Provider Database Documentation | CarePrecise
Update release    
October 15, 2018    
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CarePrecise® Data Documentation

This page contains documentation for CarePrecise Access (CPAC) and CarePrecise Select datasets. For specific instructions on using the CP ListMaker add-on, go here.

 

For instructions on how to use the relational database, click here.

 

Description of the Data

The CarePrecise data universe is a modular family of datasets, together representing a single relational database spanning a broad healthcare provider information space. The color squares below indicate which module the data belongs to. Refer to the color coding in the Fields List below to view field descriptions for each module.

 

 

CPAC: CarePrecise Access Complete™ healthcare provider data

CPAC contains substantial information on every one of the 5.6 million HIPAA-covered healthcare providers. The field list below includes descriptions of data available in the basic CPAC dataset (color-coded by a gray background). The CPAC data, like all CarePrecise data products, is a relational database, generally using the NPI number as the key across all tables.

Historical Data Included. The CPAC dataset also includes certain historical data, that is, information on deactivated providers. Additional historical data is also available. See this link.

NEW: We've recently added two new tables, currently in beta:

  • OtherPracticeLocations
  • OtherOrgNames

Review their contents below in the fields list.

Download a sample of the CPAC data...

Click here to view the CPAC product page...

Download Data Definitions (CSV)...

Download Data Definitions (Excel)...

 

 

EPGH: Extended Professional, Group and Hospital™ data

The EPGH module adds significant details to the CPAC data for a subset of providers; specifically, those providers who are actively seeing patients and who appear on Medicare claims. The field list below includes descriptions of data available in bundle products that include the Extended Physician, Group and Hospital (EPGH) dataset, indicated by the blue background.

The extended dataset offers additional information on the nation's active PECOS-enrolled providers, and includes a deduplicated database of approximately 5,000 hospitals, 180,000 practice groups, and 900,000 individual providers (primarily physicians) -- all linked together to provide a 360-degree view of the active provider universe. Physician records are linked to their practice group records, and to their affiliated hospital records.

The EPGH data makes it possible to pull a simple list of hospitals and their affiliated physicians or practice groups, or to pull a list of practice groups and view a verified list of medical professionals affiliated with the groups.

Included with the EPGH module are group practice details, medical school, graduation year, and more.

The extended hospital data includes the Medicare CCN number used to link to other data resources, such as hospital quality data found in the Authoritative Hospital Database.

The extended professionals and groups data includes the key to physician and practice group quality data available from CMS.

The EPGH dataset is not sold separately as a standalone database, but as part of the Master Bundle. It is also included in the CarePrecise Platinum package.

Download a sample of the CPAC with EPGH data...

Click here to view the EPGH product page...

Download Data Definitions (CSV)...

Download Data Definitions (Excel)...

 

 

ProCase™ properly-cased data

The ProCase module offers the same individual name data, organization name data and address data found in the CPAC module, but in properly-cased form. Using a large database of properly-cased name and address listings, plus a proprietary algorithm, a very high quality of intelligent proper-casing is achieved. ProCase data tables are shown below with a pink background.

The ProCase module is available as part of the Master Bundle, the CarePrecise Platinum bundle, and the CPAC+ProCase bundle, and is not available separately.

Download Data Definitions (CSV)...

Download Data Definitions (Excel)...

 

 

The Authoritative Hospital Database™

The Authoritative Hospital Database (AHD) contains deeper data on the widest set of U.S. hospitals. Although the AHD is available separately as a standalone file, it may also be linked with data in the CPAC and EPGH datasets using the NPI and CCN fields. The data table shown below with a green background represents data included in the Authoritative Hospital Database.

Download a sample of the AHD data...

Click here to view the AHD product page...

See product page for data definitions.

 

 

Additional data contained in Gold and Platinum packages

Data tables shown below with a gold background represent additional data included in the CP ListMaker software bundled with CarePrecise Gold and CarePrecise Platinum. This data is made available primarily for operation of the CP ListMaker software, and may also be useful on its own. This data incluides geocoding (latitude and longitude), wealth of the provider's service area, urban or rural status, and more.

Click here to view the CarePrecise Gold product page...

Click here to view the CarePrecise Platinum product page...

 

 

Data Model

As shown in the illustration below, the primary data tables are linked by the NPI (National Provider Identifier) field. (Note that providers may have more than one NPI. See the note below on Understanding Enumeration.)

The tables shown in blue are one-to-many tables, using the NPI to key up to 15 taxonomy (specialty) codes, and up to 50 Other Identifiers (UPIN, Medicare PIN, etc.). Thus, one NPI may be repeated many times in each of those tables, each associated with a different taxonomy or other ID. Group Affiliation and Hospital Affiliation tables are many-to-many relationship tables.

Click for a printer-friendly version of the fields list.

CarePrecise Data Tables & Fields Use scrollbar at right of box to view all tables and fields ¬
Product Key: 
CPAC: CarePrecise Access Complete (standard dataset)
EPGH: Extended Physician, Group and Hospital data

 

ProCase: Properly-cased names and addresses
AHD: Authoritative Hospital Database
CPLM: CP ListMaker
Product Table CarePrecise fieldname Description of field, and/or source fieldname Additional information
CPAC (CarePrecise Access Complete) data is sourced and cross-matched from the NPPES, PECOS and LEIE datab, keyed on the NPI. Every record has a unique NPI, and the NPI is used to link the relational tables together. The CPAC dataset is updated monthly.
CPAC tAddresses

(Provider addresses;
MDB and CSV formats)

 NPI National Provider Identifier (unique National Provider Identifier assigned to healthcare providers by the US Department of Health and Human Services) Relational Key

The NPI is a unique 10-digit numerical code assigned to every HIPAA-covered healthcare provider, including individuals and organizations, by the U.S. Department of Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

 

Mail1stAddr Provider First Line Business Mailing Address  
Mail2ndAddr Provider Second Line Business Mailing Address  
MailCity Provider Business Mailing Address City Name
  
MailState Provider Business Mailing Address State Name The federal data contains variations on state codes, abbreviations and full state names; we conform this field to standard 2-character state codes where possible.

 
MailZip Provider Business Mailing Address Postal Code (most are 9-digit Zip Codes)  
MailCountry Provider Business Mailing Address Country Code (If outside U.S.)  
Prac1stAddr Provider First Line Business Practice Location Address  
Prac2ndAddr Provider Second Line Business Practice Location Address  
PracCity Provider Business Practice Location Address City Name  
PracState Provider Business Practice Location Address State Name The federal data contains variations on state codes, abbreviations and full state names; we conform this field to standard 2-character state codes where possible.

 
PracZip Provider Business Practice Location Address Postal Code (most are 9-digit Zip Codes)  
PracCountry Provider Business Practice Location Address Country Code (If outside U.S.)

