CP ListMaker Documentation
CP ListMaker is an add-on tool for CarePrecise Access and CarePrecise Select datasets, designed to simplify the process of creating lists of healthcare providers in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) database based on specialty and subspecialty (taxonomy codes), geographic location (zip codes and/or states), and provider type (individual, such as physician, or organization, such as hospital).
CP ListMaker Instructional Videos:
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>> Visit the CP ListMaker product page to review product features.
System Requirements
Getting CP ListMaker
Installing CP ListMaker
Uninstalling CP ListMaker
Using CD Listmaker
CarePrecise Dataset Documentation
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: A monitor with screen resolution of at least 1280 x 960 is recommended (CP ListMaker's main window is 1166 pixels wide to accommodate criteria codes and descriptions). A copy of CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select is required for use of CP ListMaker (CP ListMaker does not contain the provider data found in those products). You will need Microsoft Access® 2000, 2003 or 2007 installed on your computer. An computer running Windows XP®, Vista® or Windows 7®, a mouse, keyboard and hard drive with at least 7 GB of free space is required. For improved functioning we recommend a minimum 1.6 GHz dual processor computer with at least 2GB RAM and 20GB of free hard drive space; a faster processor and more RAM memory will speed operation, and greater hard drive space will permit you to save and export larger lists. Generally, if you are using a CarePrecise Access Complete database, your system is adequate to run CP ListMaker.
Getting CP ListMaker
Purchase information about CP Listmaker can be found here.
INSTALLING CP ListMaker: To install CP ListMaker, simply unzip the contents of the download file directly into the folder on your computer where your CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select data files are stored (in the same folder as the file NPPES_Core.mdb). When you open CP ListMaker for the first time it will sense its location on your computer and know where to find the CarePrecise data files.
>> You may obtain some processing speed improvements by installing your CarePrecise and CP ListMaker files on the same or a different hard drive that Microsoft Access is installed on; consult your system administrator concerning your hard drive configuration. See here for additional speed optimization tips.
UNINSTALLING CP ListMaker: To uninstall CP ListMaker, simply delete the CP ListMaker files from your CarePrecise folder.
Using CP ListMaker
CL ListMaker is a tab-driven, wizard-like application built in Microsoft Access that
STARTING CP ListMaker: To start CP ListMaker, open the file named CPListMaker.mdb, located with your CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select data files. When you open CP ListMaker, the program checks to see that the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select data files are in the same folder. Be sure that the files distributed with CP ListMaker are located in the same folder as your CarePrecise data files.
When you open CP List Maker you will see the main program window (click image for larger view):
Depending on whether you have some matches found, or some criteria collected, in a previous session, the window will open displaying the Find Matches tab, the View Criteria tab, or the New Criteria tab (default).
>> NOTE FOR DEVELOPERS: This window (and all others in CP ListMaker) are standard Microsoft Access forms. You can examine the forms in design view, and the VBA modules that contain processing code, to see how the program works. All queries and VBA code are open and viewable.
Selecting Criteria (the New Criteria tab)
CP ListMaker helps you create lists of healthcare providers using several criteria, including taxonomy code (the specialty or subspecialty for individual providers, or the facility or practice type code for organizations), Zip Code®, and state/territory. You can use one of these criteria at a time, any two, or all three. On the New Criteria tab, you can select taxonomy codes, zips and states from the list boxes, and/or import text files of these criteria. (See the screenshot above.)
>> After using these criteria to establish a list of providers, you can also choose between Type 1 (individual providers, such as physicians, nurses or dentists) and Type 2 (organizational providers such as hospitals, labs and pharmacies) in the Output window.
How CP ListMaker Uses Criteria
It will be easier to jump right into using CP ListMaker if you understand how the program uses the criteria selections you make and edit on the New Criteria and View Criteria tabs to determine which provider records to show on the Find Matches tab. In logical terms, CP ListMaker sees your criteria as follows:
(Taxonomy OR Taxonomy OR Taxo...) AND ( (Zip OR Zip OR Z...) OR (State OR State OR Sta...))
In other words, CP ListMaker first finds all providers matching the taxonomy code(s) you gave it (if you did so), then it finds all of those providers whose practices are located in the zips or states you've given it, as illustrated in the Venn diagram below.
Selecting Providers by Taxonomy Code
The provider taxonomy code Speciaties are reported by providers using their Provider Taxonomy Codes. CarePrecise datasets include both the taxonomy code and the specialty in plain English. Click the link to see current specialties. is a ten-character alphanumeric code that describes a provider's practice. All of the U.S. taxonomy codes active as of the date of your CP ListMaker purchase are listed on the New Criteria tab. For individuals like physicians, the taxonomy code describes the type of practice, from high-level views like Internal Medicine, to specific practices like gastroenterology. For organizations like hospitals, the taxonomy codes identify the type of facility and/or the kind of treatment it offers, like acute care hospital or family planning clinic.
You can tell CP ListMaker which taxonomy codes to use to select providers using either an imported list of codes, or by selecting codes in the PICK Taxonomy Code list box. Select criteria using the New Criteria tab.
Note that many providers list multiple taxonomy codes within their NPPES record (multiple taxonomy codes under a single NPI number); i.e., a physician may list both 207Q00000X Family Practice, and 207QG0300X Geriatic Medicine. However, CP ListMaker will not output duplicate provider records (except in the View/Export Taxonomy Codes function, which lists all taxonomy codes in the providers' records, one per output record).
Selecting Taxonomy Code Criteria
Select taxonomy codes from PICK Taxonomy Code list on the New Criteria tab. To select more than one code, hold down the Control key while clicking on each desired code (control-click), or the shift key (shift-click) to select blocks of codes. Use the scroll bar on the list to locate codes. To view a list of all available taxonomy codes, open the tTaxoLookup table in the Database Window.
>> Note that a single provider may practice under more than one taxonomy code; some hospitals have listed dozens of taxonomy codes. CP ListMaker will not create duplicate records in the output, except when you wish to view all of a provider's taxonomy codes using the View Taxonomy Codes button.
