The 1996 HIPPA Act mandated the adoption of a standard unique health identifier for healthcare providers, thus the birth of the National Provider Identifier (NPI).

The NPI is a 10-digit number that will remain with you for life, regardless of job or location changes. The NPI will replace all of the multiple healthcare provider identifiers in use today including the UPIN and those identifiers used for interactions with various health plans.

Effective May 23, 2007, the NPI will become the only identifier accepted by the federal government in electronic healthcare claims and other transactions. In other words, without an NPI, you will not be paid for federal government healthcare claims.

All healthcare providers are required to obtain a NPI if they conduct transactions electronically. When billing, all claims must include the NPT for all providers on a claim including the referring, ordering, and attending providers. Therefore, even of you are not required by rule to have a NPI (because you do not conduct transactions electronically), a NPI is still required in order to process claims.

All HIPPA-covered healthcare providers, whether they are individuals or organizations, must obtain a NPI for use to identify themselves in HIPAA standard transactions. Once issued, a provider's NPI will not change. The NPI remains with the provider regardless of job or location changes. HIPAA covered entitles such as providers completing electronic transactions, healthcare clearinghouses and large health plans, must use only the NPI to identify covered providers in standard transactions by May 23, 2007.

Get it!
Visit nppes.cms.hhs.gov to apply for your NPI.

Share it!
Send to all hospitals, practices, and recruiting groups.

Use it!
Share your NPI with physicians billings for referred patient services.