Jose Cardenas, MD | UniHealth

Offices

2 locations · Cep America - California · Emergency Physicians Associates San Jose PC

Looking this up.

Hospitals listed: Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. That is not proof they admit you there this week.

Plan participation

Not verified

We could not verify current plan participation for this doctor. This does not mean they are out of network. Call Dr. Cardenas’s office to ask if they take your plan before you enroll.

California Medical Board record

Licence A167034 · Current

Licensed to practise in California · since 2019 · expires 2027-12-31 · Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

No disciplinary actions, convictions, malpractice judgments or citations in this record.

Hospitals they work in

1 hospital

These rate the hospital, not this clinician. Most measures at most hospitals are no different from the national rate.

Santa Clara Valley Medical CenterSan Jose, CAAcute Care Hospital · Government - Local · Has an emergency department · Birthing-friendlyPart of Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System, which runs 3 hospitalsPatients rate it 3 of 5 · 70% would definitely recommend it
Overall rating: 2 of 5 starsWorse than the national rate — SSI - Colon Surgery: 2.572, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025Better than the national rate — Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection (ICU + select Wards): 0.563, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025Better than the national rate — Clostridium Difficile (C.Diff): 0.256, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025Better than the national rate — MRSA Bacteremia: 0.369, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025

See every measure and the patient survey for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

Behind the star rating — Deaths: 2 better, 6 the same, 0 worse of 8 measures. Safety: 2 better, 5 the same, 1 worse of 8 measures. Readmissions: 0 better, 10 the same, 1 worse of 11 measures. The star rating is worked out from an earlier period than the measures below, so the two can disagree.

Sort by

Every scored measure at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

SSI - Colon SurgeryInfections	2.572	Worse	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection (ICU + select Wards)Infections	0.563	Better	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
Clostridium Difficile (C.Diff)Infections	0.256	Better	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
MRSA BacteremiaInfections	0.369	Better	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
Abdominopelvic accidental puncture or laceration rateComplications and deaths	1.25 (0.3 to 2.2) · 1,535 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
CMS Medicare PSI 90: Patient safety and adverse events compositeComplications and deaths	1.07 (0.76 to 1.38)	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Death rate among surgical inpatients with serious treatable complicationsComplications and deaths	214.59 (167.38 to 261.8) · 108 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Death rate for CABG surgery patientsComplications and deaths	2.8 · 41 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Death rate for COPD patientsComplications and deaths	6 · 141 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Death rate for heart attack patientsComplications and deaths	10.2 · 124 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Death rate for heart failure patientsComplications and deaths	8.3 · 501 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Death rate for pneumonia patientsComplications and deaths	14.9 · 653 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Death rate for stroke patientsComplications and deaths	10.1 · 348 cases	None	Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
Hybrid Hospital-Wide All-Cause Risk Standardized Mortality RateComplications and deaths	3 · 4,502 cases	None	Jul 2024 – Jun 2025
Iatrogenic pneumothorax rateComplications and deaths	0.24 (0.04 to 0.43) · 9,014 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
In-hospital fall-associated fracture rateComplications and deaths	0.34 (0.15 to 0.52) · 9,216 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Perioperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis rateComplications and deaths	4.54 (2.51 to 6.58) · 1,421 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Postoperative acute kidney injury requiring dialysis rateComplications and deaths	1.54 (0 to 3.2) · 288 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma rateComplications and deaths	2.11 (0.66 to 3.56) · 1,446 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Postoperative respiratory failure rateComplications and deaths	11.61 (4.09 to 19.14) · 294 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Postoperative sepsis rateComplications and deaths	7.29 (3.39 to 11.2) · 299 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Postoperative wound dehiscence rateComplications and deaths	1.9 (0.45 to 3.36) · 333 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Pressure ulcer rateComplications and deaths	0.23 (0 to 0.78) · 7,538 cases	No different	Jul 2022 – Jun 2024
Rate of complications for hip/knee replacement patientsComplications and deaths	5.4 · 94 cases	None	Apr 2023 – Mar 2025
Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (ICU + select Wards)Infections	0.735	No different	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
SSI - Abdominal HysterectomyInfections	2.573	No different	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) 30-Day Readmission RateUnplanned return visits	14.6 · 185 cases	None	Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
Heart failure (HF) 30-Day Readmission RateUnplanned return visits	22.1 · 951 cases	None	Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
Hospital return days for heart attack patientsUnplanned return visits	56.3 · 128 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Hospital return days for heart failure patientsUnplanned return visits	6.4 · 644 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Hospital return days for pneumonia patientsUnplanned return visits	1.3 · 699 cases	None	Jul 2022 – Jun 2025
Pneumonia (PN) 30-Day Readmission RateUnplanned return visits	16.3 · 921 cases	None	Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
Rate of emergency department (ED) visits for patients receiving outpatient chemotherapyUnplanned return visits	5.7 (3.9 to 8.1) · 226 cases	No different	Jan 2024 – Dec 2024
Rate of inpatient admissions for patients receiving outpatient chemotherapyUnplanned return visits	12.6 (9.4 to 16.5) · 226 cases	No different	Jan 2024 – Dec 2024
Rate of readmission after hip/knee replacementUnplanned return visits	5.4 · 94 cases	None	Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
Rate of readmission for CABGUnplanned return visits	11.4 · 54 cases	None	Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
Rate of readmission for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patientsUnplanned return visits	20.3 · 242 cases	None	Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
Rate of unplanned hospital visits after colonoscopy (per 1,000 colonoscopies)Unplanned return visits	13.2 (9.9 to 17.4) · 702 cases	No different	Jan 2022 – Dec 2024
Ratio of unplanned hospital visits after hospital outpatient surgeryUnplanned return visits	1 (0.7 to 1.4) · 195 cases	No different	Jan 2024 – Dec 2024