 

  
CPAC tOtherPracticeLocations

BETA starting 7/16/2018. Table is not provided in custom data pulls (CarePrecise Select services). Additional (secondary) practice locations for Type 2 providers;
MDB and CSV formats One-to-many table.

 NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key

 

 

SecondaryPracAddr1 First line of street address  
SecondaryPracAddr2 Second line of street address  
SecondaryPracCity City Name
  
SecondaryPracState State Name The federal data contains variations on state codes, abbreviations and full state names; we conform this field to standard 2-character state codes where possible.

 
SecondaryPracZip Postal Code (most are 9-digit Zip Codes)  
SecondaryPracCountry Country Code (If outside U.S.)  
SecondaryPracPhone Location Phone Number  
SecondaryPracPhoneExt Location Phone Extension  
SecondaryPracFax Location Fax Number  
SecondaryLocationDate Location Date

 
CPAC tEntity NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
  (Provider entity and record information; MDB and CSV formats) EntityType Entity Type Code Type 1 indicates an individual provider (i.e., physician, psychologist, etc.); Type 2 indicates an organizational provider (i.e., hospital, lab, pharmacy, etc.). Type1 entities (individuals) may have only one NPI number and so only one record, but Type 2 entities (organizations) may have multiple NPI numbers and thus multiple records. Click here to download the Exclusion Type Code description document...

 
ReplacementNPI Replacement NPI Not currently populated
EIN Employer Identification Number (EIN) Not currently populated. CMS is not yet providing tax numbers of this type.
EnumDate Provider Enumeration Date Date the record was first added to the NPI registry
UpdateDate Last Update Date Date this provider NPI record was last updated
DeactReason NPI Deactivation Reason Code Not currently populated
DeactDate NPI Deactivation Date Not populated because records in the current dataset are not deactivated. This field IS populated in the separate delta table tEntity_DEACT, described below.
ReactDate NPI Reactivation Date  
Gender Provider Gender Code M or F for Type 1 providers
IsSoleProp Is Sole Proprietor Y indicates provider operates as a sole proprietor business.
IsOrgSubpart Is Organization Subpart For Type 2 providers, may be one of several organizational units, each with its own NPI number

 
ParentOrgTIN Parent Organization TIN CMS is not yet providing tax numbers of this type

 
InPECOS From monthly CMS PECOS distributions of PECOS-enrolled providers. Source: PECOS Ordering and Referring Report file distribution. Y = Physicians and non-physician practitioners who are of a type/specialty that is legally eligible to order and refer in the Medicare program and who have current enrollment records in Medicare (i.e., they have enrollment records in PECOS)

 
Warning

From the Office of Inspector General's excluded providers database (LEIE), indicatying a sanction prevents the provider from billing Medicare. A warning in this field should not be taken as definitive; the user should check the tExcluded table and consider other sources of provider fraud and exclusion information. Up until the May 2017 release, this field was algorithmically derived for some records.*

 

 Y= elements in the providers record indicated a match with a listing in the federal excluded providers database (see the table tExcluded below)

 

ExclType

The exclusion type from the LEIE database, explaining the reason that a provider was barred from billing Medicare. Fields with a Y in the Warning field will display this code.

 

 The code's definition can be found at this link. A CSV file listing these exclusion descriptions is included in the CarePrecise Access Complete CSV download file.

 
ExclDate

The date of the exclusion from the LEIE database, where reported.

 

 Where available

 
UPIN UPIN is a deprecated identifier, no longer used

 

 
Group From NPPES group taxonomy data. Y= this provider reported that it operates as either a multi-specialty group or single-specialty group.

 

County   Practice county
CountyFIPS   Practice county FIPS code
StateFIPS   Practice state FIPS code
TimeZone   Practice time zone
DLSTime   Daylight saving time; Y= Yes
MSA   Metropolitan Statistical Area of practice
PMSA   Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area of practice
Population   Zip Code population
Zip5   First five digits of practice address Zip Code
CPAC tHumanNames NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
  (Provider person names or contact person names; MDB and CSV formats) LN Provider Last Name (Legal Name) The enumerated individual provider's name (for Entity Type 1 records)
FN Provider First Name
MN Provider Middle Name
PN Provider Name Prefix Text
SN Provider Name Suffix Text
Cred Provider Credential Text
OthLN Provider Other Last Name "AKA" name: Nee name, nickname, etc.
OthFN Provider Other First Name
OthMN Provider Other Middle Name
OthPN Provider Other Name Prefix Text
OthSN Provider Other Name Suffix Text
OthCred Provider Other Credential Text
OthLNType Provider Other Last Name Type Code
AuthLN Authorized Official Last Name (Contact person for a Type 2 organization record) Name of the provider's authorizing official, if other than the listed individual provider. For organizations (Entity Type 2 records), this is the contact name.

 
AuthFN Authorized Official First Name
AuthMN Authorized Official Middle Name
AuthTitle Authorized Official Title or Position
AuthPN Authorized Official Name Prefix Text
AuthSN Authorized Official Name Suffix Text
AuthCred Authorized Official Credential Text

 
CPAC tOID NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
  (Other identifiers, such as UPIN, OSCAR, PIN, Medicaid, etc., excluding NPI and taxonomy codes; MDB and CSV formats) One-to-many table. OtherID Other Provider Identifier  
OtherIDType Other Provider Identifier Type Code
Description OtherIDType
Other
01
Medicaid
05
OtherIDState Other Provider Identifier State In the case of a state license code, this is the licensing state
OtherIDIssuer Other Provider Identifier Issuer  
OIDnum Source: Added by CarePrecise to indicate the original NPPES flat file Other Identifiers field number. The number of the NPPES Other Identifier field (1 through 50)

 
CPAC tOrgNames NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
 

(Provider organization names for Type 2 providers; MDB and CSV formats)

 

 OrgName_LBN Provider Organization Name (Legal Business Name) LBN (for Entity Type 2 records)
OthOrgName Provider Other Organization Name Other
OthOrgNameType Provider Other Organization Name Type Code
Description Type
Unexplained (both)
0
Former Name (indiv)
1
Professional Name (indiv)
2
Doing Business As (org)
3
Former LBN (org)
4
Other Name (both)
5
ParentOrgLBN Parent Organization LBN

 

  
CPAC tOtherOrgNames NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
 

BETA starting 7/16/2018. Table is not provided in custom data pulls (CarePrecise Select services).(Alternative org names beyond those lited in tOrgNames; MDB and CSV formats) One-to-many table.

