In a Jan. 28 listserv message, CMS released the file of physicians and other practitioners who are eligible to order and refer under Medicare — and who have an enrollment record in the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS).
The file includes approximately 800,000 records in an alphabetical list of names and NPI numbers. The PDF is available on the CMS Web site, but note before opening the file that it's more than 13,000 pages long.
The CMS message follows in its entirety:
As stated in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provider listserv messages that were sent last fall concerning CRs 6417 and 6421, CMS has made available a file that contains the National Provider Identifier (NPI) and the name (last name, first name) of all physicians and non-physician practitioners who are of a type/specialty that is eligible to order and refer in the Medicare program and who have current enrollment records in Medicare (i.e., they have enrollment records in PECOS that contain an NPI). This file is downloadable from the Medicare provider/supplier enrollment web site: www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnroll: click on "Ordering/Referring Report" on the left-hand side.
This .pdf file contains approximately 800,000 records. A new file will be made available periodically that will replace the posted file; at any given time, only one file (the most recent) will be available. The file can be viewed online. In addition, it can be downloaded by users with technical expertise and further sorted or manipulated. It can also be used to search for a particular physician or non-physician practitioner by NPI or by name. Please note 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. (4) Deceased physicians and non-physician practitioners are not included in the file. (5) 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 (https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/NPIRegistryHome.do).
Keep in mind that the record in the NPI Registry is not the Medicare PECOS enrollment record.
