Updated 2026-07-31
An NPI lookup starts at the public NPPES registry — identity, entity type, taxonomy, and registry status — which NPI Registry Lookup queries live. The registry never carries the Medicare side: the public enrollment signal, ordering/referring flags, opt-out status, and exclusion review signals from the loaded OIG and state lists. NPI Registry Lookup shows both halves in one result, with source and vintage named on every line.
The NPPES registry is where NPIs are assigned and the identity record of reference: name, Type 1 or Type 2 entity, taxonomies, practice location, and the NPI's status including deactivation dates when they exist. Several of those fields are self-reported by the provider, so read them as reported details, not verified facts. This site queries the registry live at lookup time and stamps the result with the query timestamp.
Search works by 10-digit NPI or by provider and organization name with candidate disambiguation — see how to find an NPI by name and how to verify a number.
Each signal names its source file and the data's vintage, and absence from any public file is not presented as a negative finding and never treated as proof — files lag their sources, and the result says exactly what was and was not found.
Checking the registry alone answers identity questions; checking enrollment files alone answers Medicare questions about a number you already trust. Reading both halves together is stronger: confirm the NPI is the right, active identity, then read the Medicare signals against it — one pass, one evidence trail, source and vintage on every line. For decisions like credentialing or hiring, these public signals are a starting point, not the whole file: state licensure, DEA registration, and NPDB history are not checked here.
The registry half is the same public data, queried live. The difference is the second half: the public Medicare signals — enrollment, opt-out, ordering/referring, exclusions — that the registry itself never carries, shown beside the record with their sources.
No. Lookups are free and open; an optional account adds a watchlist for providers you track, and changes nothing about the data shown.
Run a free NPI lookup — the live registry record plus the loaded public Medicare signals, with source and vintage evidence on each line