 

 OtherOrgName Other Organization Aame  
OtherOrgNameType Other Organization Name Type
Description Type
Unexplained (both)
0
Doing Business As (org)
3
Former LBN (org)
4
Other Name (both)
5
CPAC tPhoneFax NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
 

(Provider phone and fax numbers; fax numbers for approx. 65% of records; MDB and CSV formats)

 

 MailPhone Provider Business Mailing Address Telephone Number  
MailFax Provider Business Mailing Address Fax Number  
PracPhone Provider Business Practice Location Address Telephone Number  
PracFax Provider Business Practice Location Address Fax Number  
AuthPhone Authorized Official Telephone Number

 

  
CPAC tTaxo NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
 

(Provider Taxonomy codes indicating specialties and subspecialties for Type 1/individual providers, and facility types for Type 2/organization providers; MDB and CSV formats). One-to-many table.

 

 Taxo Healthcare Provider Taxonomy Code Providers may have multiple taxonomies reported here, and thus multiple records in this one-to-many table
Lic Provider License Number  
LicState Provider License Number State Code  
TaxoSwitch Healthcare Provider Primary Taxonomy Switch (Primary specialty indicator) "Y" means this is the provider's primary specialty or facility code.
Tnum   The number of the NPPES taxonomy field (1 through 15). If a primary taxonomy is not indicated, it may be useful to assume that the first-listed code (1) is primary.

 
TaxoDescr   Taxonomy code description (the specialty/subspecialty in English)

 

CPAC tTaxoGroups NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
  (Provider Taxonomy codes indicating group practices; MDB and CSV formats). One-to-many table. Gnum

The source data (NPPES) permits group codes to be reported in up to 15 fields in this section. CarePrecise creates a one-to-many table, listing each of a provider's reported taxonomy group codes in a separate record. The Gnum is the NPPES Group Taxonomy field number in which the code was reported, allowing the code be matched with the specific group specialty in the tTaxo table. For instance, a code in tTaxoGroup field Gnum 3 indicates a group practice of the specialty reported in Tnum 3 in the tTaxo table.

 

 CMS does not report the group codes in the taxonomy section (which appear in our tTaxo table) because they represent an additional layer of information on any one or more of the tTaxo codes.

 

    TaxoGroup Healthcare Provider Taxonomy Group_[1 through 15] 193200000X for a multi-specialty practice
193400000X for a single-specialty practice

 
CPAC tCoLoCode
(CPAC records only) 		NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
  (MDB and CSV formats) CoLoCode

Provider CoLoCode™ (co-location code, a CarePrecise algorithmically derived* exclusive). The NPI and CoLoCode comprise the dual relational key for this table. The NPI identifies the provider record, and the CoLoCode identifies the physical location. The CoLoCode is an up to 40-character string that stands in for detailed location data, and is not intended to be sensical to the human viewer.

 

 This code is an algorithmically derived conformation of the provider's practice location, permitting identification of providers who practice at the same location, for instance, physician groups, dental groups, radiology groups, etc. By using this table in conjunction with the tTaxoGroups table, it is possible to visualize the group entity (generally an organization) and its provider members.

 
Count

Count of providers matching this co-location (algorithmically derived* conformation of the provider's practice location; see tCoLoCodes above). Indicates the number of providers practicing at this co-location.

 

  
CPAC tAdded
(CPAC records only) 		NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
 

(MDB and CSV formats)Table is not provided in custom data pulls (CarePrecise Select services)

 DateDiscovered   The CarePrecise processing date on which the added provider record was discovered. Corresponds to the most recent previous CMS update date on which the added provider data was included in the NPPES database. Unduplicative index key is dual; NPI and DateDiscovered.

 
CPAC tDropped
(CPAC records only) Table is not provided in custom data pulls (CarePrecise Select services)		 NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key
 

(MDB and CSV formats)

 DateDiscovered   The CarePrecise processing date on which it was discovered that the provider record was dropped from the NPPES database. Corresponds to the most recent previous CMS update date on which the provider data was dropped from the NPPES database. Unduplicative index key is dual; NPI and DateDiscovered.

 

EntityType Entity Type Code Type 1 is individual providers (i.e., physicians, psychologists, etc.); Type 2 is organizational providers (i.e., hospitals, labs, etc.)

 

ProvName   This is a generated field based on EntityType.

 
Prac1stAddr Provider First Line Business Practice Location Address  
Prac2ndAddr Provider Second Line Business Practice Location Address  
PracCity Provider Business Practice Location Address City Name  
PracState Provider Business Practice Location Address State Name The federal data contains variations on state codes, abbreviations and full state names; we conform this field to standard 2-character state codes. A small number of non-US postal addresses remain nonconforming.

 
PracZip Provider Business Practice Location Address Postal Code  
PracCountry Provider Business Practice Location Address Country Code (If outside U.S.)  
PracPhone Provider Business Practice Location Address Telephone Number  
EnumDate Provider Enumeration Date  
UpdateDate Last Update Date Date this provider NPI record was last updated

 
CPAC tExcluded

(MDB and CSV formats) Table is not provided in custom data pulls (CarePrecise Select services)

 LN Last name (Type 1 providers) This table, sourced from the LEIE, lists all provider records in the federal excluded providers database. A provider may be excluded (barred from billing Medicare) for reasons of a criminal nature, among other reasons. This table contains no relational key; however, it is used to produce the Warning field in the tEntity table, which does include the provider's NPI. This table should be referenced for backup information.

 
  FN First name (Type 1 providers)
MN Middle Name (Type 1 providers)
OrgName Organization name (Type 2 providers)
Addr Street address
City City
State State
Zip Zip Code
DOB Date of Birth (currently unpopulated)
General Provider category
Specialty Provider specialty
UPIN Federal physician identifier code (legacy)
ExclType Exclusion type (why provider was excluded)
ExclDesc Exclusion Description
ExclDate Date provider was excluded (YYYYMMDD)

 
CPAC tDeact

(MDB and CSV formats; CPAC records only) Table is not provided in custom data pulls (CarePrecise Select services)

 

 NPI National Provider Identifier This table is provided by CMS, listing all NPI records that have been deactivated and the deactivation date. Unduplicative index key is dual; NPI and DeactDate.

 
  DeactDate Date CMS deactivated the provider's NPI record
DeactFound Date deactivation was processed by CarePrecise
CPAC Delta tables in NPPES_Delta.mdb

(MDB format; CPAC records only) Table is not provided in custom data pulls (CarePrecise Select services)

 tAddresses_DEACT
tEntity_DEACT
tHumanNames_DEACT
tOID_DEACT
tOrgNames_DEACT
tPhoneFax_DEACT
tTaxo_DEACT
tTaxoGroups_DEACT
tCoLoCode_DEACT


The Delta tables are contained in a separate database included in the CarePrecise Access Complete dataset, named NPPES_Delta. They contain near-complete data on providers whose records have been deactivated by CMS for various reasons, including retirement, death, or for any of several infractions. These tables contain the same fields as the standard provider data tables as defined above for their namesakes, and are populated with the data from previous data releases, with the deactivation date populated in the tEntity_DEACT table's DeactDate field.
Additional Data Included with Extended Professional, Group and Hospital (EPGH)/CPAC Master Bundleand CarePrecise Platinum. Data is sourced from PECOS, Physician Compare, Hospital Compare and other CMS data, and is updated monthly. Provider records are a subset of the CPAC records, with approximately 600,000 physician records and 500,000 other providers. The EPGH is not sold separately, and is available only as a bundle. No time stamp is provided for EPGH updates, and no historical data is included.
EPGH tExtended_Professional

(The EPGH is available optionally as a bundle with CarePrecise Access Complete (CPAC) that provides additional information on healthcare professionals (particularly physicians), practice groups and hospitals, and reveals the affiliation links between all three. MDB and CSV formats.)

