Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

CMS adopts ID numbers for health care providers

Physician Practice Advisor, January 28, 2004

In a move that will mean a little less paperwork and hassle for doctors, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) adopted the National Provider Identifier (NPI) as the standard identification number for health care providers to use when they file claims with all health care insurers, effective May 23, 2005. Under the rule, health care providers will be issued one fixed number.

All health care providers covered under HIPAA must obtain an NPI, though non-covered entities are also eligible to apply for a number. Covered entities are providers who "transmit any data in electronic form in connection with a transaction for which the Secretary of Health and Human Services has adopted a standard," according to CMS.

CMS will develop a National Provider System to issue NPI numbers by May 23, 2005, after which CMS will begin accepting NPI applications. Large health plans and the physicians they work with must comply with the NPI rule by May 23, 2007; small health plans and the physicians they work with must comply by May 23, 2008.

Most Popular