As athletics trainers, our field is so vast and covers so
many aspects of health for our student athletes, yet the federal government and
primarily insurance companies refuse to let AT’s bill for their services. This is why it’s important for each AT to attain
their NPI (National Provider Identification) number. The NPI numbers were
developed from “the Administrative
Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandated the adoption of a standard
unique identifier for health care providers. The National Plan and Provider
Enumeration System (NPPES) collects identifying information on health care
providers and assigns each a unique National
Provider Identifier (NPI).” (nppes.cms.hhs.gov)
In plain English,
it is the “social security number” of health professions. Without one,
insurance companies, including government sponsored programs like Medicaid, do
not recognize the medical professional as a provider of health care services. They don't recognize you!
NATA strongly encourages all Athletic Trainers to register for
their National Provider
Identifier number (NPI)
“NATA views having an NPI
number like having a state license: it’s a professional requirement and adds
credibility to both the individual and the profession,” says Cate Brennan Lisak, director of
external affairs.“Once ATs get their NPI number, it will be theirs forever
-- no matter where they work. There’s no downside to having an NPI number.”
Many AT’s are wondering what in for me, how will I benefit
from having this number? The number one
benefit is showing legislators and insurance companies, how many qualified
health care providers in each category are available. As it stands, about half
of practicing ATs have it. Therefore, insurance only sees a small population of
us out there. It’s hard to get someone to fight a battle for us if the group
they are fighting for is appears to be so small. We, ATs, are not small.
If every AT acquires their NPI number it will give the CMS
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) a reason to take a look at other
healthcare professionals (AT’s ) to provide services for their patients. Once CMS approves AT’s as health care providers
for billing purposes on the national level, all other insurance companies will
follow. CMS sets the standards for insurance and insurance policies. Therefore,
AT’s will be able to bill for the services they provide. If a clinical athletic trainer is billing for
services, it is assumed that salaries will rise to meet our allied health
peers. If clinical ATs are making more money, those in the traditional setting
will follow suit. This is important for
all of us.
All healthcare providers are eligible to receive NPI’s, all
CMS covered healthcare entities are mandated to use the NPI as the sole
provider identifier on all HIPAA electronic transactions.
Obtaining
an NPI number is simple.
The NATA has a
link with step by step instructions http://www.nata.org/NPI
You will need to know Provider Code
22 (Respiratory, Rehabilitative & Restorative Service Providers) and Taxonomy Code 2255A2300X (Athletic Trainer)
to complete the process.
NPI’s are FREE and once assigned it’s yours for life. No
fees, no upgrades, nada. Its hassle free, but it might be
wise to change you address when you move!
So now it’s your turn, go ahead and help the profession take
giant step forward. It only takes about 10 minutes of your day and it can do so
much for our profession.
-Julie Ellena
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