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National Provider Identifier (NPI) (GEN)
Posted May 10, 2007
The urgent message at present is, "NPI: Get It. Share It. Use It." You may have seen this repeated many times. Unfortunately, despite the repeated and extensive educational efforts by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), there are still providers who have not obtained their National Provider Identifier (NPI), and without that NPI, would not be able to be paid for their services after May 23, 2007. For those who have not applied for the NPI, the information is available on the CMS NPI page at www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvidentStand. Providers can apply for an NPI online at https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov, or call to request a paper application at 800-465-3203. CMS has established a contingency period to allow providers to obtain an NPI as soon as possible. It is estimated that it may take as long as 120 days to work this into an office's business system. The contingency period is not provided to allow further delay in obtaining an NPI. For those who have not obtained their NPI, we urge you to pursue this most important matter. |