Are NPI numbers public?

Yes. NPI numbers are public federal identifiers in CMS NPPES. This page shows the public NPPES facts Fonteum has for NPI 1972603371: provider name, entity type, taxonomy, practice location, enumeration date, last-updated date, and source snapshot date. It does not include patient information.

What does the NPI record show for Stephen Hightower?

Stephen Hightower (NPI 1972603371) appears in CMS NPPES as urologist in Long Beach, CA. NPPES is administrative identity data submitted to CMS by providers and organizations; this page displays the source snapshot date as 2026-05-06.

Does this page assign a provider score?

No derived score is assigned on this provider page. NPPES is an identity registry; when a CMS QPP MIPS value is available, Fonteum displays that public CMS value with its source, and absence of a MIPS value is not a quality signal.

Does no exclusion match amount to a clearance?

Coverage is indeterminate, so this page makes no negative exclusion determination. This is not a clearance; check the current issuing-agency lists.

Where does the provider data come from?

The identity fields come from CMS NPPES. Additional sections appear only when a public source has a matching row, such as CMS PECOS, CMS Open Payments, Medicare Part D, CMS QPP MIPS, OIG LEIE, or state Medicaid exclusion lists. Source and date metadata appears where the response supplies it; unavailable dates are labeled.

Stephen Hightower — NPI 1972603371: exclusion

Name: Provider record — NPI 1972603371 (Stephen Hightower)
Creator: Fonteum
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-works

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The primary sources, named on every page.

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Source and date

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Daily observations

The platform records table row counts daily. Those observations 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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Stephen Hightower — NPI 1972603371: exclusion — Fonteum

Cross-source identity

Sources that publish this NPI

National Provider Identifier 1972603371 appears in the source rows shown below. Sources that do not publish NPI use their own identifiers and are not treated as deterministic NPI matches. Chips show response-supplied dates when available; otherwise they are labeled date unavailable.

NPPESOPEN PAYMENTS

Federal sources carrying NPI 1972603371
Federal source	Key	What it provides	Source & date
CMS NPPES	NPI 1972603371	Registry identity — urologist, taxonomy 208800000X	Source:CMS NPPESSnapshot 2026-05-06
CMS Open Payments	NPI 1972603371	26 industry-payment records, 2024	Source:CMS Open PaymentsSnapshot PY2024
CMS Medicare Part D	NPI 1972603371	35 drugs prescribed, 2024	Source:CMS Part DSnapshot DY2024

Industry payments

Open Payments received

Payments and transfers of value this clinician received from drug and device manufacturers, disclosed under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. A payment is a disclosure, not a judgment.

$486

Total received

Payment records

Manufacturers

2024-12-04

Latest payment

Top categories

Largest payment categories by dollars
Nature of payment	Amount	Records
Food and Beverage	$486	26

Top manufacturers

Largest paying manufacturers by dollars
Manufacturer	Amount	Records
Abbvie Inc.	$161	11
Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc.	$68	3
Accord Healthcare, Inc.	$67

Source:CMS Open PaymentsSnapshot PY2024National Open Payments analysis →

Prescribing

Medicare Part D prescribing

Prescriptions written under Medicare Part D, aggregated by drug across the program. Totals reflect claims paid, not patients treated.

3,344

Part D claims

$287,303

Total drug cost

Distinct drugs

1,226

Beneficiaries (≥)

Highest-cost drugs prescribed
Drug	Claims	Drug cost
Gemtesa(Vibegron)	109	$94,431
Myrbetriq(Mirabegron)	94	$89,365
Tamsulosin Hcl	898	$19,017
Elmiron(Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium)	11	$15,696
Finasteride	708	$10,912

Beneficiary counts below 11 are suppressed by CMS — the total shown is a lower bound.

Source:CMS Medicare Part DSnapshot DY2024

Ownership & affiliations

Who owns, operates, or is affiliated with this provider

Chain membership, ownership, and operating relationships from federal records — each one backed by a government source row. Most individual clinicians have none; owners and organizations carry more.

Ownership and affiliation records
Relationship	Entity	Source
← pays	Janssen Biotech, Inc. (PA)	cms open payments
← pays	Boston Scientific Corporation (MA)	cms open payments
← pays	Novo Nordisk Inc (NJ)	cms open payments
← pays	Abbvie Inc. (IL)	cms open payments
← pays	Accord Healthcare, Inc. (NC)	cms open payments
← pays	Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MA)	cms open payments
← pays	Endo Usa, Inc. (PA)	cms open payments
← pays	Tolmar, Inc. (CO)	cms open payments
← pays	Teleflex Llc (PA)	cms open payments
← pays	Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc. (UT)	cms open payments

Full record card →Entity JSON

Stephen Hightower

Public NPPES answers

Are NPI numbers public?

What does the NPI record show for Stephen Hightower?

Does this page assign a provider score?

Does no exclusion match amount to a clearance?

Where does the provider data come from?

Sources that publish this NPI

Open Payments received

Top categories

Top manufacturers

Medicare Part D prescribing

MIPS quality score

Standing

Who owns, operates, or is affiliated with this provider

Retained versions for this record

Stephen Hightower

Public NPPES answers

Are NPI numbers public?

What does the NPI record show for Stephen Hightower?

Data-use and correction resources.

Does this page assign a provider score?

Does no exclusion match amount to a clearance?

Where does the provider data come from?

Sources that publish this NPI

Open Payments received

Top categories

Top manufacturers

Medicare Part D prescribing

MIPS quality score

Standing

Who owns, operates, or is affiliated with this provider

Retained versions for this record

Context for this record