How NPI Fetch works
NPI Fetch is a friendly front end for the public NPPES NPI Registry run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). We're not part of CMS.
Live lookups
When you search, your browser sends the search to our server, which passes it to the CMS registry and returns the answer. Browsers can't ask the registry directly, so we relay it. Searches are not saved. We keep standard access logs for 30 days (IP address, page requested, time), and the text of a search is sent in the body of the request, not in the web address, so it doesn't appear in those logs. Results are cached for ten minutes to reduce load on CMS, and we limit how many searches one visitor can make a minute.
Tax ID (EIN) lookups
CMS doesn't publish tax IDs: the EIN column in its public data file is blank or marked unavailable for every record. So the EIN tool uses a different public source: the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations (Exempt Organizations Business Master File, September 2026). We look the EIN up there, then search the NPI registry for organizations with the same name in the same state and rank them by name and address similarity. That produces leads, not confirmed links, and it covers tax-exempt organizations only. We never search Social Security numbers. See Can you look up an NPI by tax ID?
What we show, and what we leave out
We show the NPI, name or organization, status, dates, practice location and phone, specialties with their taxonomy codes, license numbers the provider listed and other identifiers. We leave out mailing addresses and authorized-official details; each record links to the official registry for everything else.
Counts and specialty pages
The counts come from the monthly NPPES data file (September 13, 2026). We tallied active NPIs by the state of the practice location and by each provider's primary taxonomy code, and kept only the totals. Specialty names and definitions come from the NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy, version 26.1. We refresh the counts periodically, so they trail the live registry.
Limits
- An NPI doesn't prove a license, a certification or good standing. Check licenses with the state board.
- Records are only as current as providers keep them. Addresses and specialties can be out of date.
- Counts are of records, not practicing clinicians.
- Don't rely on this site for medical, legal or billing decisions. Confirm with the provider and the payer.