Importing Taxonomy Code Criteria
On the New Criteria tab, click the "..." button to browse to a CSV or TXT file on your computer that contains the taxonomy codes, each code on a separate line, with the first line containing the word "Taxo" (without the quotation marks), and select the file. CP ListMaker will capture the file's location and place it in the IMPORT box. It is a good idea to place your code import files in a folder within your CarePrecise data folder so you can find them later if necessary.
>> CP ListMaker will import the codes later when you click the Collect Criteria button on the View Criteria tab.
Selecting Providers by Zip Code®
You can use one or more 5-digit zips as selection criteria. All of the U.S. Zip Codes active as of the most recent USPS partner release date prior to your CP List Maker purchase are included in the PICK Zips list box on the New Criteria tab.
You can tell CP ListMaker which Zip Codes to use to select providers using either an imported list of codes, or by selecting codes in the PICK Zips list box. Select criteria using the New Criteria tab.
Selecting Zip Code Criteria
Select zips from PICK Zips list in the New Criteria tab. To select more than one code, hold down the Control key while clicking on each desired code (control-click), or the shift key (shift-click) to select blocks of codes. Use the scroll bar on the list to locate codes. CP ListMaker uses providers' practice zip code, which may differ from the mailing address zip code for some providers; however, you will be able to view and export either the practice address or mailing address in the Output window. While only the first 5 digits of the zip may be used as selection criteria, output will include the full 9-digit zip where provided. Note that Zip Codes change occasionally, and a (very) small percentage of provider records may list a zip code that is either no longer active or that has been changed by the United States Postal Service.
Since there are many thousands of Zip Codes, CP ListMaker provides some help to find the ones you're looking for. You can select a state in the State dropdown box (at the top of the PICK Zip Codes list box). To show all zips, simply delete the state selected in this box, or click on the words "Show only zips for state" to clear the box and show zips for all states.
If you're looking for all the zips for a particular city, you can sort the order of the zips in the box by city. Clicking the gray "A-Z" link toggles between sorting by city/state order and sorting by zip order.
If you need to find a range of zip codes within a certain mile radius, see Getting Zips within a Geographic Radius below.
>> If you wish to update your CP ListMaker zip list, please contact technical support for assistance.
Importing Zip Code Criteria
Click the "..." button to browse to a CSV or TXT file on your computer that contains the 5-digit zips, each code on a separate line, with the first line containing the word "Zip" (without the quotation marks), and select the file. CP ListMaker will capture the file's location and place it in the IMPORT box. It is a good idea to place your code import files in a folder within your CarePrecise data folder so you can find them later if necessary.
>> CP ListMaker will import the codes later when you click the Collect Criteria button on the View Criteria tab.
Getting Zips within a Geographic Radius
It can be very helpful to find healthcare providers within a certain geographic radius. To find out which zip codes to enter for a particular radius from a Central Zip, click the Radius button on the Select Criteria window. New in version 2.2: The Zip Radius tool is now built into CP ListMaker. Use this tool to locate providers with a practice address within a certain number of miles of a central point.
Click the Radius button, located directly above the Zip Code list on the New Criteria tab (see the screenshot below). In the Geographic Radius window, enter the number of miles of the radius and the central Zip Code. Click the Add to Criteria button, and the zips within the radius will be added to the Zip Code criteria in the View Criteria window.
"Remove from Criteria" - You can also exclude zip codes within a radiu from your criteria. First, make all of the other zip code selections, then use the Geographic Radius tool to enter the radius and central Zip Code, and click the Remove from Criteria button. This action remove all of the zips found within the radius from zip codes already showing on the View Criteria tab, if there are any. This is a useful way to eliminate urban core zip codes and focus on suburban areas, or to remove an individual's sales territory from selection criteria, or to remove providers with addresses near a particular hospital's service area. To visualize how this works, let's imagine that you've first collected all of the zips within 100 miles of Chicago using the Geographic Radius tool. If you want to remove the downtown area and surrounding urban districts from your selections, use the tool a second time to remove the zips within 2 miles of the central Chicago (downtown) zip code (60601).
>> NOTE: The center latitude and longitude of the Zip Code is used for the calculation, so if you want all zips within 1 mile of a zip that itself has a larger radius than 1 mile, you'll need to enter a larger number for the radius.
>> NOTE: When you enter as your central zip a Zip Code in a dense urban center, you will get a lot of zips within the radius, even when you specify 1 mile as your radius. This is because special zips have been assigned to some areas with a high density of addresses, as is the case in office districts.
 Wealth/Poverty Filter
You may need to pull a list of providers with practices in wealthy or low income areas. On the New Criteria tab, use the Wealth dropdown to select a wealth level by which CP ListMaker will filter the Zip Code Pick list. Wealth levels are based on average income for the average household size within each zip, and reflect percentage of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), ranging from under 50% of FPL to 2000% of FPL. (See the screenshot at right.)
Urban/Rural Filter
On the New Criteria tab, use the Urban/Rural dropdown to select Urban, Rural or Other. For most Zip Codes, Other indicates a non-rural mildly populated area, such as small towns and small cities. After selecting, the Zip Code Pick list will show only those zips matching your selection.
Selecting Providers by State
You can use one or more 2-character state code as selection criteria. All of the U.S. state codes plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are included in the PICK states list box on the New Criteria tab.
You can tell CP ListMaker which states to use to select providers using either an imported list of state codes, or by selecting state codes in the PICK States list box. Select criteria using the New Criteria tab.
Selecting State Criteria
Select zips from PICK States list in the New Criteria tab. To select more than one state code, hold down the Control key while clicking on each desired code (control-click), or the shift key (shift-click) to select blocks of codes. Use the scroll bar on the list to locate codes. CP ListMaker uses providers' practice state, which may differ from the mailing address state for some providers; however, you will be able to view and export either the practice address or mailing address in the Output window.
>> While only the 50 states, Puerto Rico and District of Columbia are included in the list box, CarePrecise data includes all territories, military installation codes and other regional codes reported to the NPPES by healthcare providers. To include other state codes as criteria, place them in a text file and import it as described under Importing State Criteria.
