As payors begin making the transition from legacy provider numbers to the new universal National Provider Identifiers (NPIs), physicians will not only have to include their own NPIs on claims, but also will have to include the NPIs of referring physicians and health care facilities.

Obtaining NPIs from referring providers can be a time-consuming hassle. To facilitate this process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on September 4 will finally launch its online NPI registry. The online tool will allow physicians and other covered entities to look up NPIs simply by entering the provider or facility name into an online database.

The online registry will return NPIs and relevant demographic information, but it will not disclose Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or IRS taxpayer identification numbers, according to CMS.

The registry will be found here on September 4.

Contact: CMA’s reimbursement help line, 888/401-4911 or gfonseca@cmanet.org.