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What is an NPI number?

What is an NPI number?

An NPI number is a ten-digit National Provider Identifier assigned through CMS's NPPES system to enumerated health care providers. Individuals receive Type 1 NPIs and organizations receive Type 2 NPIs. The identifier remains attached to the NPPES record, but it does not establish licensure, Medicare participation, credentials, or service quality.

Published
2026-07-20
Retrieved
Not reported
Snapshot
sha256:ad078f500f4e4c8f6a1b9109f0ec64f7440c725e9d3f903154536b39efcc6e1a
Data as of
2026-07-20

Source artifact receipts

Each receipt below describes its exact retained artifact or live source. Dates and digests never cross artifact boundaries.

NPPES NPI Registry

Evidence publisher: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Source date: 2026-07-20.

Published
Not reported
Retrieved
Not reported
Snapshot
Not retained for this live source artifact
Data as of
2026-07-20

No captured bytes are represented; use the live publisher link to re-check this source.

Scope and material limitation

What this answer covers

This answer is limited to NPI enumeration and public NPPES data. It does not merge a source record with unrelated people or organizations on name alone.

Dated source facts

What the cited record says

Source-snapshot manifest receipt

Reproducible lineage, explicitly unsigned

This receipt attests the source snapshot manifest, not any individual fact.

The answer-series chain record is unsigned. It does not authenticate a person, organization, eligibility state, or individual fact.

Snapshot manifest SHA-256
a57d4dec003c20b32aa0ef713826c3c4b4988170b2cfb30e49bb96cd6c3f4fdb
Previous chain SHA-256
54acbc5cfdd58c13550e59e3647d1dd8185d9b39fb7eada56b34652fd8faf91d
Current chain SHA-256
7b49ea103e956f816278cd001a0028df0161175faaef9b9b5e4093eb352f8b69
signature_linked_facts
0
Answer-series chain status
unsigned

Primary-source chain

Follow the answer to its source

  1. NPPES NPI RegistryCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)Accessed:

    Limitation: NPPES is provider-reported enumeration data. An NPI does not establish licensure, Medicare enrollment, identity beyond the published record, or quality.

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Methodology and limitations

How to interpret this answer

Methodology version: citation-answer/v1

  • Enumeration is not a credential or quality signal.
Read the methodology

Frequently asked questions

Questions about this answer

Can an organization have an NPI?
Yes. Eligible organizations are enumerated with a Type 2 NPI; individual providers use Type 1.

Cite this page as Fonteum, “What is an NPI number?,” published , modified .

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What’s on file, by the numbers

Platform snapshot · 2026-07-27

13.4Mproviders & companiesProviders, organizations, owners, and facilities on file
26.2Msource-linked factsSource-linked field facts in the dated platform snapshot
90sources with dataDistinct snapshot source IDs with at least one positive record count
79fresh sourcesDistinct source IDs whose latest positive-data snapshot falls within the preceding 45 days
111sources integratedActive registry rows; integration does not establish a load
13state Medicaid jurisdictionsDistinct states represented in the state-exclusions serving table

Integrated, with-data, and fresh-observation counts are separate. No platform-wide source-completeness count is published. Completeness is source-specific and must be evaluated against the named source's expected scope. State coverage is a separate jurisdiction measure.

Source authority is record-specific

Use the issuer named on the record.

Fonteum spans federal, state, and global public publishers. A source page or returned record identifies its issuer and dataset where that metadata is available. A platform registry count does not assign every page to one authority or establish loaded, fresh, or complete coverage.

Browse source records and their stated limitations →

Reproducible by design

Inspect the evidence each published figure actually supplies.

Source and date

Research pages expose the named public file and observation date where those fields are available. Source-file SHA-256 coverage is separate; facts do not currently link deterministically to signatures.

Available derivation

Studies with a retained release and committed derivation link the SQL or method used. Other studies state the evidence and reproduction limits they actually have.

Daily observations

Dated table row-count observations can detect local drift. They do not imply that an upstream publisher released or Fonteum ingested new data that day.

Named medical review

Reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD, medical reviewer. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

Read the full provenance and attestation methodology →

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