The Medicare Ordering and Referring file contains around 800,000 records and is available on the CMS Web site. Updates will be made periodically to the file, according to the report.
Users can download the PDF file and use the search feature to locate a particular physician or non-physician practitioner by NPI or by name. CMS notes the following:
1. Records are in alphabetical order based on the surname of the physician or non-physician practitioner;
2. Name suffixes (e.g., Jr.), if they exist, are not displayed;
3. There are no “duplicates” in the file. Many physicians or non-physician practitioners share the same first and last name; their corresponding NPIs are the assurance of uniqueness; and
4. Deceased physicians and non-physician practitioners are not included in the file.
Also, if a user is unsure of a physician or non-physician practitioner’s NPI, he or she can look it up in the NPI Registry.
Read the AAPC’s report on the Medicare Ordering and Referring file.
