Health Information Compliance Alert

New options and features allow for easier access amongst providers and suppliers.

As privacy risks continue to mount, CMS updates its National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), simplifying the process and adding enhancements that make accessing the system more efficient and convenient.

In an effort to address longstanding issues with shared login information, particularly in practices that support type 2 providers, CMS streamlined the way both clinicians and suppliers “obtain and manage” their National Provider Identification (NPI) accounts, a recent MLN Matters release on the topic suggests.

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has modernized the NPPES (NPPES 3.0) that now has unified login for type 1 and type 2 providers,” MLN Matters SE17016 says. The brief adds that the change “increases security, provides new surrogacy functionality, has a more responsive User Interface (UI), and a streamlined NPI application process.”

Reminder: These new NPPES updates aren’t “limited or restricted to Medicare,” MLN Matters notes, but rather “include all physicians, providers, and suppliers.”

Resource: For a closer look at the MLN Matters SE17016, visit www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNMattersArticles/Downloads/SE17016.pdf.