What patients said (4,032 patients answered, 29% of those asked)

Sort by

Patient survey stars by topic at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

Cleanliness	3
Nurse communication	3
Doctor communication	3
Communication about medicines	3
Discharge information	2
Overall hospital rating	3
Quietness	2
Recommend hospital	4

Sort by

Share of patients giving the best answer at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

Room was "always" clean	70%
Nurses "always" communicated well	73%
Doctors "always" communicated well	76%
Staff "always" explained	57%
Yes, staff "did" give patients this information	82%
Yes, staff "did" give patients information about help after discharge	82%
Doctors "always" explained things so they could understand	71%
Doctors "always" listened carefully	74%
Doctors "always" treated them with courtesy and respect	82%
Patients who gave a rating of "9" or "10" (high)	67%
Staff "always" explained new medications	71%
Nurses "always" explained things so they could understand	71%
Nurses "always" listened carefully	69%
Nurses "always" treated them with courtesy and respect	80%
"Always" quiet at night	43%
"YES", patients would definitely recommend the hospital	70%
Staff "always" explained possible side effects	44%
Yes, staff "did" give patients information about possible symptoms	83%

Original Medicare doctor bills

$44,929

Medicare paid this office $44,929 for 298 people.

This is what Medicare paid the clinician — not Medicare Advantage, and not the pharmacy.

Sort by

Largest Original Medicare bills

Emergency department visit with high level of medical decision making	152	$22,511	$142
Critical care, first 30-74 minutes	67	$13,032	$195
Emergency department visit with moderate level of medical decision making	32	$3,252	$99
Routine electrocardiogram (ecg) using at least 12 leads with interpretation and report only	151	$1,183	$7
Ultrasound of heart, follow-up	17	$402	$24

See all 7 services

Sort by

Every Original Medicare service billed

Emergency department visit with high level of medical decision making	152	$22,511	$142
Critical care, first 30-74 minutes	67	$13,032	$195
Emergency department visit with moderate level of medical decision making	32	$3,252	$99
Routine electrocardiogram (ecg) using at least 12 leads with interpretation and report only	151	$1,183	$7
Ultrasound of heart, follow-up	17	$402	$24
Limited ultrasound scan of abdomen	15	$396	$26
Ultrasound scan of chest	15	$365	$24

Who their Medicare patients are

298 Original Medicare patients in 2024. Average age 72 · Under 65 19% · 85 and older 16% · Women 44% · Also on Medicaid 83% · Health risk score 2.46. Above the middle of the specialty; the typical emergency medicine clinician is at 2.01.

Conditions among them: High blood pressure 75% · Diabetes 52% · Chronic kidney disease 38% · Coronary heart disease 35% · Heart failure 31% · Depression 30% · Atrial fibrillation 26% · COPD 22% · Dementia 21% · Stroke 19% · Cancer 16%.

