Important Update (5/25/07): CMS to Publish the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination Notice(This notice is from Highmark Medical Services.)
On May 30, CMS will publish the NPPES Data Dissemination Notice that describes the policy by which CMS will make certain NPPES health care provider data available to covered entities under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and to others. The health care provider data that are required to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) will be made publicly available on June 28.
The FOIA-disclosable data will be made available in an initial file downloadable from the Internet, with monthly update files also downloadable from the Internet, and in a query-only database whereby users can query by NPI or provider name.
The Notice encourages health care providers who have been assigned NPIs to review their NPPES data at this time and make any necessary updates or corrections prior to the end of the 30-day period to ensure that their information is accurate when disclosed by CMS. (Health care providers who are covered entities under HIPAA are required by regulation to update their NPPES data within 30 days of any change.)
The Notice states that health care providers who wish to delete any NPPES data that was not required to be furnished in order to obtain an NPI may do so prior to the end of the 30-day period if they prefer that those data not be disclosed by CMS.
An advance copy of the Notice is available at this link.
Important Update: CMS Issues Contingency Plan
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a contingency plan for National Provider Identifiers (NPI). Previously, CMS had announced that on May 23, payors would begin requiring the use of individual NPI numbers on all HIPAA standard transactions that are in use and identify you as a provider.
For an update on the contingency plan, refer to the following:
Read "Guidance on Compliance with the HIPAA NPI Rule" (after the May 23, 2007 implementation deadline) (pdf)