----- Original Message #1 -----
From: CMS CMSProviderResource
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009
Subject: National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) -
Secure, Maintain and Update Your information

NPPES - Secure, Maintain and Update Your information

This message is for health care providers, particularly physicians and
other practitioners, who have obtained National Provider Identifiers
(NPIs) and have records in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration
System (NPPES). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
recommends that each health care provider, including individual
physicians and non-physician practitioners:

· Secure and maintain their own NPPES account information
(i.e., User ID, Password, and Secret Question/Answer) for safety and
accessibility purposes. Health care providers should maintain the
confidentiality of their User ID, password, and Secret Question/Answer
in order to protect their NPPES information from unauthorized access.

· Reset their NPPES passwords at least once a year. See the
NPPES Application Help page at https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/Help.do
and select the 'Reset Password Page' for applicable rules. Those rules
indicate the length, format, content and requirements of NPPES
passwords.

· Review their NPPES records in order to ensure that the
information reflects current and correct information. Covered health
care providers are required to update their NPPES information within 30
days of the effective date of the change.


Viewing NPPES Information

Health care providers, including physicians and non-physician
practitioners, can view their NPPES information in one of two ways:

(1) By accessing the NPPES record at
https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/Welcome.do and following the NPI
hyperlink and selecting Login. The user will be prompted to enter the
User ID and password that he/she previously created. *

* If the health care provider has forgotten the password, enter the
User ID and click the "Reset Forgotten Password" button to navigate to
the Reset Password Page. If the health care provider enters an
incorrect User ID and Password combination three times, the User ID will
be disabled. Please contact the NPI Enumerator at 1-800-465-3203 if the
account is disabled or if the health care provider has forgotten the
User ID.


OR


(2) By accessing the NPI Registry at
https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/NPIRegistryHome.do. The NPI Registry
gives the health care provider an online view of Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA)-disclosable NPPES data. The health care provider can search
for its information using the name or NPI as the criterion.
Information regarding NPPES data that are FOIA-disclosable can be found
at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand/ by selecting 'Data
Dissemination'.

Please note: Business Mailing Address and Business Practice location
information (full address and corresponding telephone numbers) are key
data elements that are FOIA-disclosable. Health care providers should
not report their residential address unless it is their Business Mailing
Address or Business Practice location. The NPPES data appearing on the
NPI Registry cannot be deleted; however, it can be updated or changed.


Updating NPPES Information

Health care providers, including physicians and non-physician
practitioners, can correct, add, or delete information in their NPPES
records by accessing their NPPES records at
https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/Welcome.do and following the NPI
hyperlink and selecting Login. The user will be prompted to enter the
User ID and password that he/she previously created.

Please note: Required information cannot be deleted from an NPPES
record; however, required information can be changed/updated to ensure
that NPPES captures the correct information. Certain information is
inaccessible via the web, thus requiring the change/update to be made
via paper application. The paper NPI Application/Update Form
(CMS-10114) can be downloaded and printed at
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/cmsforms/downloads/CMS10114.pdf.


Deactivating the NPI

Health care providers, including physicians and non-physician
practitioners, can deactivate their NPIs if the NPIs are no longer
required or needed. Reasons for deactivation include retirement,
business dissolved, or death of the health care provider. A request for
deactivation must be submitted via paper application. The paper NPI
Application/Update Form (CMS-10114) can be downloaded and printed at
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/cmsforms/downloads/CMS10114.pdf. Health care
providers should review the instructions located on the application
regarding deactivations in order to properly complete the deactivation
request. The Power of Attorney or Executor of the Will may complete the
application for deactivation due to death of the health care provider.




----- Original Message #2-----
From: CMS CMSProviderResource
Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009
Subject: National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES)
Update Announcement for Physicians

PHYSICIANS!

Did an academic medical institution or university obtain your NPI
for you?
If so, is your NPPES record up to date?

Health care providers, including physicians, began applying for
National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) on May 23, 2005. Since then, the
National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) has assigned
nearly 3 million NPIs. More than 700,000 NPIs have been assigned to
physicians.

Many physicians were assigned their NPIs upon their graduation from
medical school. Often, the administrative staff at the physicians'
academic medical centers or universities applied for the physicians'
NPIs. The administrative staff handled similar actions for their new
physicians and had, in their records, all the information that needed to
be furnished on the application for an NPI. Some of these NPIs may have
been assigned as long as 4 years ago.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required by
regulation to make available to the public certain information about
health care providers that is contained in their NPPES records. This
information includes the name, provider type (e.g., physician), business
practice location address, business mailing address, and business
practice location telephone number. Publicly available NPPES
information can be found in the NPI Registry, a query-only database
which anyone can access on the Internet
(https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/NPIRegistryHome.do), and in a monthly
downloadable file that individuals with the necessary technical
expertise can download from the Internet
(http://nppesdata.cms.hhs.gov/CMS_NPI_files.html). Health plans, health
care clearinghouses, health care providers, and others with a need to
know can easily use the NPI Registry to view data for a particular
health care provider simply by entering the health care provider's name
or NPI. The downloadable file is used primarily by health plans and
other large health industry organizations that need information for all
or most of the health care providers who have NPIs and who may need to
sort or otherwise manipulate the data in the file to suit their business
needs.

Now, months or years later, many of the physicians whose academic
medical centers or universities obtain their NPIs for them have moved on
in their careers to new locations. Many have not updated their NPPES
information to show new business practice location addresses, business
mailing addresses, or business practice location telephone numbers. As
a result, the information in the NPI Registry and in the downloadable
file is out of date. Academic medical centers and universities whose
addresses and telephone numbers were entered into NPPES as the business
practice locations, business mailing addresses, and business practice
location telephone numbers for the physicians who they formerly employed
are now being burdened with the receipt of mail and telephone calls for
physicians who are no longer there.

It is not the responsibility of the academic medical centers or the
universities to continue to update the NPPES records of physicians who
are no longer working for them. In most cases, the academic medical
centers and universities do not have the updated information and,
therefore, are unable to contact the physicians to ask that they update
their NPPES information.

Unless physicians have agreements in place for others to keep their
NPPES information up to date, the physicians themselves are responsible
for ensuring that their NPPES records contain accurate and current
information.

Some of these physicians may have enrolled in health plans and may
be sending claims electronically to health plans or conducting other
electronic health transactions with health plans. These physicians are
"covered entities" under the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA). As covered entities, they are required by
regulation to update their NPPES records within 30 days of any change.
Those who have NPIs but who do not conduct electronic health
transactions with health plans, and, thus, are not covered entities, are
encouraged to keep their NPPES information up to date.

We remind all health care providers who have NPIs, not just the
physicians specially noted above, to view their NPPES records and, if
corrections are necessary, to furnish the updates. Health care
providers who established User IDs and passwords in NPPES can easily
access their NPPES records to make updates. Those who did not establish
User IDs and passwords may do so at any time. For assistance in setting
up User IDs and passwords, or in situations where the User ID or
password has been forgotten, health care providers should contact the
NPI Enumerator at 1-800-465-3203. If they prefer, health care providers
may furnish their updates by filling out the paper NPI application (Form
CMS-10114) and mailing the completed form to the NPI Enumerator. The
instructions are on the form, along with the mailing address of the NPI
Enumerator. The form may be downloaded from the CMS forms web page
(www.cms.hhs.gov/cmsforms) or one may be obtained by contacting the NPI
Enumerator at the number above.

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