NPI registration: how to get a National Provider Identifier (NPI number) on NPPES

What is an NPI (National Provider Identifier) number?

An NPI number is the National Provider Identifier: a 10-digit number that identifies a health care provider on insurance claims and the other HIPAA standard transactions. The tenth digit is a check digit, and the number carries no information about you, such as your state or specialty (45 CFR 162.406). It's issued once, for good: an NPI isn't given to anyone else even after it's deactivated (45 CFR 162.408).

Question	Answer
Who issues it	CMS, through NPPES. There's one national system; states and insurance plans don't issue NPIs.
What it costs	Nothing. CMS charges no fee to apply for one (CMS, how to apply), and none to look one up (CMS, data dissemination).
Who must have one	Every health care provider that's a HIPAA covered entity, meaning it sends claims or other standard transactions electronically, and the prescribers it employs or contracts with. Any other provider may apply for one (45 CFR 162.410).
Who sees it	Everyone. The registry is public, updated daily, and an active NPI's record can't be hidden (NPPES privacy information). Search any NPI with our NPI lookup.
What it isn't	A license, a Medicare or Medicaid enrollment, or a contract with any plan. Each of those is its own application, and every one of them asks for your NPI first.

Type 1 or Type 2: decide first

There are two kinds, and you pick one on the first screen of the application. A Type 1 is for a person who provides care; a Type 2 is for an organization, such as a PLLC, group practice, clinic or treatment program. A person gets one Type 1 for life. Whether you also need a Type 2 depends on your legal setup, not on how many people work with you:

You are	Apply for
A clinician employed by, or contracting with, a practice or program	A Type 1 only. Your employer bills under its own Type 2.
A sole proprietor billing in your own name	A Type 1 only, even if you have an EIN for the business.
The owner of a PLLC or professional corporation	Your Type 1, and a Type 2 for the entity once it has its EIN.
A group, clinic, IOP or PHP	A Type 2 for the organization (and possibly its subparts), and every clinician gets their own Type 1.

The details, including when a solo clinician needs a Type 2 and the taxonomy codes behavioral health providers use, are in NPI Type 1 vs Type 2. Settle the entity with your attorney or CPA before you apply for a Type 2: the NPI follows the entity's EIN and legal name.

What the application asks for

Gather these before you log in, so you can finish in one sitting. CMS estimates the online application takes about 20 minutes (CMS, getting an NPI).

Item	Type 1 (individual)	Type 2 (organization)
Identity	Your legal name, Social Security number and date of birth. I&A verifies your identity with the SSN and birth date you give when you register, and you can't change them later.	The legal business name and EIN exactly as the IRS issued them. Never put an SSN in the EIN field.
Who's applying	You, or a surrogate you approve	The authorized official: an owner or officer who can legally bind the organization, with their title and phone
Other names	Former or professional names, if any	Other names the organization uses, if any
Addresses and phone	A mailing address, and the practice location address and phone, which become public	The same, for the organization
Taxonomy	At least one code from the NUCC list, with your license number and state where it applies	At least one code that fits the organization (a clinic or group code)
Contact person	Who NPPES should contact about the application	The same; often the office manager

NPI registration online, step by step

1. Create your I&A account. Every NPPES login is an Identity & Access Management System account; from the NPPES home page, follow the link to create one. If you already have an I&A account (from PECOS, for example) and are applying as an individual provider, use that same user ID (NPPES, apply for an NPI).
2. Log in to NPPES and start a new application. Choose Individual (Type 1) or Organization (Type 2), and say whether you're applying for yourself or as a surrogate for a provider.
3. Fill in the profile. Name, identifiers and, for a Type 2, the EIN and authorized official. Add former or professional names if you have them.
4. Enter the addresses. Use the practice address you'll also put on CAQH and every plan application, character for character. The practice location and phone appear in the public registry.
5. Pick your taxonomy. You must list at least one. The first one you enter becomes the primary by default, and you can change which is primary later (NPPES taxonomy help). Codes come from the National Uniform Claim Committee; pick the one that matches your license, such as 101YP2500X for an LPC.
6. Add the contact person, then review every page. Complete, accurate information is what keeps the application moving; NPPES says missing or wrong details delay processing.
7. Certify and submit. You certify that the application is from, or on behalf of, a health care provider as HIPAA defines one (45 CFR 160.103). Save the confirmation. A saved application you don't submit is treated as abandoned after 30 days without activity.

