Once you download the NPI data into a format where you can access it, you can start to decide what to do with it. This article will suggest several ways that records in the NPI database can be used to help your company boost revenue, increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Your first option is to go to the NPI Web site and search for one record at a time. Doing it that way isn't very efficient, but it has the advantage of not requiring any technical abilities greater than navigating a Web site and cutting and pasting text. It's the best option for when you only need to look up a handful of providers.
Insurers, billing services, large medical practices and other such businesses can source the NPI data to append NPI numbers to all of their records in one pass instead of adding them one at a time by hand. Updating records in a batch process would save countless hours of labor that would be spent to comply with government mandates. This time would either be used in small blocks by updating and adding NPI numbers to records as they are used or in a large block by dedicating many resources to updating the data at once. Either way is a labor expense, not to mention a dreary task for those who have to do it.
There are some technical requirements for appending records. First, you'll need a system that can access the NPI database you have downloaded at the same time it can access the database where you want to add NPI numbers. Your database will need to have a unique identifying number in your records (such as a UPIN) that matches to the same number in the NPI database. An alternative would be a data integration project where a program looks at the addresses and phone numbers in each record and suggests which record in your database matches a record in the NPI database. Once the matching is done, the system can be instructed to add the NPI number to a dedicated NPI field.
Once you have appended NPI numbers to all records, you have the opportunity to get a fuller picture of how customers do business with you because you have the potential for using a unique identifying number across all your lines of business. In the past, you may have only been able to see customers by looking at account numbers, missing the opportunity to understand customers who had multiple accounts across your company. For example, lab companies may find this useful because doctors may have multiple account numbers for different types of jobs or to take advantage of specific buying group discounts.
Finally, after you've added the NPI numbers to your records and linked customers across lines of business you can find prospects in the NPI data. Using the same methods that helped link NPI records and get a full view of customers, you can now compare your customer database with the NPI database to find providers with whom you do not do business. For example, medical practices that want to add a particular type of doctor or medical suppliers who want to see who isn't doing business with them can better target their marketing and sales efforts.