The office billed $358,845, Medicare allowed $60,202 and paid $44,929; for 514 services of 27 kinds.

Original Medicare patients only. A risk score of 1.0 is the average Medicare patient; higher means sicker. Any count under 11 is hidden.

Year by year

Sort by

Original Medicare by year

2024	298	514	72	2.46	$358,845	$44,929
2023	254	311	71	1.98	$306,156	$37,257
2022	301	357	71	2.07	$353,230	$49,229
2021	111	129	67	2.52	$120,238	$16,820

Original Medicare only. A service billed for fewer than 11 people in a year is hidden, so the lines can add up to less than the year's total.

See the services billed each year

2023: 4 services

Sort by

Original Medicare services billed in 2023

Emergency department visit with high level of medical decision making	134	$20,144	$145
Critical care, first 30-74 minutes	43	$7,991	$186
Emergency department visit with moderate level of medical decision making	65	$6,358	$95
Routine electrocardiogram (ecg) using at least 12 leads with interpretation and report only	24	$175	$7

2022: 4 services

Sort by

Original Medicare services billed in 2022

Emergency department visit with high level of medical decision making	161	$28,299	$169
Emergency department visit with moderate level of medical decision making	83	$9,189	$108
Critical care, first 30-74 minutes	35	$7,592	$217
Emergency department visit with low level of medical decision making	25	$1,473	$55

2021: 2 services

Sort by

Original Medicare services billed in 2021

Emergency department visit with high level of medical decision making	71	$11,884	$163
Emergency department visit with moderate level of medical decision making	29	$2,976	$103

Medicaid work

$71,331 in 2024

Medicaid paid $71,331 for 2,093 billed services this clinician did in 2024, up to 67 people in a month for one service.

Medicaid and CHIP claims where this clinician did the service, fee-for-service and managed care together. Any month with fewer than 11 patients is hidden, so small Medicaid practices undercount.

Sort by

Largest Medicaid services in 2024

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT HIGH MDM	623	$29,720
EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT MOD MDM	556	$25,624
Critical care, evaluation and management of the critically ill or critically injured patient; first 30-74 minutes	135	$8,006
Service	93	$3,512
Electrocardiogram, routine ECG with at least 12 leads; interpretation and report only	450	$2,056
EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT LOW MDM	39	$820
New patient visit (45+ min)	24	$663
Blood count; complete (CBC), automated (Hgb, Hct, RBC, WBC and platelet count) and automated differential WBC count	54	$439
Long return visit (40+ min)	13	$259
Service	93	$138
Return visit (30+ min)	13	$93

Sort by

Medicaid work by year

2024	2,093	11	67	$71,331
2023	4,188	21	158	$298,213
2022	5,637	22	154	$347,554
2021	1,440	21	107	$87,073
2020	74	2	32	$2,415

See the largest Medicaid services in earlier years

2023

Sort by

Largest Medicaid services in 2023

EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT MOD MDM	1,404	$143,136
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT HIGH MDM	791	$98,313
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT MAY NOT REQ PHYS/QHP	259	$14,825
Service	274	$10,018
Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection (specify substance or drug); intravenous push, single or initial substance/drug	120	$8,938
Critical care, evaluation and management of the critically ill or critically injured patient; first 30-74 minutes	42	$7,774
EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT LOW MDM	48	$3,325
Service	183	$2,506
COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL	203	$2,346
Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection (specify substance or drug); each additional sequential intravenous push of a new substance/drug (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure)	47	$1,971
Blood count; complete (CBC), automated (Hgb, Hct, RBC, WBC and platelet count) and automated differential WBC count	216	$1,866
Electrocardiogram, routine ECG with at least 12 leads; interpretation and report only	131	$541

2022

Sort by

Largest Medicaid services in 2022

EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT LOW MDM	1,428	$102,344
EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT MOD MDM	776	$87,037
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT HIGH MDM	570	$86,533
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT MAY NOT REQ PHYS/QHP	431	$22,228
Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection (specify substance or drug); intravenous push, single or initial substance/drug	213	$14,882
Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (coronavirus disease [COVID-19]), influenza virus types A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus, multiplex amplified probe technique	64	$8,923
Service	210	$7,685
COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL	321	$3,144
Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection (specify substance or drug); each additional sequential intravenous push of a new substance/drug (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure)	52	$2,599
Blood count; complete (CBC), automated (Hgb, Hct, RBC, WBC and platelet count) and automated differential WBC count	327	$2,367
Electrocardiogram, routine ECG with at least 12 leads; tracing only, without interpretation and report	81	$2,070
2019-ncov coronavirus, sars-cov-2/2019-ncov (covid-19), any technique, multiple types or subtypes (includes all targets), non-cdc	51	$1,966

