As a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Final Rule adopting the NPI as the standard unique identifier for health care providers became effective May 23, 2005. As of this date, health care providers became eligible to receive this 10 position, intelligence-free, numeric identifier assigned by the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). The goal of the NPI is to simplify the administration of the health care system and enable efficient electronic transmission of certain health information.

All health care providers are eligible to receive NPIs. HIPAA covered entities, such as providers completing electronic transactions, must include the NPI to identify covered health care providers in standard transactions by May 23, 2008.

United Concordia is committed to the successful implementation of the NPI and will be providing continued communication to our providers on this issue. To help with the transition, United Concordia has defined the following timeline for acceptance of NPIs on electronic transactions:

• February 2006 - United Concordia began obtaining and storing NPIs from providers.
• October 2006 - United Concordia began accepting NPIs in addition to UCCI numbers on electronic claim submissions. The NPI is optional, but the United Concordia number is still required.
• May 1, 2007 - United Concordia was able to accept and transmit NPIs on all electronic transactions.
• May 23, 2007 -  Federal compliance date. Covered entities must obtain and use the NPI in standard electronic transactions.
• May 23, 2008 -  Federal contingency plan compliance date. Covered entities who did not meet the May 23, 2007, deadline for compliance must obtain and use the NPI in standard electronic transactions.