Only active providers (have appeared on a Medicare claim in the past twelve months) are included in the EPGH dataset (unlike the CPAC dataset, which includes all US HIPAA-covered providers). EPGH data is available for approximately 560,000 physicians, and 300,000 other professionals, and is growing. The hospital data in EPGH provides an unduplicated listing of hospitals and their highest priority NPI number, and is linked to each hospital's affiliated professionals/physicians and practice groups. EPGH practice group data makes it possible to see the multiple locations at which an individual provider practices.

NPI National Provider Identifier of Individual Professional Relational Key

Link to professional's data in the CPAC databases above. This ID is unique per professional (physician, PA, etc.).

 
PACID Individual's unique PAC ID. Unique individual professional ID assigned by Medicare PECOS system

Relational Key

Link to practice group affiliations through the tExtended_GroupProfessional table, and is a link to upcoming practice group quality data.

 
ProfEnrollID Professional Enrollment ID Unique ID for the individual professional enrollment that is the source for the data in the record. One professional may have multiple records in this table as a result of multiple PECOS enrollments, each of which may have its own hospital and practice group affiliations.

 
LN Last Name In most cases the name fields here will be duplicative of the fields in tHumanNames, but these are sourced from the PECOS system rather than the NPPES.
FN First Name
MN Middle Name
Suffix Name Suffix (Jr, III, etc.)
Gender M (male) or F (female)  
Cred Credential Medical credential such as MD, DO, DPM, etc.

 
School Professional's medical school  
GradYear Professional's medical school graduation year  
PriSpec Primary medical specialty reported by the individual professional in this PECOS enrollment record  
AllSecSpec

All four secondary specialties reported by the individual professional in this PECOS enrollment record, separated by commas

 

  
EPGH tExtended_Group

(Extended Practice Group information; MDB and CSV formats)

GroupPracPACID Unique Group Practice ID assigned by PECOS to the Group Practice Relational Key

Links Group and Individual records within Extended tables. This ID is unique to each practice group.

This key will link to group practice quality data soon to be released.

 
NPI National Provider Identifier of the Practice Group Relational Key

Links practice groups in Extended tables to CPAC data above. Algorithmically derived*; not available for all group records.

Use the GroupPracPACID to link individuals with their groups through the tExtended_GroupProfessional table.
OrgLBN Legal name of the Group Practice  
CountGroupPracMem Number of Individual Professionals affiliated with Group Practice This count is limited to individuals within the Extended domain; others may be found within the standard CPAC tables via CoLoCode.
StreetAddr1 Group Practice line 1 address  
StreetAddr2 Group Practice line 2 address  
Line2Suppress Marker that address as reported may be incomplete A peculiarity of the federal source data.
City Group Practice city  
State Group Practice state  
Zip Group Practice zip code (9 digits when available)  
CoLoCode Derived algorithmically* based on location data May be used to identify additional affiliated individuals within the NPPES data above.

 
EPGH tExtended_
GroupProfessional

(Many-to-Many table linking group practices with individual professionals. One or more individuals per group, and may be one or more groups per individual. Extended information on group practices' individual providers, incl. whether accepts Medicare assignment, participates in various federal medical quality programs. MDB and CSV formats). Many-to-many table.

 NPI National Provider Identifier of the Individual Professional. Relational Key

Link to individual's data in CPAC tables above and in tExtended_Professional table. This ID is unique to the individual professional.

 

 
GroupPracPACID Unique Group Practice ID assigned by PECOS to the Group Practice that the individual professional works with. Relational Key

Link between practice groups and their members in the tExtended_Professional table. This ID is unique to the practice group.

 
AcceptsMedicareAsmt Y = Accepts Medicare approved amount as payment in full. M = May accept Medicare Assignment. All providers in this table are enrolled to bill Medicare, and have done so within the past 9 months, but may not still be accepting new Medicare patients, and may not accept Medicare amount as payment in full.

 
eRx

Participates in the eRx Incentive Program, a pay-for-reporting program to encourage physicians, other providers to use electronic prescribing of medications.

 

  
PQRS Participates in the Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Incentive Program - a pay-for-reporting program that gives eligible professionals incentives and payment adjustments if they report quality measures satisfactorily. Quality data on individual professionals is not yet available in this product, but using the relational keys in this table, you will be able to access it when it is released.

 
EHR Participates in the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program - provides incentives and payment adjustments to eligible professionals who use certified EHR technology in ways that may improve healthcare. Y in this field means provider is participating in federal EHR incentive program, though may use an EHR system even if not affirmative in this field.

 
EPGH tExtended_Hospital

(Extended information on all U.S. acute care, VA and children's hospitals. Data provides a single unique NPI number per hospital facilitating deduplication of hospital record. MDB and CSV formats)

 CCN Medicare Hospital Provider Number (CMS Certification Number assigned by CMS) Relational Key

Link between hospitals and their affiliated individual physicians, etc. This ID is unique to each hospital recognized in the CMS PECOS system. If a hospital is eligible to bill Medicare (whether or not sanctioned), and is a general hospital (Acute Care, VA, Critical Access or Children's hospital), it is in this table.

This key links to the exhaustive federal hospital quality data, optionally available for download at no cost to EPGH users.

 
NPI Priority National Provider Identifier. Relational Key

Link to one of the hospital's records in CPAC tables above. Hospitals may have as many NPI numbers as they believe they need for their particular business circumstances, and tend to have many. We have listed here the Priority NPI, based on the hierarchical Taxonomy coding system, selecting first the NPI of the record containing the top (parent) taxonomy code for the hospital type, and, if not present, the NPI from the first-listed record for the hospital. Algorithmically derived*; not available for all hospital records.

 
HospitalName Hospital name as reported by the hospital in its NPPES record From the PECOS database
HospitalLBN Hospital legal business name as listed in hospital quality data From the Hospital Compare database
Address1 Hospital line 1 address  
Address2 Hospital line 2 address  
City Hospital City  
State Hospital State  
Zip Code Hospital Zip Code  
County Hospital County  
Phone Phone  
HospitalType Hospital Type, as recorded in hospital quality data  
HospitalOwnership Hospital ownership structure  
EmergencyService Y= Hospital has emergency service  
CoLoCode Derived algorithmically* based on location data May be used to identify additional data within NPPES tables above.

