Reminder from Medical Economics on the NPI numbers and the article answers some commonly asked questions...BD
One crucial deadline for implementing the NPI has already passed. As of March 1, doctors are required to put the NPI in the primary-provider fields of electronic Medicare claims, although they're free to include their old "legacy" identifier, such as a Medicare Provider Identification Number (this deadline didn't apply to claims processed by private insurers). CMS claims data from early February suggest that providing both identifiers is what most physicians have done.
However, on May 23, that option will disappear. You'll be required to use only the NPI on electronic claims submitted to Medicare and private payers alike. From that day on, adding the legacy numbers will trigger a rejection, at least by Medicare (more on that later). The requirement applies not only to electronic claims—the vast majority received by Medicare—but those on paper. While HIPAA technically doesn't govern the world of paper, it allows payers to require the NPI on hard copy claims, and that's what Medicare and some private payers have done.
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