National Provider Identifier

National Provider Identifier

A National Provider Identifier or NPI is a unique 10-digit identification number issued to health care providers in the United States by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The NPI has replaced the unique provider identification number (UPIN) as the required identifier for Medicare services, and is used by other payers, including commercial healthcare insurers. The transition to the NPI was mandated as part of the Administrative Simplifications portion of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and CMS began issuing NPIs in October 2006.[1] HIPAA covered entities such as providers completing electronic transactions, healthcare clearinghouses, and large health plans were required by regulation to use only the NPI to identify covered healthcare providers by May 23, 2007. CMS subsequently announced that as of May 23, 2008, CMS will not impose penalties on covered entities that deploy contingency plans to facilitate the compliance of their trading partners (e.g., those healthcare providers who bill them). The posted guidance document can be used by covered entities to design and implement a contingency plan. Details are contained in a CMS document entitled, "Guidance on Compliance with the HIPAA National Provider Identifier (NPI) Rule." Small health plans have one additional year to comply.

All individual HIPAA covered healthcare providers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, dentists, chiropractors, physical therapists, athletic trainers etc.) or organizations (hospitals, home health care agencies, nursing homes, residential treatment centers, group practices, laboratories, pharmacies, medical equipment companies, etc.) must obtain an NPI for use in all HIPAA standard transactions, even if a billing agency prepares the transaction. Once assigned, a provider's NPI is permanent and remains with the provider regardless of job or location changes.

Other health industry workers, such as admissions and medical billing personnel, housekeeping staff, and orderlies, who provide support services but not health care, are not required to obtain the NPI.

The NPI was proposed as an 8-position alphanumeric identifier. However, many stakeholders preferred a 10-position numeric identifier with a check digit in the last position (the first 9 positions are the identifier and the last position is a check digit) to help detect keying errors. The NPI contains no embedded intelligence; that is, it contains no information about the health care provider, such as the type or location of the health care provider.

The NPI must be used in connection with the electronic transactions identified in HIPAA. In addition, the NPI may be used in several other ways:

  1. by health care providers to identify themselves in health care transactions identified in HIPAA or on related correspondence;
  2. by health care providers to identify other health care providers in health care transactions or on related correspondence;
  3. by health care providers on prescriptions (however, the NPI will not replace requirements for the Drug Enforcement Administration number or State license number);
  4. by health plans in their internal provider files to process transactions and communicate with health care providers;
  5. by health plans to coordinate benefits with other health plans;
  6. by health care clearinghouses in their internal files to create and process standard transactions and to communicate with health care providers and health plans;
  7. by electronic patient record systems to identify treating health care providers in patient medical records;
  8. by the Department of Health and Human Services to cross reference health care providers in fraud and abuse files and other program integrity files;
  9. for any other lawful activity requiring individual identification

The NPI number can be obtained online through the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) pages on CMS's website.[2] Turnaround time for obtaining a number is almost instantaneous, unusual for a medical credentialing operation. NPI numbers can be searched on the CMS website listed in external links 'National Plan and Provider Enumeration System information from CMS'.

A 10-digit NPI Number may be validated using the Luhn algorithm by prefixing "80840" to the 10-digit number.

Notes

  1. ^ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): HIPAA - General Information Retrieved 15 August 2006
  2. ^ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) National Provider Identifier (NPI) for Health Care Providers Retrieved 14 February 2007

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • National Athletic Trainers' Association — Motto Health Care for Life Sport Formation 1950 Type Professional association Headquarters Dallas, Texas Location …   Wikipedia

  • National Westminster Bank — Plc Type Public Limited Company Industry Financial Services Founded 1968 …   Wikipedia

  • National identification number — A national identification number, national identity number, or national insurance number is used by the governments of many countries as a means of tracking their citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents for the purposes of work,… …   Wikipedia

  • NPI — National Provider Identifier (Internet) New Product Introduction (Business » General) ** Non Public Information (Governmental » US Government) * Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund (Business » NYSE Symbols) * Numbering Plan Indicator (Computing… …   Abbreviations dictionary

  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers… …   Wikipedia

  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — HIPAA, acronyme anglais de « Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act », est une loi votée par le congrès des États Unis en 1996 et qui concerne la santé et l assurance maladie. Les rapporteurs de la loi étaient les sénateurs …   Wikipédia en Français

  • NPI — may refer to: Numbering plan indicator New Politics Initiative New product introduction New product innovation Negative polarity item (Linguistics) National Policy Institute National Provider Identifier Nickel pig iron No Pun Intended Northwest… …   Wikipedia

  • Check digit — A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for error detection, the decimal equivalent of a binary checksum. It consists of a single digit computed from the other digits in the message. With a check digit, one can detect simple errors in… …   Wikipedia

  • Luhn algorithm — The Luhn algorithm or Luhn formula, also known as the modulus 10 or mod 10 algorithm, is a simple checksum formula used to validate a variety of identification numbers, such as credit card numbers, IMEI numbers, National Provider Identifier… …   Wikipedia

  • UPIN — A unique physician identification number, or UPIN, is used by Medicare to identify doctors across the United States. UPINs are six place alpha numeric identifiers assigned to all physicians.The United States Congress authorized the creation of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”