 
EPGH tExtended_HospAff

(1-to-Many table linking Hospitals with physicians and other providers; up to five hospitals per individual; MDB and CSV formats). Many-to-many table.

HospAffCCN Medicare CCN (CMS Certification Number assigned by CMS) of hospital where individual professional provides service Relational Key

Link to hospital details in tExtended_Hospital via CCN, and to full hospital quality data soon to be added.

 
NPI Unique professional ID assigned by NPPES to Individual Professional affiliated with hospital Relational Key

Link to Individual Professionals affiliated with hospital

 

HospAffLBN

 

Legal business name of hospital where individual professional provides service

 

 From the Hospital Compare database
The CP ProCase dataset contains the same name and address data as the CPAC dataset, but it is in properly-cased form. I.e., DR. MARY MACRAE is cased to Dr. Mary MacRae. ProCase is not sold separately and is available only in the CPAC+ProCase bundle and CarePrecise Platinum.
ProCase tProCase_Names

(Properly-cased names)

 NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key

Link to data in the CPAC and EPGH databases above.

 
CompanyName Organization name Properly cased form of OrgName_LBN in tOrgNames
PN Prefix Ms., Dr., etc.
LN Last Name  
FN First Name  
MN Middle Name  
SN Suffix Jr., III, etc.
Cred Credential Medical credential such as MD, DO, DPM, etc.
Gender M (male) or F (female)  
EntityType  

 
ProCase tProCase_
Addresses_Mail

(Properly-cased mailing addresses)

NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key

Link to data in the CPAC and EPGH databases above.
Addr1 Provider First Line Business Mailing Address  
Addr2 Provider Second Line Business Mailing Address  
City Provider Business Mailing Address City Name  
State Provider Business Mailing Address State Name  
Zip Provider Business Mailing Address Postal Code (most are 9-digit Zip Codes)  
Country Provider Business Mailing Address Country Code (If outside U.S.)  
The Authoritative Hospital Database™ (AHD) contains detailed data on US hospitals, including bed counts, procedure volumes, medicare billings, patient satisfaction rankings, etc. The Authoritative Hospital Database is available separately, but can be linked to EPGH and CPAC data above keing on the CCN and NPI fields, respectively. Note that neither CarePrecise Platinum, CarePrecise Gold, or the Master Bundle include the AHD. No time stamp for data updates is provided in the AHD, nor is historical data available.
AHD AuthoritativeHospital
DB.mdb

(Properly-cased names)

 CCN Unique federal hospital identifier Relational Key

Link to data in the EPGH databases above.

 
NPI National Provider Identifier Relational Key

Link to data in the CPAC and EPGH databases above. Algorithmically derived*; not available for all AHD records. The contact name fields in the AHD are then populated from the matched NPI record.

 
HospitalName Hospital’s name  
Address1 Hospital’s address, line 1  
Address2 Hospital’s address, line 2  
City Hospital’s city  
State Hospital’s state  
ZipCode Hospital’s Zip Code  
County Hospital’s county  
Phone Hospital’s phone  
Fax Hospital’s fax  
Beds Number of beds  
BedDaysAvail Number of bed days available  
InternsAndResidents Number of interns and residents  
PayrollEmployees Number of employees on payroll  
NonPaidWorkers Number of non-paid workers  
TotalDischarges Number of discharges/year  
MedicareDischarges Number of Medicare discharges/year  
MedicaidDischarges Number of Medicaid discharges/year  
Vol_Gastrointestinal Procedure volume: Gastrointestinal  
Vol_Eye Procedure volume: Eye  
Vol_Nervous_system Procedure volume: Nervous system  
Vol_Musculoskeletal Procedure volume: Musculoskeletal  
Vol_Skin Procedure volume: Skin  
Vol_Genitourinary Procedure volume: Genitourinary  
Vol_Cardiovascular Procedure volume: Cardiovascular  
PN Contact name prefix  
FN Contact first name  
MN Contact middle name  
LN Contact last name  
SN Contact name suffix  
Title Contact title  
Cred Contact credentials  
HospitalType Type of hospital (general acute, children's, etc.)  
HospitalOwnership Type of hospital ownership  
ParentOrgLBN Name of parent system  
EmergencyService Does have emergency service?  
CoLoCode Algorithmically derived* from location data. Used to match records.  
Bathroom cleanliness Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Communication from Nurses Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Communication from Doctors Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Patient received help quickly on request Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Quality of pain control Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Medications were explained before giving Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Patient received instruction on at-home recovery Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Patient understood care when leaving hospital Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Patient’s overall hospital rating Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Area around room was quiet at night Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Patient would recommend hospital Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Hospital summary star rating Patient satisfaction 1-5 stars  
Additional data included in the CP ListMaker software component of CarePrecise Gold, and CarePrecise Platinum, sourced from USPS and U.S. Department of Commerce, and independent CarePrecise research. Data is updated monthly. These data are available only as part of the CP ListMaker and CarePrecise Gold/Platinum products, and are not sold separately. Note that neither the CP ListMaker application, nor data contained therein, is included in special licensing for Derivative Products or Redistribution.
CPLM tZips

Economic and social segmentation data for providers' service areas

 ZipCode 5-digit Zip Code  
Wealth Numerical indicator of the relative wealth/poverty of the provider's immediate service area (5-digit zip). Wealth/poverty level is show as a percentage of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for the particular geographic area. Currently up to 12 levels are present in the data; additional levels will be included when data for those more extreme wealth levels are present.
Description Wealth Level
=<50% FPL 1
50% to 100% FPL 2
100% to 150% FPL 3
150% to 200% FPL 4
200% to 300% FPL 5
300% to 500% FPL 6
500% to 700% FPL 7
700% to 1000% FPL 8
1000% to 1500% FPL 9
1500% to 2000% FPL 10
2000% to 3000% FPL 11
Greater than 3000% FPL 12

 
RuralUrban Indicates Rural (R), Urban (U) or Other (O) status for the provider's immediate service area (zip). Other indicates suburban or small city status.  
City City associated with Zip Code  
County County primarily associated with Zip Code  
State State associated with Zip Code  
Latitude Geographic latitude to 5-digit zip accuracy  
Longitude

Geographic longitude to 5-digit zip accuracy

  
CPLM Additional Gold data tables:

- Names
- Names_Company
- Names_Cred
- Names_Genderize
- Names_Prefices
- Names_Suffices
- StateNameVariants

 

 

Additional data tables included in CarePrecise Gold are used by the included SharpMail™ tool to produce correctly-cased names and addresses and correctly-genderized and -prefixed salutations.

