Querying and Reporting

Entities must meet eligibility requirements and be registered with the Data Bank(s) in order to query or report. Entities that meet the querying and reporting requirements may prepare and submit queries and reports through the Integrated Querying and Reporting Service (IQRS), the ICD Transfer Protocol (ITP) or the Querying and Reporting XML Service (QRXS).

Practitioners, providers, and suppliers may self-query the Data Banks to obtain information on themselves or their organization. For more information about self-querying, see the:

Querying the Data Banks

The NPDB and HIPDB are resources to assist eligible entities in investigating the qualifications and credentials of health care practitioners, providers, and suppliers. Information obtained from the Data Banks should be used in conjunction with information from other sources.

Eligible entities may query the Data Banks via the IQRS, QRXS or ITP. The query is processed against the Data Banks based on the entity's eligibility. Queries may be submitted in single-name or multiple-name (batch) format. Responses to each query are available electronically within two to four hours of receipt. Under certain circumstances, additional processing may be required. Please do not re-submit your query on the subject in question, since this will result in duplicate transactions and duplicate fees. If you do not receive your response within two business days of submission, contact the Customer Service Center.

All eligible queriers are invited to participate in the Proactive Disclosure Service Prototype (PDS). The PDS was developed in response to a growing interest in on-going monitoring of health care practitioners. Entities that subscribe to the PDS will receive notification within one business day of the Data Banks’ receipt of a report on any of their enrolled practitioners. Notice will be provided via e-mail and PDS notification via the Options screen in the IQRS.

This service is offered as an alternative to the current Data Bank querying service. Entities may continue to query on practitioners, enroll all practitioners in the PDS, or enroll some practitioners in the PDS while continuing to query on others.

The PDS meets legal and accreditation requirements for querying the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). As long as the practitioner remains enrolled in the PDS the entity has met the requirement to query. Enrollment confirmation may be used to demonstrate compliance with accreditation standards including on-going monitoring. The format and the information contained in the Data Bank report, as well as the information required to be reported to each Data Bank, will remain the same.

Reporting to the Data Banks

Eligible entities may report to the Data Banks via the IQRS, QRXS or ITP. When submitting a report, an entity is required to provide certain subject information. All required fields in a subject's record must be completed before a report can be generated. Entities should provide as much information as possible, even in the fields that are not required.

The report data is stored in the appropriate Data Bank based on the type of report and the action taken. Reports may be transmitted as single reports or multiple reports. Within two to four hours of receipt, a Report Verification Document is available to the reporter. Under certain circumstances, additional processing may be required. Please do not re-submit your report on the subject in question, since this will result in duplicate transactions. If you do not receive your response within two business days of submission, contact the Customer Service Center.