2021

Sort by

Largest Medicaid services in 2021

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT HIGH MDM	246	$28,896
EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT LOW MDM	379	$22,434
EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT MOD MDM	262	$21,156
Service	107	$3,974
Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (coronavirus disease [COVID-19]), influenza virus types A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus, multiplex amplified probe technique	20	$2,750
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT MAY NOT REQ PHYS/QHP	48	$2,669
Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection (specify substance or drug); intravenous push, single or initial substance/drug	26	$1,857
Service	62	$1,002
Therapeutic, prophylactic, or diagnostic injection (specify substance or drug); each additional sequential intravenous push of a new substance/drug (List separately in addition to code for primary procedure)	17	$794
COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL	40	$378
Blood count; complete (CBC), automated (Hgb, Hct, RBC, WBC and platelet count) and automated differential WBC count	44	$327
Miscellaneous therapeutic items and supplies, retail purchases, not otherwise classified; identify product in "remarks"	44	$142

2020

Sort by

Largest Medicaid services in 2020

Service	62	$2,316
Blood count; complete (CBC), automated (Hgb, Hct, RBC, WBC and platelet count) and automated differential WBC count	12	$99

Drugs they prescribed that Part D paid

$1,607

Pharmacies billed $1,607 in 2024.

This is pharmacy cost, not the office bill, and not what patients paid.

120 generic and 11 brand-name prescriptions · $1,607 in drug cost · 45 antibiotic prescriptions to 39 people.

Part D prescriptions only. The opioid rate is opioid prescriptions as a share of all this clinician's Part D prescriptions; surgeons and pain specialists run higher than others, so it is shown against the same specialty.

Sort by

Largest Part D drug costs

Cephalexin	14	$59	$4

Year by year

Sort by

Part D prescribing by year

2024	131	86	None	8%	$1,607
2023	117	88	None	None	$1,504
2022	121	83	None	None	$1,550
2021	117	90	14% (16)	None	$2,643
2020	105	77	None	None	$1,699
2019	64	47	0% (0)	None	$1,690

Part D prescriptions only. A drug prescribed to fewer than 11 people in a year is hidden.

See the drugs prescribed each year

2023: 1 drug

Sort by

Part D drugs prescribed in 2023

Cephalexin	14	$222	$16

2022: 1 drug

Sort by

Part D drugs prescribed in 2022

Cephalexin	14	$92	$7

2021: 2 drugs

Sort by

Part D drugs prescribed in 2021

Cephalexin	19	$129	$7
Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen	12	$42	$4

2020: 2 drugs

Sort by

Part D drugs prescribed in 2020

Ibuprofen	25	$144	$6
Cephalexin	17	$142	$8

2019: 2 drugs

Sort by

Part D drugs prescribed in 2019

Cephalexin	11	$104	$9
Ibuprofen	13	$68	$5

Money from drug and device companies

$11 in 2021

A payment is not proof that care is biased.

Sort by

Payments by company

Janssen Pharmaceuticals	Xarelto	$11	1 payment Meals for Xarelto · 2021-09-27 · $11

See the published payment

Sort by

Every published payment

Janssen Pharmaceuticals	Meals · 2021-09-27	Xarelto	$11

Checkups this office reported

Medicare did not publish checkup rates for this clinician.

Medicare’s overall office score: 94.6 / 100; Scores the office’s reporting and systems. It is not a grade for how the doctor treats you.

Professional record

NPI: 1790272847
Licence: CA A167034California A167034: Current · expires 2027-12-31
Trained: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, 2018
Group: Cep America - California · Emergency Physicians Associates San Jose PC
Gender: Male

More record details

Sole proprietor: No
Taxonomy: Federal specialty code 207P00000X (207P00000X)
Mailing address: 1150 N Indian Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA, 92262
NPI first listed: 2018-04-15
NPI last updated: 2021-08-13
NPI record certified: 2021-08-13

This is when the NPI record was last certified, not a medical board exam.