* Marked above by an asterisk (*), algorithmically derived data in the CPAC dataset includes data that is extracted/mined from the source databases, but which has a margin of error and should not be relied upon as conclusive. Record linking algorithms are used to enrich our data when direct correlation (via a unique identifier field) is not available, using available information in name, address, phone, taxonomy, and other fields. In particular, some of the older data on providers excluded from billing Medicare (from the HHS Office of Inspector General's excluded providers database) can only be linked to NPI records by this means. Please note that when matches are found, there may be instances where an individual or firm has the same or similar name and location information as an excluded provider but is actually a different party. Therefore, it is important that you verify a potential match with the debarring agency identified in the record information. See the disclaimer appearing at the bottom of the documentation page.

Not all fields in all records are populated with data. Providers may update data in their record using the federal NPI registry website.

CarePrecise Technology LLC reserves the right to make changes in the data and data structure as it deems necessary to preserve the quality of the product. Please read the Notice at the bottom of the page https://www.careprecise.com/help/ for additional information about the data.

 


How To Use the Relational Database

To use the CSV or MDB files, which are organized as a relational database linked by the NPI number in most cases, you will need to use a relational database management software, such as Microsoft Access (part of Office) version 2007 or later, FileMaker, or other product. If you are using Microsoft Access, open the file named NPPES_core.mdb if you are using only the CPAC, Select or State product, or Extended_core.mdb if you are using the master bundle product.

 

Data Content & Sources

CarePrecise data packages contain scaled data from federal and other sources, including the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) and the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS), maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and fraud warnings provided from the federal List of Excluded Individuals (LEIE) database using an algorithmic record linking system*. No NPPES data field is left out of the CarePrecise Access dataset, but additional data may be added or conformed to improve comprehension or searchability, depending on the specific CarePrecise product; for instance, 2-digit state codes and UPIN numbers are conformed where appropriate. PECOS status (whether or not a provider is enrolled to be able to bill Medicare) is included. Taxonomy descriptions (plain English translations of specialty and subspecialty codes) are included in all packages. Market demographic data (economic, social) is included in some packages.

All healthcare providers are included. Users can export specific types of provider, e.g., physicians or hospitals, by querying on the specific taxonomy (specialty) code(s).

Co-location codes, which identify providers practicing at the same location, are established by CarePrecise, and are exclusive to CarePrecise products.

 

Data Freshness, Accuracy and Exceptions

CarePrecise Access data is updated every month, usually within a few days of release of the updated source data by federal agencies. And also unlike many in-house systems and other NPI data services, the CarePrecise system generates no exceptions in processing and matching the core provider data. Any exception is corrected through successive processing loops, and our relational design virtually eliminates query failures. The data is authoritative because CarePrecise datasets are strictly faithful to the source data. Original content (extrapolated and algorithmically matched data) which are included in CarePrecise Access, including LEIE and EPLS excluded providers/vendors data, which share no common unique identifier with the NPPES data*, is subjected to rigorous record-linkage processing.

The NPPES (National Provider and Plan Enumeration System, maintained by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is one of the most accurate resources form provider data. Providers are required by law to update their record within thirty days of a change. No database is perfect; however, the NPPES gets high marks in recent studies.

"NPPES and SK&A had the highest rates of matching mailing address information, while the AMA Masterfile had low rates compared with the NPPES... the NPPES and to a lesser extent, the SK&A file, appear to provide reasonably accurate, up-to-date address information for physicians billing public and [private] insurers."

"The Results Are Only as Good as the Sample: Assessing Three National Physician Sampling Frames," Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2015. Catherine M. DesRoches, Dr.P.H., et al.

That said, CarePrecise goes beyond the NPPES data, merging in provider name and address information extracted from millions of Medicare claims through a 12-month window, offering additional practice location and group affiliation data that is frequently the most up-to-date available, surpassing our competitors' offerings and even the AMA Masterfile and online provider network directories of some of the nation's largest health insurance plans.

Solid, comprehensive, and authoritative, CarePrecise products are used to create and update network directories, to investigate fraud, waste, and abuse across the healthcare industry, to organize clinical and market research, and in a broad variety of Web applications. Licensing is available for all of these special uses.

Because CarePrecise does not control the data content, products are offered as-is and no warranty as to accuracy, timeliness, or fitness for a particular purpose is expressed or implied.*

 

Historical HCP Data

Two databases are included in the CarePrecise Access Complete data distribution, the NPPES_Deact and NPPES_Delta, to provide historical information on providers. The tDeact table lists all NPI numbers that have been deactivated since the beginning of the NPI enumeration system, going back to 2005, showing only the NPI and the date of deactivation. The Delta databases include complete data on the deactivated provider records, showing all of the data from the CarePrecise Access Complete dataset, going back to 2011.Another table, NPPES_Added, provides historical dates of when all providers, even those deactivated from the current database, were first added to the system. Each record in the NPPES_Delta tables represents a rich provider record that has been deactivated by CMS and no longer appears in the current month's data distribution, but DOES remain in the exclusive CarePrecise delta database, to which are added each month's deactivated records. See the fields list above for descriptions of the delta tables.

An additional specialzed product is also available for use in determining a physician or other healthcare provider's eligibility to bill insurance at a given point in time going back to 2009. Not included in the standard products listed here, the Exclude Delta database includes not only dates of activation and deactivation, but also dates of exclusions (sanctions) and reinstatements, along with reasons for the exclusions. Contact us for information on subscribing to the Exclude Delta product.

 

Added & Dropped Provider Records

These two data tables are generated by CarePrecise and included in the CarePrecise Access Complete dataset, representing provider records that have been added to or dropped from the NPPES database upon the monthly updates. The tables grow each month; each record is dated so that it is possible to know when a provider record was added or dropped. The dropped records table includes basic name and contact information, as well as the NPI number.

 

Group/CoLoCode Data

Two separate but complementary data sources now make it possible to identify group practices. The first, group data provided by CMS, identifies providers who have reported a multi-specialty group or single-specialty group practice. We provide both a "Group" flag in the provider's data, and new relational table with the reported codes (tTaxoGroup).

The second tool we provide to identify groups is the new co-location code table (tCoLoCode). The CoLoCode is an algorithmic derivation from provider practice data, which facilitates querying providers by practice location. Our QoRelate™ record linking system standardizes and conforms location data beyond postal specifications to link providers practicing together.

These data can be used together to successfully identify physician groups and all of their specialties, and the CoLoCode data can be used to identify any provider type in a co-located group practice, including dentists, optometrists, radiologists, etc. The CoLoCodes can also be used to identify physicians and others working within large health systems, universities and other institutions.

You can select by size of the practice (number of co-located providers, selecting a range (i.e., between 5 and 50 providers).

Example Application: The co-location codes let you find large (or small) clinics, based on the Count field, which shows the number of providers in the database with the same practice location. For instance, while the code UICFLG70MMPNPNHRR seems meaningless, it happens to be a CoLoCode for the Cleveland Clinic in , and it can instantly filter the database to show you all of the 2700+ providers practicing at the Cleveland Clinic's 9500 Euclid Avenue site.

