The American Nurses Association (ANA) is constantly working to transform health care payment and delivery to foster a system that supports and advances the nursing profession, which is vital to patient-centered care and health outcomes. By registering for an NPI, you can help us advocate for nurse pay transparency.
The National Provider Identifier (NPI) campaign is integral to pushing these systems to truly value nursing care. ANA is encouraging all nurses to obtain an NPI to enable them to show up and be counted as clinicians providing vital services to patients. It is beyond time to push health care financing systems to pull nursing services out from behind physician and other charges.
The NPI is a unique provider number assigned by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). An NPI is required to bill Medicare, Medicaid, and many private insurers. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) can use an NPI to bill directly. Even if you are an APRN who bills through their employer, you can still register for an individual NPI.
While RNs generally cannot bill for services, they can register for an NPI. RNs are integral to the health care team and spend significant time with patients providing clinical services. In the current health care financing system, this work is generally not accounted for or specifically linked back to the value of a nurse. The lack of a unique nurse identifier, such as an NPI number, makes it extremely difficult to record, measure, and value the services RNs provide and their impact in health care delivery.
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) ID is another unique identifier number automatically assigned to every nurse upon licensure. This number also helps us change health systems by providing data that shows the impact of nursing practice on outcomes. With the NPI targeting pay transparency and NCSBN ID targeting outcomes, together these numbers can help us create the health care industry nurses and their patients deserve.
We need you to join the NPI campaign today by registering for your NPI at the CMS website! Visit our NPI page on nursingworld.org for more information and instructions on how to register.
References:
https://www.allianceni.org/policy-position/unique-nurse-identifier