Importing State Criteria
Click the "..." button as shown in the screenshot at right to browse to a CSV or TXT file on your computer that contains the 2-character state codes, each code on a separate line, with the first line containing the word "State" (without the quotation marks). Select the file; CP ListMaker will capture the file's location and place it in the IMPORT box. It is a good idea to place your code import files in a folder within your CarePrecise data folder so you can find them later if necessary.
>> CP ListMaker will import the codes later when you click the Collect Criteria button on the View Criteria tab.
Selecting by Provider Type, Gender, Added Since Date, Update Date, PECOS Enrollment
These selections are Output Options available not selected on the New Criteria tab, but on the Output Lists tab as an output option. Go here for Output Lists tab selections.
Collecting and Viewing Criteria (the View Criteria tab)
 After selecting and/or importing the criteria to create a list of providers, the next step is to collect the criteria. Click the View Criteria tab, and click the Collect Criteria button. Now you will see that the criteria you had selected on the New Criteria tab has been collected on the View Criteria tab. Here, you can review your criteria selections. You can select a criterion and delete it using the Delete key on your keyboard. You can add new criteria to the collection using the New Criteria tab again, then clicking the Collect Criteria button again.
Collect Criteria
After you have made all of your criteria selections and/or located criteria import files on the New Criteria tab, click the View Criteria tab. Click the Collect Criteria button to enter the criteria you selected into your criteria "collection." Now you can see the criteria you've collected in the three datasheets displayed on the View Criteria tab, one for taxonomy codes, one for zips, one for states. Review and edit criteria here before proceeding to the Find Matches tab.
Editing Criteria
On the View Criteria tab you can select one or more criteria on a criteria datasheet and delete them. This removes the criteria from the collection.
>> Editing the criteria contained in a collection does not affect a saved criteria set unless you re-save the criteria set under the same name.
Adding Criteria
To add more criteria, return to the New Criteria tab and select it, then back on the View Criteria tab, click Collect Criteria again to add it to the collection. You will now see all of the criteria collected so far on the View Criteria tab.
>> Adding criteria does not affect a saved criteria set unless you re-save the criteria set under the same name.
Clearing Criteria
Any time you want to "start from scratch" with all new criteria, you can click the Clear Collected Criteria button on the View Criteria tab.
>> Clearing Collected Criteria does not affect a saved criteria set.
Saving Criteria for Re-use
CP ListMaker provides a way to save your criteria selections for re-use. You can save an unlimited number of different criteria sets, each under a unique name. After you have selected criteria using the New Criteria tab, added it to the criteria collection and reviewed it and/or edited it on the View Criteria tab, you can type a name for the set in the "Save Collected Criteria as Criteria Set' box, and click the Save button.
Loading Saved Criteria
 At any time, you can load previously saved criteria so that it can be used to find matching providers again. This is very useful after a data update, since new providers matching your criteria are likely to be found, and others may have dropped off.
To load a previously saved criteria set, click the Load button on the View Criteria tab and select it from the yellow dropdown menu on the window that appears. Click OK to close the Saved Criteria Sets window and load the criteria into the current collection. After loading criteria, you can proceed to the Find Matches tab to use the criteria to pull a list of matching healthcare providers.
Combining Criteria Sets
You can use the Load feature on the View Criteria tab to "stack" criteria, adding a previously saved criteria set to whatever criteria is already loaded in the collection. You can load as many criteria sets as you like with successing load operations.
>> A note about criteria logic... Be careful. Let's say you have one criteria set that finds chiropractors in Utah, and another set that finds optometrists in Oklahoma. If you load both of these sets you will not get the same result when you find matches that you would have gotten by finding matches on one criteria set at a time! You will now see all chiropractors in both Utah and Oklahoma, and all optometrists in Utah and Oklahoma. Oops! Unless, of course, that's what you wanted to do.
Deleting a Criteria Set
To delete a saved Criteria Set, click the Load button on the View Criteria tab. Select the Criteria List you wish to delete from the green dropdown menu on the window that appears. Click the Delete button, and close the Saved Criteria Sets window.
Find Matching Providers
 Find Matches
After you have created a criteria collection using the previous tabs, the Find Matches tab is used to build a list of providers matching your criteria, and display them for review and editing. On the Find Matches tab, click the Find Matches button.
Because CarePrecise datasets are very large (CarePrecise Access Complete contains about 3 million NPI records normalized into seven tables, comprising more than 23 million total discrete records), this step may take some time. Depending on such issues as the speed of your computer's processor, number of processor cores, bus speed and size of your RAM memory, plus the number of individual criteria elements you have specified, this step may take between a few seconds and over an hour. Please be patient; once this list has been compiled it need not be done again for the Output stage.
>> You will find some clues about speeding up CarePrecise processes here.
The Count
When the matching process has completed, the number of matching records is shown in the pink box in the Find Matches tab, i.e., "Found 369 records."
The number of matches shown in the box indicates the number of unique NPI numbers. Note that a single provider may have more than one NPI number, and all NPI entries for those providers will be included in the output. For instance, a physician may have enumerated as an individual physician (Type 1 provider) and as a corporation (Type 2 provider), and both records will be included in the output. Depending on your end use of the data you may consider the second listing a duplicate record.
Editing Your Match List
On the Find Matches tab you can select one or more of the matching provider records on the datasheet and delete them. This removes the provider record from the matches list, but does not affect data in the underlying CarePrecise data tables.
>> Deleting matches on the Find Matches tab does not affect a saved List unless you re-save the List under the same name.
Adding to Your Match List
To add more provider records to your matches you can widen your criteria, either by including more provider taxonomy codes, or widening the geographic are by adding more zips and/or states. Repeat the process of selecting and collecting criteria on the New Criteria and View Criteria tabs, then return to the Find Matches tab and click Find Matches again.
>> Adding new matches does not affect a saved List unless you re-save the List under the same name.
Clearing Matches
Any time you want to remove previosuly found matches you can click the Clear Matches button on the Find Matches tab.
>> Clearing matches does not affect a saved List.
Saving Matches as a List
You can save a List of found matches for historical purposes, or to be output later or added to another List later. Theoretically you can save an unlimited number of Lists, each under a unique name, but we recommend that you use this feature sparingly, as too many large Lists will bloat the size of the CP ListMaker database and potentially slow down operation.
