Active, deactivated or never issued
Every lookup ends in one of three results:
- Active. The NPI is in the NPPES registry and can be used on claims.
- Deactivated. The NPI is on the CMS deactivated NPI report. We show the date. The registry no longer shows the name or address.
- Not found. The check digit is wrong, so the number never existed, or it is valid but not in either list (usually a very new NPI or a typo).
Why NPIs get deactivated
The most common reasons are the provider's death, an organization closing or merging, and fraud or identity theft. A provider can also deactivate their own number when they retire. CMS can deactivate an NPI on its own after a returned mail or a data problem.
A deactivated NPI can be reactivated. The provider asks for it in NPPES, and once it is back the number is the same as before.
How current is the status?
Active records come from the live NPPES API and are at most a day old here. Deactivations come from the monthly CMS report. This site uses the report dated Nov 02 2026, so a number deactivated since then may show as not found instead.
Checking status for a whole list
If you need to know which NPIs in a file are still active, the bulk check gives a status column for every row.