CMS to Publish the National Plan and Provider Enumberation System (NPPES) Data Dissemination Notice
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be publishing the NPPES Data Dissemination Notice in the Federal Register. The Notice is now on display at the Office of the Federal Register and was published on May 30, 2007.
The Notice describes the policy by which CMS will make certain NPPES health care provider data available to covered entities under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and to others.
- NPPES health care provider data that are required to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was made publicly available on June 28, 2007, 30 days after the publication date of the Notice
- The FOIA-disclosable data was made available in an initial file downloadable from the Internet with monthly update files also downloadable from the Internet and in a query-only database whereby users can query by NPI or provider name
- The Notice encourages health care providers who have been assigned NPIs to review their NPPES data at this time and make any necessary updates or corrections prior to the end of the 30-day period to ensure their information is accurate when disclosed by CMS. Health care providers who are covered entities under HIPAA are required by regulation to update their NPPES data within 30 days of any change.
- The Notice states health care providers who wish to delete any NPPES data that was not required to be furnished in order to obtain an NPI may do so prior to the end of the 30-day period if they prefer the data not be disclosed by CMS
An advance copy of the Notice is available on the CMS Web site (PDF, 61 KB).
Important Information:
The PDF version of the Notice that is available from this Web page and the document published in the Federal Register may vary slightly if the editor at the Office of the Federal Register makes minor revisions. The official version of the Notice will be the one that is published in the Federal Register.
As always, more information and education on the NPI can be found at the CMS NPI page www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand on the CMS Web site. Providers/Suppliers can apply for an NPI online at https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov or can call the NPI enumerator to request a paper application at (800) 465-3203.
Getting an NPI is free and not having one can be costly.