What is the National Provider Identification Number (NPI)?
The National Provider Identification Number (NPI) is a unique 10-digit number that is assigned to healthcare providers in the United States. The National Provider Identifier (NPI) is a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Administrative Simplification Standard that allows providers to have one national identifier. The NPI is used for identification purposes by insurance companies, hospitals, health care clearinghouses, and other health care providers. Healthcare providers acquire their own 10-digit NPIs to identify themselves in a standard manner across their sector. In the HIPAA standards transactions, the NPI must be used in place of legacy provider identifiers. Providers that are covered by HIPAA are required to provide their NPI with other providers, health plans, clearinghouses, and any health and human services that may need it for billing purposes, according to the Federal Regulation.