The most reliable method for identifying group practices' members is provided in the EPGH dataset, which captures individual and group links from Medicare claims.

 

File Formats

CarePrecise Access is available in two file formats, each containing identical data:

  • Microsoft Access (.mdb); normalized relational tables, plus a central core database with query examples
  • Comma Separated Values (.csv), supporting FileMaker, MySQL, MSSQL and other database systems, on Windows, Mac or Linux, in normalized relational tables

You can use built-in utilities in the MDB application to export the data in most common data formats, including CSV, TXT, MDB, ACCDB and others. Application extensions are available for conversion to MySQL, among other formats. Conversion to MSSQL is accomplished within SQL Server.

 

Data Structure and Sample Data

CarePrecise Access is distributed as normalized relational database tables, each keyed by the National Provider Identifier (NPI) number, plus a core Microsoft Access database that links the ten tables together and includes query examples, and CSV versions of the normalized data files. Three additional tables are included which contain records that have been dropped, the complete LEIE database, and a table of new healthcare provider records. CarePrecise Gold includes these plus additional tables used for economic and social targeting, and proper casing of names and addresses.

Through data normalization and related techniques, CarePrecise reduces 390+ fields that are compiled from all sources to a much smaller number of unique fields, removing large volumes of unused space while preserving every character of the data and all of the original granularity. The data is in no other way "compressed," but is ready to access at as little as 13% of the original file size (varies), and in a form that can readily be searched, manipulated and imported into applications. Across all of the federal data sources, CarePrecise Access Complete and the Extended Professional, Group and Hospital (EPGH) database represents a deflation of approximately 91%, while preserving the full functionality of the data. Download a sample CPAC + EPGH data pack here; the sample is the same in structure as the full set, but only a small number of records.

 

Queries

Query examples are included in the NPPES_Core.mdb database application included with the CarePrecise package. Queries are performed within this application using the extensive and user-friendly tools provided by Microsoft Access. Refer to the examples, opening them in design view, for a detailed understanding of how the CarePrecise data is queried. The CarePrecise data structure make many NPPES queries possible that simply cannot be done on ordinary desktop and laptop computers with other NPPES products.

 

Keying To Legacy/In-House Data

CarePrecise data includes many "hooks" that can be used to key legacy provider databases to the NPI. NPI numbers, telephone and fax numbers and UPINs are among the best general unique identifiers for matching to legacy data. Providers have a strong incentive to report all "Other Identifiers" that apply to them, as these are used by insurance payers in claims crosswalks that expedite reimbursement, and even increase reimbursement when preferred credentials and specialties are able to be linked to the claim, through such identifiers as UPIN, Medicare PIN, and others. Hooks for linking legacy data to CarePrecise include 10-digit telephone numbers for more than 99.8% of providers, 9-digit zip codes on nearly every address, and more than 700,000 physician UPINs, as well as complete name data with expanded AKA names, and complete practice and mailing addresses.

 

Reports

Use the NPPES_Core.mdb database application included with the CarePrecise package in Microsoft Access to create reports using the extensive report creation capabilities of Microsoft Access. NPPES_Core contains sample queries that can be used to pull targeted data.

NOTE: If you need a completely user-friendly, easy-to-use software application for preparing and exporting lists, Excel output, or reports without database skills, see CarePrecise Gold or CarePrecise Platinum.

 

Understanding National Provider Identifier (NPI) Enumeration

Healthcare providers are required to enumerate in the NPPES database if they are a HIPAA covered entity (that's a much abbreviated statement; see the official CMS documentation for more detail), and must enroll in the PECOS database to be eligible to bill Medicare. Under the NPI rules there are two types of providers, Type 1 and Type 2. Essentially, Type 1 providers are individual persons providing healthcare, such as physicians, nurses and psychologists among others, while Type 2 providers are essentially organizations, or facilities, such as hospitals, labs and pharmacies among others. We say that Type 1 providers are a "face" and Type 2 providers are a "place."

Type 1 providers may have only one NPI number for themselves. But they may have an additional NPI for their corporation. Type 2 providers may have as many NPI numbers as they wish, and typically have multiple NPIs to distinguish business units, and/or to assist with reimbursement pay flow.

 

Using in Microsoft Access

With more than 5.6 million rows of provider data, and because the database is organized in a normalized relational format, a database application is the ideal environment for use. We provide a "core" database shell that links all of the table files together into a single database environment for use in Microsoft Access. For the CPAC dataset only, use the file named NPPES_Core.mdb. For the Master Bundle (CPAC + EPGH datasets), use the file named Extended_Core.mdb. MDB files, rather than ACCDB files, are provided to offer better backward compatibility with Microsoft Access versions, but is subject to be changed to ACCDB format in the future.

 

Microsoft Access Alternatives

Don't have Microsoft Access, but want to use the full CarePrecise database anyway? No problem. You can either import the data into your own system, or get an Access alternative. OpenOffice Base is free, is compatible with our files to allow you to do nearly any kind of lookup, and is available for Windows, Linux and Mac (Linux and Mac versions require you to import our data rather than use the files directly). Ability Pro is another compatible database product offering more robust features, and is priced under $50. If you want an environment that works on Mac, Linux and Windows, get Kexi, another free solution (Kexi has its own file format, so you'll import our data into it, rather than using our files directly).

 

Using in Microsoft Excel

Because these files contain more than the number of records that Excel can open, you will need to use the Excel Power Pivot add-in if you wish to view all of the more than 5.6 million rows. (Power Pivot is not required to use Excel files having fewer than 1,048,576 records exported from the Gold or Platinum CP ListMaker application.) The Power Pivot add-in has distributed with Excel since the 2013 version, but Excel 2010 can use Power Pivot add-in as well, available as a free download from Microsoft. However, Excel is decidedly not the best method for working with the full database of 5.6 million records; rather, a Database Management System (DBMS), such as Microsoft Access (part of Microsoft Office Pro and Office 365), FileMaker Pro, and other database software.

 

Licensing

CarePrecise data is single-user licensed for use by the purchaser and may not be redistributed in any form and may not be exposed in full or in part by any means including a website without special licensing. Review the Single User License Agreement here. Learn about special licensing on the Licensing page, and contact CarePrecise Sales for information.

 

Other Services

If you are having difficulty exporting or converting the data to a particular form required by your application, please contact us at (877) 782-2294 for assistance with advanced data services.

 

System Requirements

For use as CSV data files, database software that can open comma delimited files is required. For operation as a single joined dataset running in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Access 2007 or later is required. You should have a minimum of 4 gigabytes of RAM. Approximately 5GB of disk space should be allotted for storage of the MDB files, plus additional disk space when manipulating the data. The CSV files may be imported into any application that supports comma separated value files and supports more than 5.6 million rows of data.

 

Technical Support

Different CarePrecise product packages come with different levels and periods of free technical support. Refer to the support page for details. Paid advanced technical support packages are also available.