After you have used the Find Matches button and reviewed and edited your matches, type a name for the List in the "Save found matches as a List" box, and click the Save button.
>> Periodically deleting unused saved Lists will help you keep the size of the database in check and potentially speed up operation.
Loading a Saved List
 To load a previously saved List, click the Load button on the Find Matches tab and select it from the green dropdown menu on the window that appears. Click OK to close the Saved Lists window and load the List into the current matches shown on the Find Matches tab. After matches are loaded you may proceed to the Output Lists window to export your data and create customized fieldsets.
Combining Saved Lists
You can use the Load feature on the Find Matches tab to combine lists, adding a previously saved list to whatever matches are currently displayed on the Find Matches tab. You can load as many saved Lists as you like with successing load operations.
Excluding Certain Providers
New with version 2.1, CP ListMaker now makes it easy to not only positively select certain providers or types of providers, but to exclude providers or types of providers, as well. To remove the providers that are on one List from the Providers that are on another List, first use the Find Matches tab to display the providers on the List you wish to output. Then click the Load button and select the List of providers you wish to remove from the output, and close the Saved Lists window. When you return to the Find Matches tab, you'll see that the excluded providers have now been removed from the matches. Save this List (optional), and proceed to the Output Lists tab.
This feature may be used to maintain a "Do Not Send" list of persons who have opted out. It may also be used for such useful tasks as removing existing clients from a promotional mailing to prospective clients. Researchers use the feature to perform complex analysis of provider service offerings; such as developing a list of family practice physicinas who do not also practice sports medicine, for example.
Deleting a Saved List
To delete a saved List, click the Load button on the Find Matches tab. Select the List you wish to delete from the green dropdown menu on the window that appears. Click the Delete button, and close the Saved Lists window.
Output Your Healthcare Provider List (the Output List tab)
 After you have found matching provider records using the previous tabs, the final step is to output the resulting list of provider records. The Output Lists tab presents the option to output Type 1 providers only (individuals), Type 2 providers only (organizations/facilities), or both. You can also choose from several standard output styles (fieldsets), or create your own using the Clone feature.
Provider Types
Choose whether you want to output just Type 1 providers (individuals), Type 2 providers (organizations/facilities), or both types (the default).
Type 1 providers are individuals, such as doctors, nurses or dentists. Type 2 providers are organizational providers, such as hospitals, health systems, laboratories, clinics, group practices, pharmacies, DME providers, etc. We often say that Type 1 providers are "faces" and Type 2 providers are "places." Note that many physicians are incorporated, and can list their practices as a Type 2 provider; frequently, physicians are listed both under Type 1 and Type 2, sometimes with the same or different taxonomy codes.
>> NOTE: When you select the Type 2 provider option, CP ListMaker will show the Gender and PECOS options grayed out because they do not apply to Type 2 providers.
Gender Selection
Choose whether you want to output just Male, Female or Both. CP ListMaker uses the gender entered by the healthcare provider when they created their NPI record with the Department of Health and Human Services. This is for Type 1 (individual) providers only.
 PECOS Enrollment
Choose whether to include only those providers who are enrolled in PECOS (eligible to bill Medicare), or those who are NOT in PECOS, or all providers regardless of of PECOS enrollment status ("not used" option)
'Added Since' Date
Optionally, you may enter a date here in the format m/d/yyyy to output only those providers who have created their NPI record since a particular date. This is a good way to find new individual providers who are just entering practice.
'Updated Since' Date
Optionally, you may enter a date here in the format m/d/yyyy to output only those providers who have updated their record since a particular date. This is a good way to find providers who may have moved or expanded their practices.
Include Phones/Faxes
If you don't need the phones and faxes in your output file, uncheck this checkbox for a small boost in processing speed.
Output Styles
Viewing/Exporting Provider Name Only
This option on the Output Lists tab includes one record for each NPI (National Provider Identifier) number, the universal number identifying HIPAA covered entities who must submit their healthcare provider data in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) database at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Does not include addresses, phone or fax numbers. Includes the following fields: NPI, EntityType (provider type 1 or 2), UpdateDate (date the provider most recently updated the NPPES record), PN (name prefix, such as Mr.), FN (first name), MN (middle name), LN (last name), SN (suffix name, such as Jr.), Cred (credentials), OrgName_LBN (legal business name if this is an organization record), and Gender (M or F if record is a Type 1 provider). This field set can be changed using the Access query functions.
On the Output Lists tab, choose whether you want to view your provider matches (on the screen), or to export them as a text (.txt) file. Click the respective button.
If you choose View Names Only, CP ListMaker will open the query in datasheet view. In datasheet view you can use the Microsoft Access "Find" feature to lookup specific records. Do not delete records here or you will lose the data permanently; instead, cull your list in the Find Matches window.
If you intend to use your output files in Excel, read this important note.
WARNING: DO NOT DELETE RECORDS IN QUERY DATASHEET VIEW! Deleted records in data view are deleted from the underlying CarePrecise data tables and cannot be undone. Instead, prune your lists in the Find Matches tab, where the underlying data files are not affected by your deletions. If you do lose data, you will need to restore the tables from the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select zip file you obtained from us.
Viewing/Exporting Providers with Practice Addresses, Phones and Faxes
This option on the Output Lists tab includes one record for each NPI (National Provider Identifier) number, the universal number identifying HIPAA covered entities who must submit their healthcare provider data in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) database at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the US Department of Health and Human Services. Data included are those reported by providers as their practice addresses, phone and fax numbers. By default this output is sorted by NPI number; sort order may be changed by clicking on the field name in the header row, and changes may be saved so that they are reflected in exported output.
Includes the following fields: NPI, EntityType (provider type 1 or 2), UpdateDate (date the provider most recently updated the NPPES record), PN (name prefix, such as Mr.), FN (first name), MN (middle name), LN (last name), SN (suffix name, such as Jr.), Cred (credentials), OrgName_LBN (legal business name if this is an organization record), Gender (M or F if record is a Type 1 provider), Prac1stAddr (first line of the practice street address), Prac2ndAddr (second line of the practice street address), PracCity, PracState, PracZip, PracCountry, PracPhone, PracFax. This field set can be changed using the Access query functions.
