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Common NPDB-HIPDB Definitions

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Authorized Agent: An authorized agent is an individual or organization that an eligible entity designates to query or report to the NPDB on its behalf. In most cases, an authorized agent is an independent contractor to the requesting entity (for instance, a county medical society or state hospital association) used for centralized credentialing. An authorized agent cannot query or report to the NPDB without designation from a registered eligible entity.

Data Bank Identification Number (DBID): The DBID is a unique, 15-digit; identification number assigned to eligible entities and authorized agents when they register with the NPDB. Entities and agents need this number to query and report to the Data Bank(s) using the IQRS, ITP, or QRXS. The DBID must be included on all correspondence to the Data Bank(s).

Dispute: A dispute occurs when a practitioner, provider, or supplier who is the subject of a report challenges either the factual accuracy of the information in the report or whether the report was submitted in accordance with the reporting requirements, including the entity's eligibility to report to the Data Bank(s). Once a dispute is processed, all future queriers and all queriers who previously received the report will receive notification that the report is in dispute. The subject must attempt to resolve the disagreement directly with the reporting entity prior to requesting Secretarial Review. Initiating a dispute does not trigger an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, although it is a prerequisite for requesting Secretarial Review.

Federal Employee Identification Number (FEIN): An FEIN is a nine-digit number assigned to your organization by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Enter it into the field in the format XXXXXXXXX (do not use hyphens, dashes, or spaces).

Interface Control Document Transfer Program (ITP): ITP is an alternative to the Integrated Querying and Reporting Service (IQRS) for those users who wish to receive machine-readable responses. The ITP is an electronic service similar to the Querying and Reporting XML Service (QRXS) for queriers and reporters who wish to interface their data processing system directly with the Data Bank(s) to submit reports and receive responses.

Typical ITP users are entities that submit large numbers of query or report files at one time; the ITP interface is also ideal for users who create their own transaction processing systems and want to interface those systems with the Data Banks.

Using the ITP interface, entities submit American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text files containing query and report data to the Data Banks, and receive ASCII text file responses from the Data Banks. The Data Banks provides an ITP client program that submits these text files to the Data Banks and receives Data Banks response files. This program is executed as a stand-alone program, or it can be executed under the control of other programs.

Data is transmitted over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection. ITP file formats for submissions and responses are defined in the Interface Control Documents (ICDs) published by the Data Banks.

Locum Tenens: Locum tenens practitioners are qualified health care practitioners who fill positions on a temporary basis when practitioners are on sabbatical, vacation, or absent for an extended period. A hospital must query on a locum tenens practitioner each time the practitioner applies for temporary privileges.

Querying and Reporting XML Service (QRXS): The QRXS is an alternative to the Integrated Querying and Reporting Service (IQRS) for those users who wish to receive machine-readable responses. The QRXS is an electronic service similar to the Interface Control Document Transfer Program (ITP) for reporters who wish to interface their data processing system directly with the Data Bank(s) to submit reports and receive responses.

The QRXS interface is ideal for large volume queriers and reporters who particularly benefit from using their own transaction processing systems for interfacing with the Data Bank(s) and desire a more flexible and more easily tested interface. The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) provides the advantage to queriers and reporters of verifying the querying and reporting formats without having to submit transactions and wait for validation responses from the Data Banks system. The XML technology also enables a more flexible interface that is more easily changed than the ITP if report or querying formats change.

QRXS transactions must be submitted through the QRXS Java client software in an XML document that conforms to the schemas written in the W3C XML Schema Language (version 1.0) provided in the QRXS File Format Specifications. Submission files should be checked for schema compliance prior to submission using a third-party XML Schema validator.

Subject Statement: A subject statement is a statement of up to 4,000 characters (including spaces and punctuation) or less, submitted by a subject practitioner regarding a report contained in the Data Bank(s).

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	Last revised September 2008

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