search_npi_registry
Search the U.S. National Provider Identifier registry to find healthcare providers and organizations by name, location, specialty, or NPI number using flexible criteria.
Instructions
Search the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry.
The NPI registry contains information about healthcare providers and organizations in the United States. You can search by various criteria including name, NPI number, location, and specialty.
WILDCARD SUPPORT: Most text fields support wildcard searches using '' after at least 2 characters for fuzzy matching (e.g., 'smith', 'hosp*', 'cardi*').
Args: first_name: Provider's first name (supports wildcards: 'john*' matches 'John', 'Johnny', etc.) last_name: Provider's last name (supports wildcards: 'smith*' matches 'Smith', 'Smithson', etc.) organization_name: Organization name (supports wildcards: 'hosp*' matches 'Hospital', 'Hospice', etc.) npi: Specific 10-digit NPI number to look up (exact match only) city: City name (supports wildcards: 'san*' matches 'San Francisco', 'San Diego', etc.) state: State abbreviation (e.g., 'CA', 'NY', 'TX') - exact match only postal_code: ZIP/postal code (supports wildcards: '902*' matches '90210', '90211', etc.) specialty: Provider specialty or taxonomy (supports wildcards: 'cardi*' matches 'Cardiology', 'Cardiac Surgery', etc.) limit: Maximum number of results to return (1-200, default: 10)
Examples: - Find all Smiths: last_name='smith*' - Find hospitals: organization_name='hosp*' - Find cardiologists: specialty='cardio*' - Find providers in San cities: city='san*' - Find providers in 90210 area: postal_code='902*'
Returns: Dictionary containing search results with provider information
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| first_name | No | ||
| last_name | No | ||
| organization_name | No | ||
| npi | No | ||
| city | No | ||
| state | No | ||
| postal_code | No | ||
| specialty | No | ||
| limit | No |
Implementation Reference
- src/npi_registry_mcp/server.py:197-343 (handler)The main handler function for the 'search_npi_registry' tool. Decorated with @mcp.tool() for registration. Handles input validation, invokes NPIRegistryClient for API search, parses results into structured format, and returns a dictionary with search results.
@mcp.tool() async def search_npi_registry( first_name: Optional[str] = None, last_name: Optional[str] = None, organization_name: Optional[str] = None, npi: Optional[str] = None, city: Optional[str] = None, state: Optional[str] = None, postal_code: Optional[str] = None, specialty: Optional[str] = None, limit: int = 10, ) -> Dict[str, Any]: """Search the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry. The NPI registry contains information about healthcare providers and organizations in the United States. You can search by various criteria including name, NPI number, location, and specialty. WILDCARD SUPPORT: Most text fields support wildcard searches using '*' after at least 2 characters for fuzzy matching (e.g., 'smith*', 'hosp*', 'cardi*'). Args: first_name: Provider's first name (supports wildcards: 'john*' matches 'John', 'Johnny', etc.) last_name: Provider's last name (supports wildcards: 'smith*' matches 'Smith', 'Smithson', etc.) organization_name: Organization name (supports wildcards: 'hosp*' matches 'Hospital', 'Hospice', etc.) npi: Specific 10-digit NPI number to look up (exact match only) city: City name (supports wildcards: 'san*' matches 'San Francisco', 'San Diego', etc.) state: State abbreviation (e.g., 'CA', 'NY', 'TX') - exact match only postal_code: ZIP/postal code (supports wildcards: '902*' matches '90210', '90211', etc.) specialty: Provider specialty or taxonomy (supports wildcards: 'cardi*' matches 'Cardiology', 'Cardiac Surgery', etc.) limit: Maximum number of results to return (1-200, default: 10) Examples: - Find all Smiths: last_name='smith*' - Find hospitals: organization_name='hosp*' - Find cardiologists: specialty='cardio*' - Find providers in San cities: city='san*' - Find providers in 90210 area: postal_code='902*' Returns: Dictionary containing search results with provider information """ try: # Validate input parameters if limit < 1 or limit > 200: return { "error": "Limit must be between 1 and 200", "results": [] } # Validate NPI format if provided if npi and (not npi.isdigit() or len(npi) != 10): return { "error": "NPI must be exactly 10 digits", "results": [] } # Validate state format if provided if state and len(state) != 2: return { "error": "State must be a 2-letter abbreviation (e.g., 'CA', 'NY')", "results": [] } # Create search parameters params = NPISearchParams( first_name=first_name, last_name=last_name, organization_name=organization_name, npi=npi, city=city, state=state, postal_code=postal_code, specialty=specialty, limit=limit, ) # Perform search providers = await npi_client.search(params) # Format results results = [] for provider in providers: result = { "npi": provider.npi, "entity_type": provider.entity_type, "is_organization": provider.is_organization, "status": provider.status, "enumeration_date": provider.enumeration_date, "last_updated": provider.last_updated, } if provider.is_organization: result.update({ "organization_name": provider.organization_name, "organization_subpart": provider.organization_subpart, "authorized_official": { "first_name": provider.authorized_official_first_name, "last_name": provider.authorized_official_last_name, "title": provider.authorized_official_title, "telephone": provider.authorized_official_telephone, } if provider.authorized_official_first_name else None, }) else: result.update({ "name": { "first": provider.first_name, "last": provider.last_name, "middle": provider.middle_name, "prefix": provider.name_prefix, "suffix": provider.name_suffix, "credential": provider.credential, }, "gender": provider.gender, "sole_proprietor": provider.sole_proprietor, }) # Add addresses if provider.addresses: result["addresses"] = provider.addresses # Add practice locations if provider.practice_locations: result["practice_locations"] = provider.practice_locations # Add taxonomies (specialties) if provider.taxonomies: result["taxonomies"] = provider.taxonomies # Add other identifiers if provider.identifiers: result["identifiers"] = provider.identifiers results.append(result) return { "success": True, "count": len(results), "results": results, } except Exception as e: return { "success": False, "error": str(e), "results": [] } - src/npi_registry_mcp/server.py:16-27 (schema)Pydantic BaseModel defining the input schema/parameters for the search_npi_registry tool, matching the function arguments with descriptions and constraints.
