NPI Type 1 vs Type 2
The difference between an individual (Type 1) and organizational (Type 2) NPI, what each entity type reports to NPPES, and how a provider can end up with both.
Reviewed
NPPES enumerates two kinds of applicants, called entity types. The entity type is reported on the application and stored in the NPI record itself — it is not something a lookup has to infer.
| Type 1 — Individual | Type 2 — Organization | |
|---|---|---|
| Entity Type Code | 1 | 2 |
| Who it identifies | A human being who furnishes health care | A business or organization that furnishes health care |
| Typical examples | Physician, nurse practitioner, dentist, physical therapist, psychologist | Hospital, group practice, pharmacy, home health agency, laboratory |
| Name on the record | First, middle, last name (plus credential, e.g. “MD”) | Legal business name |
| Reports an Employer Identification Number (EIN)? | No | Yes |
| Reports an Authorized Official? | No | Yes — a person authorized to act on the organization's behalf |
| “Sole Proprietor” field applies? | Yes | No |
| “Organization Subpart” field applies? | No | Yes |
| Can it be a subpart of another NPI? | No | Yes, if the subpart itself qualifies as a health care provider |
Type 1: individual providers
A Type 1 NPI belongs to a person, not a practice. It follows that person across employers and practice locations for their entire career — a physician keeps the same Type 1 NPI whether they move states, change hospital affiliations, or go into private practice. NPPES records the individual's name, credential (e.g., MD, DO, NP, PT), practice and mailing addresses, and up to 15 taxonomy codes describing their areas of practice, one of which is marked primary.
The application also asks whether the individual is a sole proprietor — operating their own unincorporated practice rather than being employed by or contracting with a separate legal entity. That answer is stored on the record but does not change the entity type: a sole proprietor is still a Type 1 individual.
Type 2: organizations
A Type 2 NPI belongs to a business entity: a hospital, a group practice, a pharmacy, a skilled nursing facility, a laboratory, a home health agency, or any similar organization that itself furnishes health care. The application records the organization's legal business name (and any “doing business as” names), an Authorized Official empowered to represent it, its EIN, and its own practice location and taxonomy information.
Organizations also answer whether they are an organization subpart — a division of a larger organization that CMS's enumeration rules allow to be enumerated separately, typically because it conducts its own standard transactions independently of its parent. A hospital system's individual hospitals or a multi-site group practice's individual clinics are common examples of subparts with their own NPIs.
An organization's EIN is not shown
Because some providers historically entered a Social Security Number where an EIN was expected, CMS suppresses the EIN field in the public NPPES data entirely, along with the parent organization's tax ID for subparts. A public NPI lookup will show an organization's name, address, and taxonomy, but not its EIN.
Can one provider have both?
Yes, and it is common. A sole proprietor is a good example: the same physician can hold a Type 1 NPI as themself and separately obtain a Type 2 NPI for the practice as a business, using the Type 1 NPI to identify themself as the rendering provider and the Type 2 NPI to identify the practice as the billing entity on the same claim. Employed physicians typically use only their own Type 1 NPI, with their employer's Type 2 NPI identifying the organization.
Entity type is not status
See What Does NPI Deactivation Mean? and Does an NPI Mean a Provider Is Licensed? for those two, separately.
Why the distinction matters when you're searching
- If you're trying to identify the provider who actually treated a patient, look for the Type 1 individual NPI, not the practice's Type 2 NPI.
- If you're trying to verify a billing entity — the business named on an invoice or EOB — the Type 2 NPI is usually the relevant one.
- A large health system may enumerate dozens of Type 2 subparts. Matching the exact one named on a document, rather than the parent system's NPI, avoids confusing two related but distinct organizations.
Sources
- NPPES Data Dissemination — Code Values (Entity Type, Sole Proprietor, and Subpart code tables) — CMS. Accessed August 20, 2026.
- 45 CFR Part 162, Subpart D — Standard Unique Health Identifier for Health Care Providers — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR). Accessed August 20, 2026.
- NPPES Data Dissemination — Readme (file layout, EIN and parent organization TIN suppression) — CMS. Accessed August 20, 2026.