 

Additional Resources

Refer to the CMS field descriptions for technical descriptions of the data fields. CarePrecise uses abbreviated field names; see the Data Structure table above for NPPES-to-CarePrecise field name comparisons.

Refer to the CMS field codes document for details on field codes used in CarePrecise.

Consult the License Agreement for information on permissible uses of CarePrecise data.

Product Evaluation Sheet may be downloaded here.

Sample data may be downloaded here.

Read about our record linkage technology for combining data from multiple sources.

Go here for information about the NPI (National Provider Identifier) number.

 

Query Running Speed

Because CarePrecise datasets are very large (CarePrecise Access Complete contains more than 5.6 million NPI records normalized into ten tables, comprising about 1 billion data points), some complex queries can take a long time to run. If you are unaccustomed to working with very large data files, this may take some getting used to. But you can do some things to dramatically improve running speed. Here are some tips:

  1. Close other programs on your computer. Consider not running complex Access queries on the complete CarePrecise dataset 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 affect processing speed. Same goes for third party indexing tools such as the Google Desktop Search tool.
  4. Pause or Disable Carbonite Backup. Carbonite and other background backup programs can cause slow-downs when running Microsoft Access processes. Pause or disable these processes while running queries on large datasets.
  5. 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 and mouse are idle, even if the processor is busy trying to do database work.
  6. Make sure you have adequate contiguous disk space available. As time passes, 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. We recommend periodic defragmentation of the disk which hosts your CarePrecise data if you are frequently using Microsoft Access "Make Table" or "Append" operations. We also recommend defragmenting after a monthly update of the CarePrecise Access Complete dataset, due to the large disk areas that are overwritten.
  7. Don't use CP ListMaker over a network. Use of CarePrecise data products over a network will not only slow down the program, but can cause network issues for other users. CP ListMaker is licensed only for use on a single computer (standard license).
  8. Periodically "Compact and Repair." As you use a Microsoft Access database it can become bloated with unnecessary page fragments. Refer to the help file for your version of Access to learn how to Compact and Repair your databases. The NPPES_Core.mdb automatically Compacts/Repairs itself when you close it. However, the linked NPPES databases do not, and generally will not need it unless you make changes to the data. To Compact/Repair the linked NPPES databases, open NPPES_Core.mdb, open the System Utilities form, then click the "Compact/Repair All Databases" button. This will run a safe Compact and Repair on your primary CarePrecise data files.
  9. 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), improving data access operations.
  10. Avoid using the "Like" operator in your queries. The Like operator requires deep parsing and slows down query processing.
  11. Optimize your queries. Review how you can optimize Access query operation; see the following links:

 

Understanding Algorithmically Derived Fields

In order to bring additional functionality to a dataset, it is often necessary to create a datapoint that doesn't exist in the source data, and use an algorithm to populate it based on existing data. For instance, in order to find all of the records located at the same physical address – data which may be "fat fingered" or entered in various different ways – an algorithm can be used to "clean up" location data and create a new field. Such is the case with the CarePrecise CoLoCode field.

In another instance, CarePrecise uses an algorithm to get an NPI number into the available PECOS data of practice groups and hospitals (in the EPGH dataset) so that it can be used (judiciously) to link to an organization's record in the CPAC dataset. Because a "fuzzy logic" algorithm is used to find the NPI, some errors do occur, so that not every populated organization NPI in the EPGH or AHD datasets will be a correct one. The process involves comparing existing data between the EPGH's fields and the CPAC's field to match the organization with its NPI record (a process known as "record linkage") The algorithm gets smarter over time, but it can never be trusted to provide complete accuracy. If the group or hospital data in the EPGH is insufficient, the NPI number provided by CarePrecise can be used to view the more complete NPI record in the CPAC (or better in many cases, the CoLoCode), with the proviso that relying on automation alone may produce mismatched records.

 

* NOTICE: The data contained in CarePrecise® products and services is compiled and processed on an ongoing basis, with monthly update releases, from free and fee-based sources, including the National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) submitted by the providers themselves; Medicare Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System (PECOS); List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) and other US federal sources obtainable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and provided monthly by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Services and Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and from the U.S. Census Bureau, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, agencies of the U.S. federal government, and the United States Postal Service (USPS). Neither CarePrecise nor its investors, partners and affiliates are responsible for data maintained by these or other source providers. All HIPAA-covered entity healthcare providers in the U.S. are required under the NPI regulation to provide their information to the NPI Registry, a federal database of healthcare providers and to update their records within thirty days of information changes. Not all fields in all records are populated with data. Data is provided "as is" and in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and e-FOIA ammendments, and relevant data dissemination notices. No warranty is expressed or implied as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, fitness for any purpose, or absence of processing errors of the information presented here or in any CarePrecise product or service, nor that the data structure will not be changed in the future as necessitated by source data, beyond the diligent effort to include all released data. Nothing in the product descriptions, in writing or verbal, may be construed as a warranty, guarantee, or representation of deliverability, save the deliverability guarantee on email addresses. All data ages between updates, and it is reasonable to expect that a portion of records will contain contact information that is incorrect or for other reasons undeliverable. Not all fields are populated with data for every record except where indicated; some fields are not populated due to restrictions imposed by a data supplier. To determine a provider's eligibility to practice and/or to bill Medicare or other health plans and carriers, or to in any other way perform professional activities, users should not rely solely on data included in the CarePrecise dataset, particularly regarding alleged fraudulent or infraction activity given as reason for listing in data on excluded providers (records carrying "sanction", "desanction", "warning" and/or "exclusion" identifiers). Data which has been in-matched using algorithmic rather than direct means will include a percentage of error; such data is labeled as such in the documentation. Algorithmic in-matching logic is proprietary and a trade secret. Subscriptions are fullfilled with quarterly or monthly releases containing the most recently released data from all pertinent sources. CarePrecise is a registered service mark, and CarePrecise Access, CarePrecise Select, CarePrecise Gold, CarePrecise Platinum, CP ListMaker, CP ChangeMaker, SharpMail, Authoritative Physician Database and Authoritative Hospital Database are trademarks of CarePrecise Technology LLC. All CarePrecise products including data, data structures, code and related materials are the property of CarePrecise Technology LLC in the year of their release and protected by U.S. and international copyright. Other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. CarePrecise reserves the right to cease services and/or communication with parties that abuse its services or its personnel, or fail to comply with its terms of service. For additional information on CarePrecise policies see the Policies page. Purchase of a CarePrecise product affirms understanding and acceptance of these policies and this information, and affirms that use will conform to the product's license agreement. Pricing for CarePrecise products published on its website are licensed for single user. Any form of dissemination, sharing, making public, distribution, or derivative product, whether or not for profit, is strictly forbidden. Additional licensing arrangements are available; contact CarePrecise Sales for terms and pricing.
Policies and Terms of Use