National Practitioner Data Bank

Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank

• Implementation of Section 1921

  It is anticipated that the final rules for Section 1921 of the Social Security Act will be published in the Federal Register in early 2009. Once published and implemented, Section 1921 will protect beneficiaries participating in the Social Security Act’s health care programs from unfit health care practitioners and entities and improve the anti-fraud provisions of these programs. Section 1921 will add adverse actions taken against other licensed health care practitioners and health care entities to the NPDB.

  ITP and QRXS users will be provided with draft Interface Control Documents (ICDs) approximately three months prior to the implementation. The draft ICDs will be posted on the NPDB-HIPDB Web site and a notification e-mail will be sent to users once the documentation is available. If you would like e-mail notification when draft ICDs are available, sign up for the QRXS or ITP Mailing List.

  When the final rules for Section 1921 are published, the ICDs will be updated to reflect any changes based on the final rules. At this time the extent of changes is unclear, but it is anticipated that little change will result between the draft and final ICDs. The Data Banks will determine the effective date of the final ICDs after the publication of the final rule.

November 2008

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• Save Your Query Fees

  Proactive Disclosure Service Prototype (PDS) users occasionally submit an IQRS query on a subject that is already enrolled in the PDS. The IQRS now checks to see if a subject that is being queried on is enrolled in the PDS, warns you that a potentially duplicative query is being submitted, and allows you to cancel the query.

• Schedule Your PDS Cancellations

  PDS users may now schedule PDS cancellations in advance. For practitioners whose future departure date is known, such as locum tenens practitioners or retirees, the PDS advance cancellation utility allows entities to more strictly adhere to the confidentiality provisions of the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986, as amended. For more information, see the Fact Sheet on Canceling a Proactive Disclosure Service Prototype (PDS) Enrollment.

• Multiple PDS Cancellations Made Easier

  Canceling multiple PDS enrollees can be a time-consuming task. The NPDB-HIPDB now allows batch cancellations of multiple practitioners. For more information, see the Fact Sheet on Canceling a Proactive Disclosure Service Prototype (PDS) Enrollment.

• Public Use Data File Updated

  The NPDB Public Use Data File has been updated to include disclosable reports received from September 1, 1990 through September 30, 2008.

September 2008

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• Check Your Inbox

  IQRS users can elect to receive e-mail notifications of important Data Banks events, such as PDS report disclosures, report change notifications, query and report response availability, administrative events, and newsletters. Read more about managing your e-mail notification preferences.

• IQRS Billing History Expanded

  Query charge receipts dating back to June 2000 are now available through the IQRS. PDS enrollment charge receipts are available dating back to May 2007.

• Report Voids Require a Reason

  Reporters must provide a reason when voiding a report. This enables recipients of the void notification to understand why the report was voided. The reason will appear in Report Verification Documents, Subject Notification Documents, PDS report disclosures, and PDS change notifications. Reasons for voiding a report are:

  • The action was erroneously submitted (e.g., wrong practitioner named; duplicate report; payment not delivered; action never finalized).
  • The action does not meet the legal reporting criteria and therefore is not a reportable event.
  • The action taken was reversed because the original action should never have been taken (overturned on appeal).

  Note: Reports with related Revision-to-Action Reports cannot be voided until the corresponding Revision-to-Action Reports are voided.

• Public Use Data File Updated

  The NPDB Public Use Data File has been updated to include disclosable reports received from September 1, 1990 through June 30, 2008.

June 2008

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• QRXS Querying

  The NPDB-HIPDB now accepts querying via the QRXS. The QRXS is an alternative to querying using the IQRS and legacy ITP service. The QRXS interface is ideal for large volume queriers who wish to automate the query submission process and offers more features than the ITP. Read more about the QRXS.

  QRXS Reporting

  The updated QRXS specifications are available.

  IQRS Subject Database Importing

  The updated XML Import Format specifications are available.

  Public Use Data File Updated

  The NPDB Public Use Data File has been updated to include disclosable reports received from September 1, 1990 through March 31, 2008.

  ITP Users Take Note!

  Several improvements to the ITP submission and response file formats have been implemented. The updated ITP specifications are available.

March 2008

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• Public Use Data File Updated

  The NPDB Public Use Data File contains selected variables from medical malpractice payment and adverse licensure, clinical privileges, professional society membership, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports received by the NPDB concerning physicians, dentists, and other licensed health care professionals. This file has been updated to include disclosable reports received from September 1, 1990 through December 31, 2007.

  QRXS Users Take Note!

  The NPDB-HIPDB implemented several improvements to the QRXS client program as well as the submission and response file formats. The QRXS client program and QRXS specifications are available.

  Updating PDS Enrollments

  IQRS users can now update practitioner information in a PDS enrollment by selecting practitioners from their subject database. An enrollment confirmation will be provided for each subject updated using the subject database.

February 2008

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• Sample Response Files

  Sample Response Files are available to assist ITP and QRXS users in formatting Data Bank responses.

January 2008

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• Electronic Report Change Notifications

  When a report is modified (e.g., corrected by the entity or disputed by the subject), a paper copy of the changed report is sent to all entities that previously received the Initial Report (within a three-year time frame). Users may view the changed report electronically through the IQRS, and may also elect to receive notification of the changed report via e-mail.

  To ensure that you will receive notifications from the Data Banks add the npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov domain to your "Safe Senders List".

  Updates Require an E-mail Address

  All user accounts require an e-mail address.

  IQRS Password Reset Service

  Users are able to reset their Data Bank password without having to contact the Customer Service Center, if they have an e-mail address on file with the Data Banks and know their expired password. To reset their password, the user can log in to the IQRS and click Reset Password on the System Error screen. An e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address specified in the IQRS user account and will contain a link which the user must click to access the IQRS using their expired password. The user is then prompted to create a new password.