On the Output Lists tab, choose whether you want to view your provider matches (on the screen), or to export them as a text (.txt) file. Click the respective button.
If you choose View Names Only, CP ListMaker will open the query in datasheet view. In datasheet view you can use the Microsoft Access "Find" feature to lookup specific records. Do not delete records here or you will lose the data permanently; instead, cull your list in the Find Matches window.
If you intend to use your output files in Excel, read this important note.
WARNING: DO NOT DELETE RECORDS IN QUERY DATASHEET VIEW! Deleted records in data view are deleted from the underlying CarePrecise data tables and cannot be undone. Instead, prune your lists in the Find Matches tab, where the underlying data files are not affected by your deletions. If you do lose data, you will need to restore the tables from the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select zip file you obtained from us.
Viewing/Exporting Providers with Mailing Addresses, Phones and Faxes
This option on the Output Lists tab includes one record for each NPI (National Provider Identifier) number, the universal number identifying HIPAA covered entities who must submit their healthcare provider data in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) database at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the US Department of Health and Human Services. Data included are those reported by providers as their mailing addresses, phone and fax numbers. By default this output is sorted by NPI number; sort order may be changed by clicking on the field name in the header row, and changes may be saved so that they are reflected in exported output.
Includes the following fields: NPI, EntityType (provider type 1 or 2), UpdateDate (date the provider most recently updated the NPPES record), PN (name prefix, such as Mr.), FN (first name), MN (middle name), LN (last name), SN (suffix name, such as Jr.), Cred (credentials), OrgName_LBN (legal business name if this is an organization record), Gender (M or F if record is a Type 1 provider),, Mail1stAddr (first line of the practice street address), Mail2ndAddr (second line of the practice street address), MailCity, MailState, MailZip, MailCountry, MailPhone, MailFax. Note that the practice address was used in the selection criteria, and may not match the data in this output. This field set can be changed using the Access query functions.
On the Output Lists tab, choose whether you want to view your provider matches (on the screen), or to export them as a text (.txt) file. Click the respective button.
If you choose View Names Only, CP ListMaker will open the query in datasheet view. In datasheet view you can use the Microsoft Access "Find" feature to lookup specific records. Do not delete records here or you will lose the data permanently; instead, cull your list in the Find Matches window.
If you intend to use your output files in Excel, read this important note.
WARNING: DO NOT DELETE RECORDS IN QUERY DATASHEET VIEW! Deleted records in data view are deleted from the underlying CarePrecise data tables and cannot be undone. Instead, prune your lists in the Find Matches tab, where the underlying data files are not affected by your deletions. If you do lose data, you will need to restore the tables from the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select zip file you obtained from us.
Viewing/Exporting Providers with Taxonomy Code Information
This option on the Output Lists tab includes one record for each taxonomy code Speciaties are reported by providers using their Provider Taxonomy Codes. CarePrecise datasets include both the taxonomy code and the specialty in plain English. Click the link to see current specialties. reported by the provider. It is sorted in order of NPI number so that duplicate provider records appear in sequence. Sort order may be changed by clicking on the field name in the header row, and changes may be saved so that they are reflected in exported output.
Includes the following fields: NPI, EntityType (provider type 1 or 2), UpdateDate (date the provider most recently updated the NPPES record), PN (name prefix, such as Mr.), FN (first name), MN (middle name), LN (last name), SN (suffix name, such as Jr.), Cred (credentials), OrgName_LBN (legal business name if this is an organization record), Gender (M or F if record is a Type 1 provider), Taxo (taxonomy code), Lic (provider's state license number), LicState (licensing state), TaxoSwitch (indicates whether the provider specified this as the primary taxonomy code, not the primary, or specified no code as primary), TaxoDescr (description of this taxonomy code in more-or-less plain English). Note that the practice address was used in the selection criteria, and may not match the data in this output. This field set can be changed using the Access query functions.
On the Output Lists tab, choose whether you want to view your provider matches (on the screen), or to export them as a text (.txt) file. Click the respective button.
If you choose View Names Only, CP ListMaker will open the query in datasheet view. In datasheet view you can use the Microsoft Access "Find" feature to lookup specific records. Do not delete records here or you will lose the data permanently; instead, cull your list in the Find Matches window.
If you intend to use your output files in Excel, read this important note.
WARNING: DO NOT DELETE RECORDS IN QUERY DATASHEET VIEW! Deleted records in data view are deleted from the underlying CarePrecise data tables and cannot be undone. Instead, prune your lists in the Find Matches tab, where the underlying data files are not affected by your deletions. If you do lose data, you will need to restore the tables from the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select zip file you obtained from us.
Viewing/Exporting Providers with Other Identifier Information
This option on the Output Lists tab includes one record for each Other Identifier reported by the provider. It is sorted in order of NPI number so that duplicate provider records appear in sequence. Sort order may be changed by clicking on the field name in the header row, and changes may be saved so that they are reflected in exported output.
Includes the following fields: NPI, EntityType (provider type 1 or 2), UpdateDate (date the provider most recently updated the NPPES record), PN (name prefix, such as Mr.), FN (first name), MN (middle name), LN (last name), SN (suffix name, such as Jr.), Cred (credentials), OrgName_LBN (legal business name if this is an organization record), Gender (M or F if record is a Type 1 provider), OtherIDType (code used by the NPPES to specify what kind of identifier is being reported here), OIDTypeDescr (the code type in English, i.e., Medicare UPIN, Medicaid, Medicare OSCAR, Medicare NSC, Medicare PIN, Medicare ID-Type Unspecified, or Other), OtherIDState (state in which ID is issued), OtherIDIssuer (body that issued ID, i.e., Blue Cross Blue Shield, Beacon Health Plan, etc.). Labeled as "Other" you will find health plan IDs for providers such as physicians, with the issuing plan and state shown in the record.
Note that the practice address was used in the selection criteria, and may not match the data in this output. This field set can be changed using the Access query functions.
On the Output Lists tab, choose whether you want to view your provider matches (on the screen), or to export them as a text (.txt) file. Click the respective button.
