The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has given health care providers an additional 16 days to review their data in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). This gives providers additional time to review any data that would be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. Your updates, changes or deletions must be submitted no later than July 16, 2007 to be reflected in the initial downloadable file, which will now be disseminated on August 1, 2007. You can update your information via the NPPES web site address below, or through the paper application form (CMS10114).
Physicians should delete any “optional” or personal information entered into data fields that will become public information, including, for example, Social Security numbers (SSN#) or individual tax ID numbers (ITINs), if submitted in the field, “Other Provider Identifier.” This field should contain only the legacy numbers previously assigned by third-party payers and needed to establish NPI crosswalks. These numbers include PINs, UPINs, NSC or OSCAR. Physicians also should remove home address or other private residence information, if entered in the “Provider Business Mailing Address” fields, as these fields will also become public. Data fields the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is excluding in the NPPES data dissemination are the SSN#, ITIN, provider, date of birth, state and country of birth. AAOS members are encouraged to review their personal data file as soon as possible. To update and delete "optional" data elements from your application, access your application by using your established UserID and passwords, contact the NPI Enumerator at 1-800-465-3203 (toll-free), or go to:
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