Once the NPI is issued, search your own record in the registry or our NPI lookup and check every field, because the insurance plans will read exactly what's there.

Applying for an organization, and subparts

• The authorized official applies or approves it. That's someone who can legally bind the organization. Our roadmap puts the Type 2 right after the EIN, because NPPES wants the EIN and the IRS legal name, and the plans will compare both with the W-9 and the IRS letter.
• Subparts. A covered organization must get an NPI for any part of itself that would be a covered provider if it were a separate legal entity, and may get NPIs for other parts that qualify (45 CFR 162.410(a)(1)). The CMS-10114 says an organization may get NPIs for itself and for any subparts it determines need them, and CMS's enumeration guidance says a subpart is generally eligible when it's a health care provider with its own identifying data. A program that bills two locations or two levels of care separately is the usual case.
• Plans can't make you get another NPI once you have one (45 CFR 162.412), though CMS notes a plan may ask that a subpart of an enrolled organization get its own. Ask each plan before you split one program into several NPIs; every extra NPI is another set of enrollments to keep current.

Applying for someone else: surrogates and bulk

An office manager, credentialing specialist or consultant can do the work without the provider's password:

• Surrogates in I&A. The surrogate requests a connection to the provider in I&A ("My Connections"), and the provider approves it. If an individual provider can't approve online, the surrogate can send CMS the Optional Surrogacy Confirmation form signed by both. A connection doesn't expire until either side turns it off, and it doesn't let the surrogate sign Medicare enrollment applications for the provider (I&A FAQs). This is how we work for clients: we send a surrogate request for you to approve, and we never ask for your password.
• Bulk enumeration. An employer or other trusted organization can apply for many providers at once through CMS's Electronic File Interchange (EFI), after getting each provider's permission (CMS, how to apply).

The paper NPI application (CMS-10114)

The paper route is the CMS-10114, NPI Application/Update Form, which also handles updates. The revision CMS lists as of October 2026 is Rev. 07/2026; NPPES stopped accepting the older Rev. 08/21 after December 31, 2025, so download a fresh copy rather than using one saved years ago. Mail it to the address printed on the form, or call the NPI Enumerator at 1-800-465-3203 to have one sent. Paper is slower than the web application, so use it only if you can't apply online.

How long it takes

CMS doesn't publish a processing time; it says the online application gets the fastest processing. In the solo practices and programs we open, our roadmap allows five days for each NPI. What slows one down is a mismatch: a business name that isn't the IRS name, an SSN in the EIN field, or details that don't match the identity check. To check on an application, contact the NPI Enumerator (1-800-465-3203, TTY 1-800-692-2326); questions about Medicare enrollment go to your Medicare contractor instead.

After the NPI is issued

The NPI is the first item on every credentialing application, so the next steps follow from it:

1. Check the public record in the NPI lookup: name, taxonomy, practice address and phone.
2. Give it to whoever bills for you, and put it in your EHR. On a claim, the Type 2 is the billing provider and each clinician's Type 1 the rendering provider.
3. Build or update your CAQH profile. Our CAQH ProView guide shows where both NPIs go.
4. Enroll where you'll bill: Medicare in PECOS (LPCs and LMFTs since 2024; see Medicare for counselors and MFTs), Texas Medicaid through TMHP, and each commercial plan. The whole order is in how to get credentialed with insurance.

Keeping it current

• 30 days. A covered provider must report changes to its required NPPES information within 30 days of the change (45 CFR 162.410(a)(4)): a new practice address or phone, a name change, a new license or taxonomy. Log in to NPPES and edit the record; you keep the same number.
• NPPES doesn't tell anyone else. After an update, tell Medicare, Texas Medicaid, CAQH and each plan. An address that's current in NPPES but old everywhere else still denies claims.
• Deactivation. CMS can deactivate an NPI when an organization dissolves, when an individual provider dies, or for other reasons that justify it, and can reactivate one; a deactivated NPI is never reassigned (45 CFR 162.408). Closing a PLLC? Tell NPPES once its last claims are paid so its Type 2 can be deactivated; your Type 1 stays with you.

