How to Update Your NPPES / NPI Record (2026 Step-by-Step)
Your NPPES record is the quietest, most consequential page about your practice on the internet — and most offices never look at it. It's the federal registry entry tied to your NPI, and it feeds far more than you'd expect: search engines, Medicare's public tools, and the insurance directories patients use to decide whether you're "in network." When your NPPES record is out of date, the error doesn't stay in one place. It propagates.
So when a patient tells you they "called the number online and it was disconnected," or a referral lands at an office you left two years ago, the root cause is often a stale federal record that everything downstream copied.
Here's how to fix it — and, just as important, what fixing it does and doesn't do.
[KEY] NPPES is the source, not the whole story. Correcting your NPI record is the right first move, but Google, payer directories, and third-party sites keep their own copies and won't re-sync automatically. Plan to correct NPPES and the places that copied it. [/KEY]
First, know which record is wrong
Practices usually hold two kinds of NPI:
- Type 1 — the individual. The provider's personal NPI. Carries their name, credentials, taxonomy (specialty), and mailing/practice address.
- Type 2 — the organization. The practice or clinic's NPI. Carries the legal business name, practice location, and the authorized official.
A single wrong detail online can trace back to either one — and they're edited separately. If your practice recently re-incorporated, changed names, or moved, it's common for one record to be current and the other to lag. Check both.
How to update your NPPES record
The update happens in the NPPES web interface after you sign in. Interface details change over time, so treat these as the shape of the process and confirm the current screens at nppes.cms.hhs.gov.
- Sign in to NPPES. Go to nppes.cms.hhs.gov and sign in with your Identity & Access (I&A) credentials. CMS has moved identity verification to Login.gov, so first-time users may need to complete that verification before they can reach the record.
- Select the NPI you're correcting. Choose the Type 1 (individual) or Type 2 (organization) record that carries the outdated information. If you manage several, make sure you're in the right one before you edit.
- Open the section that's wrong. Practice address, mailing address, phone, taxonomy/specialty, endpoints, or — for a Type 2 — the organization name and authorized official. Edit only what's actually changed.
- Correct the details. Enter the current, accurate information. For an address change, update both the practice location and, if applicable, the mailing address. For a specialty change, update the taxonomy code.
- Review and submit. Confirm the record reads the way you want the world to see it, then submit the change for processing.
- Save your confirmation. Keep the confirmation for your records — it's useful evidence when you later ask a directory or payer to match the corrected federal record.
If you'd rather your office manager handle this, the I&A system lets a provider authorize a staff member as a surrogate — the legitimate way to delegate NPPES updates without sharing personal credentials.
What the update fixes — and what it doesn't
The correction to your federal NPI record is the foundation. But the systems that already copied the old information — Google Business Profile, Healthgrades and similar sites, and the payer directories your patients search — don't re-pull from NPPES on a schedule. Each keeps its own copy, and each has its own correction path. That's why a practice can fix NPPES and still show a wrong phone number on Google a month later.
The practical approach is to treat NPPES as step one, then work outward to every place that shows your practice — which is exactly the sprawl that's hard to see from the inside.
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Frequently asked questions
How long does an NPPES update take to show up?
The change to your federal NPI record itself is typically reflected quickly after you submit it. What takes longer — sometimes weeks or months — is the downstream systems that copied the old information: Google, insurance directories, and third-party sites don't automatically re-pull from NPPES, so each usually has to be corrected on its own.
What's the difference between a Type 1 and Type 2 NPI?
A Type 1 NPI belongs to an individual provider (a person). A Type 2 NPI belongs to an organization — a group practice, clinic, or facility. Many practices have both: the doctor's Type 1 and the practice's Type 2. When something looks wrong online, it's worth checking which record carries the error, because they're updated separately.
Can my office manager update NPPES for me?
Yes. Through the Identity & Access (I&A) system, a provider can authorize a staff member as a surrogate to manage their NPPES record, so the doctor doesn't have to make every edit personally. This is the legitimate way to delegate the work without sharing personal login credentials.
Does updating NPPES fix my Google and insurance listings?
No — and this is the part practices most often miss. NPPES is the federal source record, but Google Business Profile, payer directories, and consumer sites maintain their own copies and don't automatically re-sync when NPPES changes. Correcting NPPES is the right first step, but each downstream listing has its own correction process.
See what patients see — before they do.
Provider Control pulls every place your practice appears — federal registries, Medicare, directories — into one view, flags what's wrong, and gives your office the shortest legitimate way to fix each one. No login, and nothing changes without your approval.
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Written and maintained by the City Select editorial team. Every figure is checked against the official sources below, and every practice in our directory is verified against the federal NPI registry — no pay-to-rank and no purchased placement in the verified results. See our editorial & data standards →
This guide is for general information and isn't medical, legal, or insurance advice. Coverage, prices, and policies change — verify current details with the relevant provider, plan, or agency, and confirm with the practice before booking. Last updated July 16, 2026.