If you choose View Names Only, CP ListMaker will open the query in datasheet view. In datasheet view you can use the Microsoft Access "Find" feature to lookup specific records. Do not delete records here or you will lose the data permanently; instead, cull your list in the Find Matches window.
If you intend to use your output files in Excel, read this important note.
WARNING: DO NOT DELETE RECORDS IN QUERY DATASHEET VIEW! Deleted records in data view are deleted from the underlying CarePrecise data tables and cannot be undone. Instead, prune your lists in the Find Matches tab, where the underlying data files are not affected by your deletions. If you do lose data, you will need to restore the tables from the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select zip file you obtained from us.
Export All Fields (7 normalized text files)
This option on the Output Lists tabexports the complete fieldset for each record in the match table, in the same data structure as the complete CarePrecise dataset. See the field list and data structure on the CarePrecise database documentation page for details.
If you intend to use your output files in Excel, read this important note.
Creating Custom Output
Because CP ListMaker is built on one of the most powerful and easy-to-use database platforms available, you can use all of Microsoft Access' search and sort features to customize your CP ListMaker application. Four built-in queries are provided that can be cloned, changed and saved under new names. Additionally, you can make changes to the standard queries themselves, or create new ones using the Microsoft Access query features and the visual QBE (query by example) grid. Custom queries created using the Clone feature appear in the selector box on the Output Lists tab.
WARNING: DO NOT DELETE RECORDS IN QUERY DATASHEET VIEW! Deleted records in data view are deleted from the underlying CarePrecise data tables and cannot be undone. Instead, prune your lists in the Find Matches tab, where the underlying data files are not affected by your deletions. If you do lose data, you will need to restore the tables from the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select zip file you obtained from us.
Cloning and Customizing the Built-in Queries
The Clone button beside each of the built-in queries on the Output window allows you to copy a built-in query and save it under a new name so that you can customize it without altering the built-in query. Then, when you want to use the query, you can locate it in the My Custom Queries box on the Output Lists tab.
After opening the query, you can use Access' Design View to edit the query.
>> To display the database window, refer to Help for your version of Microsoft Access.
You can clone and customize queries to create unlimited data views of the CarePrecise Access data.
WARNING: DO NOT DELETE RECORDS IN QUERY DATASHEET VIEW! Deleted records in data view are deleted from the underlying CarePrecise data tables and cannot be undone. Instead, prune your lists in the Find Matches tab, where the underlying data files are not affected by your deletions. If you do lose data, you will need to restore the tables from the CarePrecise Access or CarePrecise Select zip file you obtained from us.
Editing the Built-in Queries
In addition to cloning and saving the built-in queries under new names, you can change the actual standard queries themselves. This is only recommended if you have some Microsoft Access query skills and are familiar with the CarePrecise data structure and fieldset.
To edit a built-in query, open the Output window and click the View button for the query style you want to edit. The query will open in datasheet view. Switch to design view (refer to Help for your version of MS Access), make your changes, and save. If you make changes in this way, they will be reflected when you click the query's export button in the Output Lists tab.
>> NOTE TO DEVELOPERS: Editing the standard queries (those that appear when clicking one of the "View..." buttons on the Output Lists tab gives you the opportunity to create custom exports, since "Export..." buttons use these same queries. Be sure you know exactly what you want to do, and how to use MS Access' query functionaility to achieve the desired result. If you mess up, you can always retrieve a clean copy of the CP ListMaker MDB file from the original compressed delivery file into a temporary folder, then import the query objects into the CP ListMaker database. If you accidentally delete provider records from your CarePrecise databases, simply re-extract the affected database(s) from the original CarePrecise Access compressed delivery file.
Microsoft Access SQL Queries and the Query-By-Example (QBE) Grid
Microsoft Access has provided a substantial asset within the Access DBMS known as the QBE Grid. This visual tool lets you build complex database queries without any knowledge of SQL (Structured Query Language). The complete NPPES database is exposed to the Microsoft Access SQL engine and QBE grid with your CarePrecise Access Complete and CP ListMakers products.
SQL-savvy users will appreciate the ability to use standard SQL query expressions within CP ListMaker and other CarePrecise products. As with CarePrecise Access and CarePrecise Select, you can access all of the data and all of the powerful MS Access features without leaving the CP ListMaker application.
Complete export features are available to export built-in, cloned and user-developed queries in a variety of data formats, and to add or remove specific fields from files to be output.
A Word About Excel, CSV and Exporting
If you are preparing output for use in Excel, there is an important consideration to keep in mind about Excel and data types. Because the majority of CarePrecise customers are using Excel as a stage in their output, we have decided that our built-in output will be in .TXT format. This is to help overcome a very problematical Excel "feature" that truncates leading zeroes when CSV files are opened directly. If you need your files to be in CSV format, you must first open Excel, then import the .txt output file, and on each of the numerical fields (particularly the zip and license fields) set the import data type to Text. Otherwise the data you import will be changed to Excel's strict numerical format, in which a Zip Code of 01647 will be changed to 1647. Since most of the zips in CarePrecise data are full 9-digit codes and do not include the hyphen, a zip of 01647-3456 would appear in Excel as 16473456 and be difficult to repair programmatically. We continue to hope that Microsoft will one day fix this "feature" in Excel, and stop changing delimited fields to numerical values. Hope springs eternal!
We have also included a README file in the /Output folder within your CP ListMaker installation explaining this reasoning.
>> If you are not using Excel and prefer to export files in CSV format, refer to MS Access Help on exporting. You can open queries using the View buttons (datasheet view) and then use the Access tools to perform an export to your own specifications.
SharpMail™
SharpMail is a powerful new feature that tidies up your list and gets it ready for mailing. SharpMail:
- Properly cases difficult names, i.e., "deVon L. MacRae, MD, PhD, EdD"
- Genderizes providers with 100% accuracy on individual providers, 98%+ accuracy on organization contacts
- Intelligently creates salutations, i.e., "Dr. Smith" or "Mr. Wilson" based on credentials and providers' expressed preferences
- Lets you choose between a formal salutation or a casual first name salutation
- Intelligently selects between first names (Bob J. Jones) and middle names when the first name is an initial (J. Bob Jones) >> "Bob"
- Selects best mailing address, properly cased, with properly formatted 9-digit zip
- Puts telephone and fax numbers in the output file, along with the Added Since Date and Update Date
SharpMail can be used to export tidied-up lists, or can print mailing labels directly from within CP ListMaker.
