NPI Registry Lookup & Scraper: US Healthcare Providers

NPI Registry Lookup & Scraper gets US healthcare provider data straight from the official CMS NPPES NPI Registry API (npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov). Look up a list of NPI numbers in bulk, or search for providers by specialty (taxonomy), name, organization name, city, state or ZIP code, and export clean rows to JSON, CSV or Excel. It is built for healthcare sales and marketing teams, credentialing and revenue-cycle staff, data teams and researchers. No API key, no login, no HTML scraping.

The registry API returns at most 1,200 providers per query. This Actor splits big searches into ZIP-code prefixes automatically, so you can export, for example, every counselor in Vermont (about 2,600 providers, 148 API calls, a few seconds) in one run.

What data can you extract

One row per provider (individual NPI-1 or organization NPI-2), with only the fields CMS publishes:

• Identity: npi, enumerationType, entityType, name, first, middle and last name, prefix, suffix, credential, gender (as published), sole proprietor flag, organization name, subpart and parent organization
• Authorized official (organizations): name, title, credential and phone, as published
• Status and dates: status, enumerationDate, lastUpdated, certificationDate
• Primary taxonomy: primaryTaxonomyCode, primaryTaxonomyDescription, primaryTaxonomyLicense, primaryTaxonomyState
• All taxonomies: code, description, license number, license state, primary flag, group
• Practice location address with phone and fax, mailing address with phone and fax, and other practice locations
• Other names (former names, doing-business-as), other identifiers (e.g. Medicaid IDs), endpoints (Direct messaging and FHIR/CONNECT URLs) where present
• registryUrl (the provider's page on the NPI Registry) and searchQuery (which search found it)

How to look up NPI numbers in bulk

Paste NPI numbers into NPI numbers (bulk lookup), one per line. Each number is checked first (10 digits plus the official check digit), so typos never cost you a request. NPIs that are not in the registry (deactivated or never issued) are listed in the NOTES record of the run's key-value store.

{
  "npiNumbers": ["1912063058", "1003000126"]
}

In the Console, clear the example search fields (Dentist / VT / Montpelier) and raise Max providers to at least the number of NPIs, or the run stops at the example limit of 10.

How to search the NPI Registry by specialty and location

Fill in any of Specialty (taxonomy description), States, Cities, ZIP codes, Last name, First name, Organization name and Provider type. Every combination of specialty x state x city x ZIP code is searched, and a provider found by two searches is returned once.

{
  "taxonomyDescriptions": ["Dentist"],
  "states": ["VT"],
  "cities": ["Montpelier"],
  "enumerationType": "BOTH",
  "maxResults": 10
}

Every dentist and orthodontist organization in two states, primary specialty only:

{
  "taxonomyDescriptions": ["Dentist", "Orthodont"],
  "states": ["NH", "ME"],
  "enumerationType": "NPI-2",
  "primaryTaxonomyOnly": true,
  "maxResults": 20000
}

How the registry search behaves (worth knowing):

• A state alone is not enough. The registry rejects state-only or provider-type-only searches. Add a specialty, name, city or ZIP code.
• Specialty matching is by words, not codes. "Dentist" also matches "Dentist, General Practice", and secondary specialties match too. Use Match primary specialty only or the Taxonomy code filter (e.g. 1223G0001X) to tighten it.
• City, state and ZIP match any address (practice location or mailing) unless you pick an address in Address used for city / state / ZIP. That is why a Montpelier search can return a provider whose main practice is in a nearby town.
• Wildcards: smi*, mayo* or 100* work after at least 2 characters.

How to export all providers past the 1,200 limit

Leave Go past the 1,200-result limit (split by ZIP code) on (the default). When a search fills the API's 1,200-result window, it is re-run per ZIP prefix (00* to 99*, then 3, 4 and 5 digits, then ZIP+4) until every part fits. Each part costs one or a few fast API calls; empty parts return instantly. Max providers and Max API requests cap the run.

How to monitor new and updated NPI records

Turn on Only new or updated since my last run and schedule the Actor (for example weekly). The first run returns everything with changeType: "baseline". Later runs return only providers whose NPI record was added (new) or changed (updated, by the registry's last-updated time) since they were last delivered. If a run stops at Max providers, the next run continues with the providers not yet delivered instead of repeating them (still labelled baseline until one full pass is done). The memory is kept per search in a named key-value store, npi-registry-state. You can also use Updated since (a date) to filter by lastUpdated in a single run.

