The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requires  physicians, other health care professionals and facilities who use electronic transactions to use a National Provider Identifier (NPI) as of March 1, 2008.

Four “unique Health Identifiers” were mandated by HIPAA in 1996.

1. Individuals
2. Health Plans
3. Employers
4. Health Care Providers.

For our purposes, this training material ONLY addresses the unique health identifier for Health Care Providers, referred to as the National Provider Identifier or NPI.