Our data and its limits

Connected public datasets

Provider profiles join public records using the exact 10-digit NPI. Practice groups use CMS organization PAC IDs; hospital names use CMS Certification Numbers. We do not match people by name alone. Missing matches mean information is unavailable in the imported files, not that an activity or relationship does not exist.

Background and affiliations

School, graduation year, specialties, telehealth indicators, and practice-group membership come from the CMS Doctors and Clinicians National Downloadable File. Hospital relationships come from the Facility Affiliation file, matched to Hospital General Information. A clinician appears once per group or hospital, even when several enrollment or address rows exist. These relationships may be historical and do not establish employment, insurance coverage, or current admitting privileges. “Other” school values are treated as not reported. Conflicting reported schools or years remain visible rather than being guessed.

Procedure activity

CMS Doctors and Clinicians Utilization data reports selected procedure categories using a one-year claims window with a reporting lag. The file covers Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage activity included by CMS. We show only records CMS marks for profile display. Published ranges such as “1–10” stay ranges, duplicate records are not added together, and scientific notation is displayed as its equivalent number. The publication date is not the end date of the claims window; we do not infer specific service dates that the file does not provide. Counts are not unique patient totals, lifetime experience, or evidence of outcomes.

See the CMS Doctors and Clinicians data dictionary for the source definitions and inclusion rules.

Similar service patterns

Comparisons use one calendar year of the CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners provider-and-service file, covering published Medicare fee-for-service activity. We sum non-drug service counts by HCPCS code across places of service, apply log(1 + count), normalize the vectors, and calculate cosine similarity. Suppressed or unpublished cells are not estimated. Candidates have the same current NPPES primary taxonomy and match the chosen practice location. We compare up to 500 candidates, using approximate distance order for radius searches and NPI order for exact-area searches and return up to 12 positive matches, ordered by similarity. A limit notice appears when the candidate set is larger. This is a comparison of published billing patterns, not a ranking of clinical skill or a recommendation.

Open Payments

The general-payment summary shows a single program year. Individual recipient IDs are joined to NPIs using the official covered-recipient summary; hospital recipient IDs are kept separate because their numbers can overlap. Reporting-company totals are checked against each recipient’s nature-of-payment totals to the cent before publication. These totals include transfers of value such as meals or travel; they are not salary or take-home income. Research payments, associated research funding, and ownership values are excluded. We link to the official CMS profile for the fuller record. No match is not a verified zero. Reported payments do not establish improper conduct or quality of care.

Imported source releases

Source: CMS National Downloadable File · Published Oct 15, 2026.

Source: CMS Facility Affiliation Data · Published Oct 15, 2026.

Source: CMS Utilization Data · Published Oct 15, 2026.

Source: CMS Hospital General Information · Published Aug 13, 2026.

Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners - by Provider and Service : 2024-12-01 · Published May 21, 2026.

Source: CMS 2025 payments grouped by covered recipient and nature of payments · Published Jun 30, 2026.

Source: CMS 2025 payments grouped by reporting entities, covered recipient, and nature of payments · Published Jun 30, 2026.

Release dates differ across datasets. Each section identifies its own source and publication date; it should not be read as a current verification. Data imports are validated before replacement so a failed update retains the previous release.

Community health centers and Medicare information

The affordable-care search lists locations from the HRSA Health Center Service Delivery and Look-Alike Sites file. Site type and setting are not lists of clinical services. Locations remain separate from individual NPI profiles; we do not assign clinicians to a center by a similar name. Contact the center about services, fees, eligibility, and appointments. Distances are approximate, not driving distances.

Medicare opt-out notices use exact NPI matches with currently effective dates in the imported CMS Opt-Out Affidavits file. An absent match does not establish Medicare acceptance, insurance participation, or whether a clinician is accepting new patients. Confirm your specific plan and location directly.

Published hospital, group, and clinician measures

Hospital measures are matched by CMS Certification Number, practice-group survey results by CMS group identifier, and clinician measures by NPI. Each result stays with the entity it describes: a hospital or group score is not an individual doctor's rating. We retain reporting periods, source notes, and unavailable values instead of treating missing or suppressed results as zero. These measures are not combined into an HCPList quality score.

Insurance-network filters are not currently available. Use your insurer's directory and confirm the plan, practice address, and service before booking.

HCPList uses public data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES).

Source and freshness

The current source release includes records through October 18, 2026. Each profile also shows the last update date reported for that particular record. These two dates describe different things: the source release date and the provider’s record update date.

We import the monthly downloadable file and apply published weekly updates. A failed import keeps the last successful dataset available. Public source files and their documentation are available on the official NPPES download page. You can independently look up a record in the CMS NPI Registry.

What the fields mean

• NPI: the unique 10-digit identifier assigned to the provider.
• Type 1: an individual provider. Type 2: an organization provider.
• Taxonomy: the provider’s reported classification or specialty. Common codes have plain-language labels. Where a label is unavailable, a matched CMS specialty is shown and marked (CMS). The original taxonomy remains in professional details.
• Practice location: the business practice address reported in the source. A mailing address may be different.
• Enumeration date: when the NPI was assigned. This is not the date a provider began practicing.
• Record updated: the update date reported by NPPES. It is not a verification date.

Important limits

Providers supply and maintain their registry information. Addresses, telephone numbers, taxonomy, credentials, and license numbers can be incomplete or outdated. Assignment of an NPI does not verify licensure or credentials. HCPList does not independently verify those claims.

We do not infer insurance participation, languages spoken, hospital affiliation, board certification, appointment availability, or quality ratings from NPI records. Deactivated records are identified by NPI and deactivation date without displaying their former provider details.

Public records and corrections

Business addresses in public records may sometimes be residential addresses. HCPList reproduces the address designated as a business practice location in the source. If your source information is incorrect, update it with NPPES. For concerns about this directory’s display, contact us.