Output example

{
  "npi": "1912063058",
  "enumerationType": "NPI-1",
  "entityType": "Individual",
  "name": "SALLY ANN BISHKO",
  "firstName": "SALLY", "middleName": "ANN", "lastName": "BISHKO", "namePrefix": "Dr.", "nameSuffix": null,
  "credential": "D.D.S.",
  "gender": "F",
  "soleProprietor": "YES",
  "status": "Active",
  "enumerationDate": "2006-12-30",
  "lastUpdated": "2007-07-09",
  "primaryTaxonomyCode": "1223G0001X",
  "primaryTaxonomyDescription": "Dentist, General Practice",
  "primaryTaxonomyLicense": "847",
  "primaryTaxonomyState": "VT",
  "taxonomies": [{"code": "1223G0001X", "description": "Dentist, General Practice", "license": "847", "state": "VT", "primary": true, "group": null}],
  "practiceAddress1": "535 STONE CUTTERS WAY", "practiceAddress2": null, "practiceCity": "MONTPELIER", "practiceState": "VT",
  "practicePostalCode": "05602-3795", "practiceCountryCode": "US", "practicePhone": "802-223-2244", "practiceFax": "802-223-1283",
  "mailingAddress1": "535 STONE CUTTERS WAY", "mailingCity": "MONTPELIER", "mailingState": "VT", "mailingPostalCode": "05602-3795",
  "otherPracticeLocations": [],
  "otherNames": [],
  "identifiers": [{"code": "05", "description": "MEDICAID", "identifier": "0002483", "issuer": null, "state": "VT"}],
  "endpoints": [],
  "registryUrl": "https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/provider-view/1912063058",
  "searchQuery": "taxonomy_description=Dentist; state=VT; city=Montpelier"
}

Organizations also carry organizationName, organizationalSubpart, parentOrganizationName and authorizedOfficial* fields. Empty values are null, so CSV columns stay stable.

Use cases

• Healthcare lead lists: every dentist, pharmacy, physical therapist or clinic in a state, city or ZIP area, with practice phone and address.
• Provider data validation and credentialing: check a list of NPIs for status, primary taxonomy and license number.
• Directory and CRM enrichment: add specialty, credential and practice address to your provider records.
• Market research: count providers by specialty and region; track newly enumerated providers with the monitoring mode.

Data source and terms

All data comes from the public NPPES NPI Registry published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Actor returns only fields CMS publishes and adds no enrichment, no guessing and no emails. NPPES data is public by law, but some of it is personal data about individual providers: use it lawfully (for example, follow telemarketing and anti-spam rules for outreach). The registry is not affiliated with this Actor.

Limits (honest)

• The registry API does not return deactivated NPIs (in our tests every record was active); a deactivated NPI is reported as "not found" in NOTES.
• Splitting works on US ZIP codes. Searches limited to foreign addresses (country code other than US) return the first 1,200 matches only. Records with no US ZIP at all are not reachable through splitting.
• When more than 1,200 matches fall in a single 5-digit ZIP, the Actor takes the first 1,200 and then splits by ZIP+4. Providers listed with only a 5-digit ZIP beyond those 1,200 can be missed; this is noted in NOTES.
• The API has no date filter, so Updated since and Only new still read the whole search (you only pay for delivered rows).
• CMS updates the registry continuously; results reflect the moment of the run.

How much does it cost

Pay per result: one provider event per provider row delivered, about $1.70 per 1,000 providers, plus the standard Apify start fee. Invalid NPIs, providers filtered out and duplicates are free. Set Max providers to cap the cost; if your spending limit is reached, the run stops cleanly and says so.

FAQ

Is there a free NPI Registry API?

Yes. CMS runs the NPPES NPI Registry API, which is free and needs no key. It returns 200 records per call and at most 1,200 per query. This Actor handles the paging, the 1,200 cap, validation and flattening for you.

How do I look up an NPI number?

Paste one or many 10-digit NPIs into NPI numbers (bulk lookup). You get the provider's name, specialty, license, address and phone, or a note if the NPI is not in the registry.

Can I download the whole NPI registry?

CMS publishes the full NPPES file as a monthly bulk download (several GB). Use that for all 8M+ records. This Actor is for targeted exports by specialty, location or NPI list, refreshed live from the API.

Can I search NPI by taxonomy code?

The registry API searches by taxonomy description (words) only. Search by words, then use the Taxonomy code filter to keep exact codes such as 207Q00000X (Family Medicine).

Is it legal to scrape the NPI Registry?

The Actor uses the official public API, not page scraping, and NPPES data is published by CMS for public use. You remain responsible for how you use it, especially for marketing to individuals.

Does the output include emails?

No. CMS does not publish provider emails, and the Actor does not guess them. You get the practice and mailing phone and fax numbers as published, plus Direct messaging endpoints where providers registered them.

Related tools

• Companies House API: UK Company, Officer & PSC Data: the same kind of official-register export for UK companies.
• Google Sheets Import & Export: Apify Data, No Login: send your provider list to a Google Sheet.
• Send Data to Slack, Discord, Email, Notion & Postgres: push new providers from the monitoring mode to your team or database.