getting your npi

As soon as you have your license, you need to obtain a type 1 NPI even if you are not sure where or how you are going to practice. This will be your identifying number for your entire professional career.

The Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandate the adoption of standard unique identifiers for health care providers, as well as the adoption of standard unique identifiers for health plans. The purpose of these provisions is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the electronic transmission of health information.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) which collects identifying information on health care providers and assigns each a unique National Provider Identifier (NPI). Corporate or group practices, including the corporation formed when an individual doctor of optometry incorporates him/herself, are required to also obtain a type 2 NPI for the group practice or corporation.

National Provider Identifier (NPI) Enumerator

Contact by phone:
(800) 465-3203
(800) 692-2326 — TTY