Provider records sourced from NPPES (CMS National Plan & Provider Enumeration System). Data current as of August 10, 2026.
NPIDirectory

Dr. Paula Christine Nicola, MD

Individual provider Addiction Medicine (Preventive Medicine) Physician · NPI 1659319010

Dr. Paula Christine Nicola, MD practises Ophthalmology in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Graduated from University of South Alabama College of Medicine in 2002, 24 years ago. Practices as a sole proprietor, works from 2 locations and accepts Medicare assignment. Licensed in Tennessee.

Years since qualifying
24
Trained at
University of South Alabama College of Medicine
Licensed in
TN
In the registry since
2006
Specialties on file
2
What do these letters mean?
MD — Doctor of Medicine
A physician who completed allopathic medical school.

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Practice location Address checks out

979 E 3rd St Ste 240
Chattanooga, TN 37403-2136
Phone: (423) 243-3330
Fax: (423) 648-6487
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Pin is approximate — placed at the ZIP-code centre, not the exact door.

Additional practice locations (1)

  • 5870 Highway-153, Hixson, TN 37343-3734 — (423) 243-3342

Specialties & licences

Ophthalmology Physician (primary) Taxonomy 207W00000X · Licence MD0000037970 (TN)
Addiction Medicine (Preventive Medicine) Physician Taxonomy 2083A0300X · Licence 0000037970 (TN)

Record details

NPI number1659319010
Entity typeIndividual (Type 1)
GenderFemale
Credentials MD
Sole proprietorYes
NPI enumeratedJune 4, 2006
Last updated in NPPESDecember 10, 2020
Certification dateDecember 10, 2020

Medicare enrollment

From the CMS Doctors & Clinicians file — this clinician is enrolled in Medicare.

Medicare specialtyOPHTHALMOLOGY
Medical schoolUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Graduated 2002 (24 years in practice)
Accepts Medicare assignment Yes — accepts the Medicare-approved amount

Procedures

From CMS Care Compare, which counts the procedures a clinician billed to Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage over a recent 12-month period. CMS reports a fixed list of common procedures, so this is not everything the clinician does. Counts of 10 or fewer are given as a range, because CMS withholds small numbers.

Cataract surgery 12 times · 34th percentile

The percentile compares how often this clinician performed the procedure with other clinicians who performed it, as CMS calculates it. It measures volume, not outcomes or skill.

Medicare patients and services, 2024

From the CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners file for calendar year 2024. It counts Original Medicare patients only, so a practice that mostly sees Medicare Advantage or privately insured patients looks smaller here than it is.

Medicare patients411
Services billed 1,156 a service is one billed item, such as a visit, a test or a procedure
Average patient age73

Dollar amounts are not shown. What Medicare pays a practice is gross billings, before staff, premises and tax and including the cost of any drugs it administers, so it is not what a clinician earns.

Payments from drug and device companies, 2025

Drug and device makers are required by federal law (the Physician Payments Sunshine Act) to report what they pay or give to clinicians, and CMS publishes the reports as Open Payments. This is the 2025 program year. A report is a record of a payment, not an allegation of anything, and many are small items such as meals. Only general payments are listed here; research payments and ownership or investment interests are reported separately by CMS and are not shown.

Food and Beverage $53 2 payments · a meal or drink at a meeting or visit, not a fee

Each amount is the sum of what companies reported for that kind of payment in 2025, rounded to the dollar. Not all of it is income to the clinician: a meal is not a fee, a charitable contribution goes to a charity, and a royalty or an acquisition payment is not a salary.

Check a report, or dispute one, at the source in CMS’s own tool, Open Payments. Corrections go through CMS’s dispute process. This site removes a home address on request and asks for no proof, because that is privacy; it will not remove an accurate payment report on request, because that is a statutory public disclosure.

Practises at

Facilities the CMS Facility Affiliation file lists for this clinician.

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