
93.7/100 10.2 pts vs avg
Specialty distribution in New Jersey
How Nuclear Cardiology Physician compares to other specialties among New Jersey providers
Medicare quality performance, MIPS
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s 2023 MIPS final score plotted against the Nuclear Cardiology Physician national average
- MIPS Final Score
- 93.7/100
- vs 83.5 national avg · 2023 performance year
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).
Practice Address
Provider Details
| NPI | 1982600607 |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Nuclear Cardiology Physician |
| Credentials | M.D. |
| Gender | Male |
| NPI Issued | 06/27/2005 |
CMS Quality Score (MIPS)
Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) scores from CMS, 2023 performance year.
93.7128
Final Score
Measured-score avg: 83.5
77.7931
Quality
100
Promoting Interoperability
Reporting: Alternative Payment Model
Hospital and facility affiliations
Facilities where Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. 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.
Robert Wood Johnson Physician Enterprise
Somerset, NJ
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 Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.. Source: openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Total received
$31
Largest payer
E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.
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 · Typical
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. - brand share 16.0%
Nuclear Cardiology Physician average
16% brand-name claims vs 84% generic, on 2,781 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.
2,781
Total Claims
$548K
Total Drug Cost
311
Medicare Beneficiaries
Prescribing Breakdown
- 30-Day Fills
- 7,151
- Total Day Supply
- 213,759
- Brand vs Generic
- 16% brand / 84% generic
- Brand Drug Cost
- $492K
- Generic Drug Cost
- $56K
Patient Demographics
- Average Patient Age
- 76.3 years
- Avg HCC Risk Score
- 1.30
- Gender Split
- 48% female / 52% male
Top Prescribed Drugs (Medicare Part D)
Top drugs by claim count for calendar year 2023. Based on Medicare Part D data only.
What Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. prescribes most
Top Medicare Part D drugs by claim count, 2023
- Metoprolol Succinate
Metoprolol Succinate
415 claims
- Atorvastatin Calcium
Atorvastatin Calcium
340 claims
- Eliquis
Eliquis
170 claims
- Amlodipine Besylate
Amlodipine Besylate
169 claims
- Rosuvastatin Calcium 135
Rosuvastatin Calcium
135 claims
- Clopidogrel 109
Clopidogrel
109 claims
- Ezetimibe 87
Ezetimibe
87 claims
- Furosemide 82
Furosemide
82 claims
| Drug | Claims |
|---|---|
| Metoprolol Succinate | 415 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 340 |
| Eliquis Apixaban | 170 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 169 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 135 |
| Clopidogrel Clopidogrel Bisulfate | 109 |
| Ezetimibe | 87 |
| Furosemide | 82 |
| Entresto Sacubitril/Valsartan | 81 |
| Losartan Potassium | 81 |
* Counts below 11 are suppressed by CMS for patient privacy. Generic names shown where available from CMS Part D data.
Nuclear Cardiology Physician Overview
How Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. fits within the Nuclear Cardiology Physician landscape nationally.
374
Nuclear Cardiology Physician Providers in US
37
States with Nuclear Cardiology Physician
4,019
Avg Claims per Provider
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s 2,781 claims are below the specialty average of 4,019.
Nationwide Nuclear Cardiology Physician peers with similar MIPS or enrollment year
Two federal-record peer sets for Kukafka, both outside New Jersey so the neighborhoods are not geographic containment.
Similar MIPS final score
Nearest same-specialty clinicians by CMS MIPS final score (93.7 here).
Same NPPES enumeration year (2005)
Same-specialty clinicians who entered the NPI registry in the same calendar year, outside this state.
Nearby Nuclear Cardiology Physician Providers in New Jersey
Other clinicians with the same primary specialty enrolled in New Jersey, drawn from the same CMS NPPES roster as Kukafka.
One of 33 Nuclear Cardiology Physician providers enrolled in New Jersey, 5 are shown here.
Dr. Michael Aaron
D.O.
Neptune, NJ
Dr. Anthony Altobelli
MD
East Brunswick, NJ
Dr. Mitchell Baruchin
M.D.
Jersey City, NJ
Dr. Lance Berger
M.D.
Toms River, NJ
Dr. Jaehoon Chung
M.D.
Rochelle Park, NJ
Compare Nuclear Cardiology Physician nationally: see state-by-state distribution →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s specialty? ▼
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. specializes in Nuclear Cardiology Physician and practices in Somerset, New Jersey. Credentials: M.D..
How much does Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. prescribe under Medicare Part D? ▼
In 2023, Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. wrote 2,781 Medicare Part D claims totaling $548K in drug costs for 311 beneficiaries.
What is Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s Medicare quality score? ▼
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. has a CMS MIPS Final Score of 93.7/100 (Quality: 77.8). The average MIPS Final Score across the 454,083 clinicians with at least one published category score is 83.5; clinicians whose score CMS assigned without scoring any category are excluded from that average. Source: CMS Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2023.
Where is Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. located? ▼
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. is located at 75 VERONICA AVE, Somerset, NJ, 08873. Phone: (732) 247-7444.
What is Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s NPI number? ▼
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s National Provider Identifier (NPI) is 1982600607, issued on 06/27/2005.
Does Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. prescribe more brand-name or generic drugs? ▼
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s prescribing is 16% brand-name and 84% generic drugs by claim count, with $492K in brand drug costs.
How many Nuclear Cardiology Physician providers are there in the US? ▼
There are 374 Nuclear Cardiology Physician providers across 37 states in the US. The average Nuclear Cardiology Physician provider writes 4,019 Medicare Part D claims per year.
What drugs does Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. prescribe most often? ▼
Based on 2023 Medicare Part D data, Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s most frequently prescribed drugs include Metoprolol Succinate, Atorvastatin Calcium, Eliquis. This reflects Medicare Part D prescriptions only and does not include commercial insurance or other payer types.
Does Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. accept Medicare? ▼
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D. appears in CMS Medicare data with 2,781 Part D claims and 311 Medicare beneficiaries in 2023. Contact the provider's office directly to confirm current Medicare enrollment and accepted plans.
How can I verify Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s credentials? ▼
Sheldon Kukafka, M.D.'s NPI is 1982600607 with credentials M.D.. 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
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.