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CMS NPPESCMS NPPES NPI Registry
U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services · Tier-2 · profile-enrichment (renders on matched profiles)
The National Provider Identifier (NPI) Registry is CMS's federal directory of healthcare providers and organizations. It is the canonical source for the 10-digit identifier used on HIPAA-covered claims and most commercial insurance billing.
How this source shows up on Fonteum.
We normalize NPPES records for provider identity, specialty-supply research, and public provider-record surfaces. Source, observation-date, and limitation metadata varies by field and response.
What this source does NOT mean
NPI records identify healthcare providers and organizations; they do not indicate quality, outcomes, or board certification. Confirm current credentials with the relevant state medical board or the ABMS / AOA registries.
Research and data questions this source supports.
- Resolve an NPI to available NPPES fields such as submitted taxonomy, credential text, and practice address; these fields do not establish licensure or credentialing.
- Join NPPES to PECOS, LEIE, or QPP MIPS only where the participating source row publishes the same NPI.
- Power a specialty-filtered provider directory with NPPES taxonomy codes — 1,700+ taxonomy types covering MD, DO, NP, PA, and allied health roles.
- Feed a RAG retrieval system that needs structured provider identity records (NPI, enumeration date, taxonomy) with source provenance attached.
- Enrich EHR referral data with NPPES provider location records to surface network coverage gaps by county.
Dataset size: ≈9,016,856 NPPES NPI records (July 12, 2026 platform observation; planner estimate)
Per-field display contract.
Fields listed below show their configured `display_allowed` flag from the §94 provenance schema. Fields marked write-locked are captured for audit and are not rendered on profile pages.
Renders on profile
4 fieldsWrite-locked — captured to provenance, not displayed
1 fieldWhat we can’t infer from this source.
- An NPI is an identifier, not a quality measurement.
- Inactive providers may retain an NPI for years after retirement. Fonteum's newest observed NPPES system date was June 10, 2026 when checked July 12; confirm current status against NPPES.
- Taxonomy codes are self-reported by providers at NPI enumeration time and may be out of date.
- Not every NPPES record carries a current address; Fonteum uses the Practice Location Address when present.
- Fonteum does not write match rows below 0.75 confidence; ambiguous matches (top-2 within 0.05 + both ≥ 0.75) are suppressed entirely.
Authority, license, publisher cadence.
Authority
U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Tier
Tier-2 · profile-enrichment (renders on matched profiles)
Publisher / configured cadence
Declared or configured cadence: CMS publishes NPPES on its own schedule. this is not a source-release date or a refresh promise. Not evidence of the latest loaded source date.
License
U.S. government public-domain data — free to use with attribution.
Official URL
Attribution requirement
Source: CMS NPPES · Last checked {YYYY-MM-DD}
What the source allows.
U.S. government public-domain works (https://www.usa.gov/government-works). Free to redistribute with attribution. No commercial-use restrictions; the only ToS-equivalent ask is that downstream consumers cite NPPES as the source. Bulk download is provided as the canonical CSV at the NPI Registry.
What a single field looks like in the graph.
This worked example shows the provenance shape used when a surfaced field has populated source, last-checked, display-rule, and confidence metadata. Individual fields may omit unavailable values.
Field
NPI (10-digit identifier)
Sample value
1063717142
Provenance line
Source: CMS NPPES · Last checked 2026-04-22 · Display rule: surface verbatim · Confidence: 0.91
Official API, bulk download, and Fonteum endpoints.
Official API / download
Bulk download
Fonteum surface
Common questions about CMS NPPES.
- What is an NPI and how does NPPES assign it?
- A National Provider Identifier is a permanent, intelligence-free 10-digit identifier assigned through CMS NPPES to eligible individuals and organizations. HIPAA-covered healthcare providers must obtain one for standard transactions. An enumerated individual is eligible for one Type 1 NPI; eligible organizations may have multiple Type 2 NPIs. The NPI does not establish licensure or credentialing.
- How often does NPPES update, and how fresh is Fonteum's copy?
- CMS publishes weekly incremental NPPES files and a monthly full-replacement download. Fonteum's newest production NPPES system timestamp observed in the July 12 audit was June 10, 2026. Displayed records should expose the available source and observation date; the site does not claim a completed six-month re-check cycle for every provider.
- Can I download the full NPPES NPI registry in bulk?
- Yes. CMS makes the full NPPES dataset available as a monthly CSV at npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/registry/downloadable. The file contains all active and deactivated NPI records. It is U.S. government public-domain data — no license fee, no redistribution restriction beyond attribution.
- What is an NPPES taxonomy code and what does it mean?
- NPPES taxonomy codes are from the NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set — a standardized classification covering more than 1,700 provider types and specialties. A taxonomy code like 207ND0101X identifies a provider as an MD in Dermatology, MOHS-Micrographic Surgery. Codes are self-reported by the provider at NPI enumeration time and may be updated via an NPPES record change request.
- Does an active NPI mean the provider is currently practicing?
- Not necessarily. An NPI is an administrative identifier that persists after retirement, credential lapse, or location change. An active NPI record does not constitute a quality assessment, credential endorsement, or appointment-availability signal. Check the response's observation date and confirm current practice status with the provider or relevant licensing authority.
Where this source already shows up.
Related sources in the graph
- /sources → The generated source-catalog subset — documented datasets Fonteum cites.
- /data-provenance → The provider graph — pipeline diagram, source-family clusters, field-level provenance examples, display rules.
- /methodology → Documented sourcing, publisher cadence, observed freshness, and corrections policy.
- /editorial-policy → Independence, sourcing, conflicts, corrections, retractions.