How to Update Your Taxonomy or Add a License in NPPES
By George Ruan • October 7, 2026
Last reviewed: October 7, 2026.
Sign in to NPPES, open the existing NPI record that needs the change, edit its Taxonomy or License section, and submit the update. Your NPI number stays the same. CMS treats changes to provider information as updates to the existing record, so a new license or a corrected taxonomy never calls for a second NPI.
Sections
Why Someone Is Asking You to Change NPPES
Practices rarely edit NPPES for its own sake. The request almost always comes from a payer or system that checks the public registry and found something missing:
A Medicaid group application came back. Illinois Medicaid, for example, returned a group application because the organization NPI carried no group taxonomy in NPPES. It would not resume until the group code was on the NPPES record and matched the application.
E-prescribing or an EHR setup is blocked. A clinician licensed in a second state was told by her EHR’s support team that ePrescribe setup could not proceed because her NPI showed only the first state’s license.
Medicare returned an enrollment. A related fix lives on the same record: a Medicare group application needed correcting because the organization’s NPPES legal business name lacked the “LLC” in its registered name. That field is edited in NPPES, not PECOS.
Which Taxonomy Goes on Which NPI
Most confusion comes from mixing up the two records. The clinician’s discipline belongs on the individual (Type 1) NPI. The practice’s organization (Type 2) NPI takes a group code. Our Type 1 vs. Type 2 NPI guide covers the difference in more depth.
Organization NPI for a therapy practice: 193400000X, Single Specialty Group. This is what we use for solo and single-discipline group practices.
Organization NPI with several specialties: 193200000X, Multi-Specialty Group, only when the practice’s providers span different specialties.
Individual NPI: the code matching the license, such as 1041C0700X for a clinical social worker, 101YP2500X for a professional counselor, 106H00000X for a marriage and family therapist, or 103T00000X for a psychologist. Confirm the definition in the NUCC taxonomy code set.
CMS’s taxonomy guidance allows more than one code on a record, with one marked primary. A taxonomy describes the provider; it does not expand a license or make a claim pay.
Steps in NPPES
Sign in at NPPES with your CMS Identity & Access (I&A) account. For an organization NPI, that is the authorized official’s login, not the clinician’s personal one.
Open the NPI you need to change. If you only see your individual NPI, you are signed in to the wrong profile for an organization fix.
In the Taxonomy section, add the code from the drop-down list and mark the right one as primary.
To add a new state license, add another license entry with its state and number. Keep existing licenses that are still active.
Save, then continue through the submission and certification screens. Saving a section is not the same as submitting the update.
Check the public NPI Registry afterward and confirm the new values appear before telling the payer it is fixed.
Where Practices Get Stuck
These are the snags we see most when walking owners through this edit:
“It won’t let me type the code.” Taxonomy is chosen from a drop-down list, not typed in. Look for the name (for example, Single Specialty Group) rather than the number. One owner also found NPPES would not accept the same code a second time, so check what is already listed first.
Editing the wrong record. Owners often change their individual NPI when the payer meant the group NPI, or the reverse. Confirm the NPI number in the request before you start.
Staff-access screens. You can add your biller as a surrogate in I&A so they can make the change, but the invitation expires after 72 hours, and one owner found the access checkboxes clearing each time she saved. For a single edit, it is usually faster for the owner to make it directly.
Stuck in NPPES? The NPI Enumerator (1-800-465-3203) helps with locating records and NPPES updates. CMS lists current contact options on its NPI application and update page.
Once NPPES is right, the original request still needs an answer. NPPES doesn’t notify Medicaid, Medicare, or commercial payers. When Bomi asks a practice for this edit, we recheck the registry and then correct or resubmit the application that was returned. If you are setting up a group NPI for the first time, start with how to apply for an NPI Type 2.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What taxonomy code should my business NPI use?
For a therapy practice where everyone works in one specialty, 193400000X (Single Specialty Group). Your own discipline code stays on your individual NPI.
Can my biller update NPPES for me?
Only with surrogate access you grant through CMS I&A. Without it, no one outside your login can edit the record, so the owner or authorized official usually makes the change.
Will payers see the NPPES change automatically?
Some check the registry when they review an application, but in our experience none update their own records from it. Reply to the payer that asked, and update CAQH and enrollment records separately.
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About Bomi
Founded by George Ruan, Dax Earl, and Andrey Goder, Bomi helps independent therapists and group practices with insurance billing, credentialing, and payer follow-up. Bomi grew out of Dax’s experience helping his mother with her therapy practice, with a clear purpose: reduce the administrative burden of insurance while keeping practice owners in control.
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