First, use the New Criteria, View Criteria and Find Matches tabs to gather your provider list, as instructed above. On the Output Lists tab, click the Process SharpMail button. This process may take a few moments, depending on the number of providers on your list. When SharpMail reports that it has finished, click the View SharpMail button to look at your provider list, properly cased, and with intelligently built name and address fields.
Utilities and Upgrade Tools
Compact/Repair CarePrecise NPPES Databases
 To access the Utilities window, click the Utilities button on the main window. The 'Compact/Repair CarePrecise NPPES Databases' button only Compacts/Repairs the CarePrecise NPPES databases, not the CP ListMaker database. CP ListMaker is delivered with the "Compact/Repair on Exit" option enabled. Unless you have changed this option, CP ListMaker will Compact/Repair automatically each time you exit the application.
Conform States in CarePrecise Address Fields
When entering their data in the NPPES database, providers sometimes put the wrong things in important places.
To access the Utilities window, click the Utilities button on the main window. The 'Conform States in CarePrecise Address Fields' button finds occurences of common errors in the MailState and PracState fields, and replaces the data with a 2-character state code, so that providers will show up in your searches using state code criteria. This won't catch every possible fat-fingering by every doctor, but it helps a lot.
WARNING: This button changes data in your CarePrecise database. This action cannot be undone.
>> We provide our CarePrecise database with the original data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services intact, except for some additional data we add. Therefore, such things as the address state codes are sometimes not exactly perfect. This utility helps rectify nonconformed data, and is strongly recommended.
Add Dash in 9-digit ZipCodes
To access the Utilities window, click the Utilities button on the main window. The Add Dash in 9-digit ZipCodes button will change the standard CarePrecise 9-digit zip codes to 10-character codes by adding a dash after the first 5 digits. Will only afftect zips that have 9 digits.
WARNING: This button changes data in your CarePrecise database. This action cannot be undone.
Upgrade Utility
Two-step upgrade utility makes it easy to upgrade CP ListMaker while keeping your saved Criteria Sets and Lists from earlier versions. Version upgrades are free for one year after your CP ListMaker purchase.
Hide Database Window or Show Database Window
To hide or show the Database Window in the main CP Listmaker window, click the button that reads either 'Hide Database Window' or 'Show Database Window', depending on the current status of the window. You will find all of the CarePrecise tables, plus all of the CP Listmaker tables, queries, forms and code modules in the Database Window. Refer to Help in your version of Microsoft Access for instructions on displaying and sorting individual object types.
WARNING: Do not delete or change any of the CP ListMaker objects in the Database Window, except for your own Cloned (custom) queries (CP ListMaker prefixes the names of these queries with the characters "CUSTOM_" so that they will appear together alphabetically in the Database Window.
>> Access 2007 users: The Database Window is called the Navigation Pane in Access 2007.
Information about your version of CP ListMaker
Click the 'About' button at the top right of the CP ListMaker main window to view the version installed on your computer. You will receive free version upgrades for one year following your purchase.
CP ListMaker Help Buttons 
CP ListMaker screens provides numerous help buttons, each related to the function it appears beside. In-window help screens appear with quick information about common CP ListMaker operations. A help button at the top right of the CP ListMaker main window will open this web-based documentation page in your default web browser.
Power User Example
By combining the many features of CP ListMaker you can really fine tune a list. There are so many different combinations that we could scarcely begin to define them all, but the following example, from one of our users, shows how CP ListMaker has done some truly amazing things.
The Problem: We need to find a group of providers with a very specific profile for a research study. Here are the parameters:
- Addresses, credentials, state license numbers, phone and fax numbers for:
- Female family practice physicians who do not also practice pediatrics,
- With practices located in urban and suburban areas within four selected metro areas, outside of dense urban centers, but not in rural areas,
- Who serve an average income and above patient base,
- Can order DME (durable medical equipment) and have it billed to Medicare,
- Have started their practice within the past 12 to 18 months,
- And we need to send each a formal letter, so we need properly cased name and address information, and a good, personalized salutation (like "Dear Dr. Chowdry").
The Solution: We used CarePrecise Gold [the CarePrecise Access Complete/CP ListMaker bundle] to pull the list and prep it for mailing. Here were the steps (roughly):
- Created an 8-mile geographic radius Criteria Set for each of the four metro areas we had selected for our study. Named them for each of the metros, "Houston," "Atlanta," etc.
- Created a 1-mile geographic radius Criteria Set for each of the metros, then subtracted these zips [Remove from Criteria] from the named metro Criteria Sets. Now we have our "donuts" around the urban centers, leaving out the urban centers and rural areas. (You can also specify fractional miles, i.e., 2.5 miles.) Looking at the animation at right, this shows how we cut out the "donut hole" to remove inner city practices.
- To remove rural practices, we created a Criteria Set containing all of the states' rural zip codes using the Urban and Other zip filter, and removed it from our criteria using the Remove from Criteria tool.
- To remove low income service areas, we used the Wealth filter to eliminate zones with incomes at 200% of the Federal Poverty Level or below, in the same way as in step 3.
- Created a "general" taxonomy Criteria Set, containing providers with the taxonomy codes identifying family practice physicians. Named it "FamPrac."
- Combined the above Criteria Sets into one. Named it "First Cut." Found the matching providers and made a Saved List called "Our Targets"
- Created a Criteria Set of all providers with a taxonomy code identifying the practice of pediatrics, saved the matching providers as a Saved List named "Pedia."
- Used the Remove from List tool to cut the Pedia list out of the Our Targets list, leaving only those family practice docs who do not also practice pediatrics.
- Used the Gender and PECOS filters to select only females who are enrolled to accept Medicare, the Type filter to select only individuals (eliminating duplicative "organization" listings that would have picked up the physicians' corporate entities), and the Added Since Date filter to select only those who "signed up" in the federal National Provider Identifier database more recently than 18 months ago.