Mistakes that slow an application

• A Type 2 for a business that isn't an entity. A sole proprietor gets a Type 1 only; a Type 2 with no entity behind it won't match a contract.
• The organization's name isn't the IRS name, down to "PLLC" and punctuation. Plans match it character by character.
• An SSN typed in the EIN field, which NPPES warns against.
• The wrong taxonomy as primary, such as the addiction counselor code for an LPC credentialed as an LPC.
• A home address as the practice location without thinking it through: the practice location is public, and there's no opting out.
• A second application instead of a call to the Enumerator about the first.

The rules: 45 CFR 162.402–162.414

The NPI comes from HIPAA's administrative simplification rules, 45 CFR part 162, subpart D:

Section	What it says
162.402	Reserved (no text)
162.404	Compliance dates: covered providers and most health plans by May 23, 2007; small health plans by May 23, 2008
162.406	The standard: the NPI is a 10-position number with a check digit in the tenth position and no information about the provider in it
162.408	What the National Provider System does: assigns one NPI per provider (and to subparts), deactivates and reactivates NPIs, and never reassigns a deactivated one
162.410	Providers: get an NPI (and for qualifying subparts), use it on standard transactions, give it to anyone who needs it for one, report changes within 30 days, make employed or contracted prescribers get one; non-covered providers may apply
162.412	Health plans: use providers' NPIs on standard transactions, and don't require a provider that has an NPI to get another
162.414	Clearinghouses: use the NPI where a standard transaction requires it

Read the full text on the eCFR or Cornell LII.

Opening a group or program? The NPIs, subparts and facility contracts are part of the IOP / PHP Program Launch. Or book a free 30-minute call.

Questions

How do I get an NPI number?

Apply online at nppes.cms.hhs.gov: create an I&A account, log in, start an application for an individual (Type 1) or organization (Type 2), enter your identifying details, addresses and at least one taxonomy code, certify and submit. You can also mail the paper CMS-10114 form.

How much does it cost to get an NPI number?

Nothing. CMS doesn't charge to apply for an NPI or to search the registry. Be wary of any site that charges a fee to "register" you; the application is free on NPPES.

How long does it take to get an NPI?

CMS doesn't publish a set time and says the online application is the fastest. Our launch roadmap allows five days per NPI for a complete online application; a mismatch with IRS or identity records can hold it up.

Can I apply for an NPI online?

Yes, and CMS recommends it. The online application in NPPES takes about 20 minutes once you have your details together.

How do I apply for an NPI for my organization?

The authorized official, someone who can legally bind the organization, applies in NPPES for a Type 2 using the EIN and legal business name exactly as the IRS issued them, or approves a surrogate to do it. Get the EIN first.

Do I need an NPI if I don't take insurance?

HIPAA requires one only of providers who send standard electronic transactions such as claims. Any provider may still apply, and you'll want one before you give clients superbills or apply to a plan later.

Can someone else apply for my NPI?

Yes. A surrogate requests a connection to you in the I&A system and you approve it, or an employer applies through bulk enumeration with your permission. Never share your password.

Do I get a new NPI if I move or change jobs?

No. A Type 1 NPI is yours for life. Update your address and practice details in NPPES within 30 days and tell your plans separately.

Is an NPI the same as a license?

No. The NPI identifies you on claims; your state board issues your license. The taxonomy code on your NPI says what kind of provider you are but doesn't prove a license.

What is the NPPES phone number?

The NPI Enumerator answers NPPES questions at 1-800-465-3203 (TTY 1-800-692-2326): application status, a lost NPI, login trouble and paper forms.

Sources

• CMS, how to apply for an NPI and getting an NPI (MLN)
• NPPES help: apply for an NPI, taxonomy, privacy information; Identity & Access FAQs
• CMS, CMS-10114, NPI Application/Update Form
• CMS, guidance on NPI enumeration (subparts)
• 45 CFR part 162, subpart D: eCFR; Cornell LII §162.406, §162.408, §162.410, §162.412
• National Uniform Claim Committee, Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set