- Processed the list using SharpMail to output good name and address fields with a salutation, all properly cased and ready to print as mailing labels (all done from within CP ListMaker), and import into Excel for telephone follow-up.
CP ListMaker comes with 30 days of free technical support, and we'll be glad to help you through the learning curve. If you can define your "problem" as well as this user was able to, it will help us arrive at the solution very quickly.
Improving Query Running Speed
Because CarePrecise Access Complete datasets are very large (CarePrecise Access Complete contains about 3 million NPI records normalized into seven tables, comprising more than 23 million total discrete records, or roughly 1 billion individual datapoints), many CP ListMaker criteria processing queries need to sniff a lot of data. Want to know if your system is running at peak efficiency? Here's a benchmark we use: from 1.1billion data points in the NPPES database, using five taxonomy codes and five zip codes as criteria, CP ListMaker located 492 specific physicians within five Boston area Zip Codes in 48.08 seconds.* (Test conducted on a two-year-old Dell Optiplex desktop computer, 4Gb RAM, dual core processor, Windows XP Pro, with no non-standard acceleration; a single core Toshiba laptop ran the benchmark in roughly twice the time.) Test taxonomy codes: 207R00000X, 207RA0000X, 207RA0201X, 207RA0401X, 207RB0002X; Test Zip Codes: 02108, 02109, 02110, 02111, 02112. This benchmark is included in the sample saved criteria sets that ship with CP ListMaker.
Every time you close the CP ListMaker application, a utility is automatically run that compacts the database. This causes CP ListMaker to run more slowly when you reopen it and run your first process (such as Find Matches). This is because Microsoft Access is uncompressing certain tables that had been compressed. If you choose not to have the database automatically compact when you close it, the file can become extremely large, and we recommend that you compact it frequently using the compacting tool built into Microsoft Access.
Run the benchmark yourself and measure the time it takes to run the process. If your times are significantly lower, here are some tips to improve speed.
- Close other programs on your computer. You should not use CP ListMaker while other processor-hungry programs are operating, whether you are actively using them or not. In particular, Microsoft Outlook can cause a serious reduction in processing speed.
- Make sure you have adequate virtual memory configured. Consult your Windows documentation for instructions on setting virtual memory (search Windows Help for "virtual memory"). We use the following settings for virtual memory: Initial 2046 MB; Maximum 4092 MB; other settings at default.
- Disable unnecessary Windows Services. Refer to the documentation for your version of Windows to locate the Services window. In particular, the Windows Index service used by the desktop search tool can dramatically impact processing speed. Same goes for third party indexing tools such as the Google Desktop Search tool.
- Don't allow your antivirus program to run a system scan while you are using the database. Likewise, disable any background tools that hog system resources, such as scheduled backups. It's best to schedule such operations to run at times when you will not be using the computer anyway, but, surprisingly, the default settings of some programs will attempt to run any time your keyboard is idle, even if the processor is busy trying to do database work.
- Make sure you have adequate contiguous disk space available. As time goes on, your computer's hard disk becomes fragmented -- especially when you use very large databases like those from CarePrecise. Unless there are large areas of free space on your hard drive for CP ListMaker to use, it can take much longer for processes to run, or processes may fail to complete. Periodically defragment the hard drive on which your CarePrecise products are installed.
- Don't attempt to use CP ListMaker over a network. CP ListMaker must be installed in the local hard drive of the PC where it is to be used. Use over a network will not only slow down the program, but may cause network traffic issues.
- Peridically "Compact and Repair." As you use a database it can become bloated with unnecessary page memory. CP ListMaker is delivered with the Access option enabled to automatically Compact/Repair every time you close the database. However, you must Compact/Repair the other databases in your CarePrecise folder by using the utilitiy provided. Click the Utilities button on the Select Criteria window.
>>
An Access database will only grow; even if you delete records, the space they occupied will still be "there." This happens because the database always extends when new insertions occur. It never writes a new record to the space that was allocated by a previous insertion, even if those previously inserted records are currently deleted. Thus, if you have a database that's 100 MB size, for example 1,000,000 records, delete them all, and then insert another 1,000,000 records, your database will be about 200MB. That's gonna slow you down real bad. Only a Compact/Repair operation will clean up that wasted space. Generally speaking, you shouldn't need to Compact/Repair the seven CarePrecise data tables, since you won't (shouldn't!) be writing or deleting to those tables; CP ListMaker and CarePrecise products shipped since December 22, 2009 are configured to Compact/Repair each time you exit the database, unless you have changed that setting in the Access Settings. This will dramatically slow down the first process or query you run after reopening the database, but speed up other operations. You can elect not to run the automatic compact utility if you prefer; refer to Microsoft Access help on changing settings for the database.
- Configure your hard drives/arrays for optimum speed. Consult your system administrator to see if placing CarePrecise on a different hard drive from Microsoft Access will improve data processing speed. Some disk configurations can "double dip" (let parts of programs access two drives simultaneously), imporving data access operations.
- Avoid using the "Like" operator in your queries. The Like operator requires deep parsing and dramatically slows down query processing.
- Optimize your queries. If you are developing your own custom queries and other Microsoft Access processes within CP ListMaker, it's a good idea to review how you can optimize Access query operation. See the following links:
 Getting Technical Support
CP ListMaker comes with 30 days of free technical support, available here. Please refer to our Support page for details and information on extended and advanced technical support plans.
Click here to learn more about CP ListMaker...
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* No warranty is expressed or implied regarding processing time on any specific computer or computing environment.
NOTICE:
The data contained in CarePrecise Access is sourced from the National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS), and other US federal sources obtainable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and provided monthly by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of Inspector General, divisions of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and from the US Census Bureau, a division of the US Department of Commerce, agencies of the US federal government, and the United States Postal Service (USPS). Neither CarePrecise nor its partners or affiliates are responsible for data maintained by these or other source providers. The database is the most complete available; all HIPAA covered entity healthcare providers in the U.S. are required under the NPI Final Rule to provide their information to these databases and to update when their information changes. No warranty is expressed or implied as to the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the information presented here, nor that the data structure will not be changed in the future by CMS, beyond the diligent effort to include all released data. CarePrecise and CP ListMaker are trademarks of CarePrecise Technology. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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