class NPISearchParams(BaseModel): """Parameters for NPI registry search.""" first_name: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="Provider's first name") last_name: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="Provider's last name") organization_name: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="Organization name") npi: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="Specific NPI number (10 digits)") city: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="City name") state: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="State abbreviation (e.g., 'CA', 'NY')") postal_code: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="ZIP/postal code") specialty: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="Provider specialty or taxonomy") limit: int = Field(10, description="Maximum number of results to return (1-200)", ge=1, le=200) - src/npi_registry_mcp/server.py:30-73 (schema)Pydantic BaseModel used internally to parse and structure NPI provider data from the API response, defining the output schema shape.
class NPIProvider(BaseModel): """NPI provider information.""" npi: str entity_type: str replacement_npi: Optional[str] = None ein: Optional[str] = None is_organization: bool # Basic information first_name: Optional[str] = None last_name: Optional[str] = None middle_name: Optional[str] = None name_prefix: Optional[str] = None name_suffix: Optional[str] = None credential: Optional[str] = None sole_proprietor: Optional[str] = None gender: Optional[str] = None enumeration_date: Optional[str] = None last_updated: Optional[str] = None status: Optional[str] = None # Organization information organization_name: Optional[str] = None organization_subpart: Optional[str] = None parent_organization_lbn: Optional[str] = None parent_organization_tin: Optional[str] = None authorized_official_first_name: Optional[str] = None authorized_official_last_name: Optional[str] = None authorized_official_title: Optional[str] = None authorized_official_telephone: Optional[str] = None # Addresses addresses: List[Dict[str, Any]] = Field(default_factory=list) # Practice locations practice_locations: List[Dict[str, Any]] = Field(default_factory=list) # Taxonomies (specialties) taxonomies: List[Dict[str, Any]] = Field(default_factory=list) # Other identifiers identifiers: List[Dict[str, Any]] = Field(default_factory=list) - Supporting class that handles HTTP requests to the NPI Registry API, parameter building, response parsing via _parse_provider, and returns structured List[NPIProvider]. Used directly by the handler.
class NPIRegistryClient: """Client for interacting with the NPI Registry API.""" BASE_URL = "https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/" def __init__(self): self.client = httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=30.0) async def close(self): """Close the HTTP client.""" await self.client.aclose() async def search(self, params: NPISearchParams) -> List[NPIProvider]: """Search the NPI registry.""" # Build query parameters query_params = {"version": "2.1", "limit": str(params.limit)} if params.npi: query_params["number"] = params.npi if params.first_name: query_params["first_name"] = params.first_name if params.last_name: query_params["last_name"] = params.last_name if params.organization_name: query_params["organization_name"] = params.organization_name if params.city: query_params["city"] = params.city if params.state: query_params["state"] = params.state if params.postal_code: query_params["postal_code"] = params.postal_code if params.specialty: query_params["taxonomy_description"] = params.specialty try: response = await self.client.get( f"{self.BASE_URL}", params=query_params ) response.raise_for_status() data = response.json() results = [] if "results" in data: for result in data["results"]: provider = self._parse_provider(result) results.append(provider) return results except httpx.HTTPError as e: raise Exception(f"Error searching NPI registry: {str(e)}") except Exception as e: raise Exception(f"Unexpected error: {str(e)}") def _parse_provider(self, data: Dict[str, Any]) -> NPIProvider: """Parse NPI provider data from API response.""" basic = data.get("basic", {}) # Determine if this is an organization based on enumeration_type # NPI-1 = Individual, NPI-2 = Organization enumeration_type = data.get("enumeration_type", "") is_org = enumeration_type == "NPI-2" provider_data = { "npi": data.get("number", ""), "entity_type": "Organization" if is_org else "Individual", "replacement_npi": data.get("replacement_npi"), "ein": basic.get("ein"), "is_organization": is_org, "enumeration_date": basic.get("enumeration_date"), "last_updated": basic.get("last_updated"), "status": basic.get("status"), "sole_proprietor": basic.get("sole_proprietor"), "gender": basic.get("gender"), } if is_org: # Organization fields provider_data.update({ "organization_name": basic.get("organization_name"), "organization_subpart": basic.get("organization_subpart"), "parent_organization_lbn": basic.get("parent_organization_lbn"), "parent_organization_tin": basic.get("parent_organization_tin"), "authorized_official_first_name": basic.get("authorized_official_first_name"), "authorized_official_last_name": basic.get("authorized_official_last_name"), "authorized_official_title": basic.get("authorized_official_title"), "authorized_official_telephone": basic.get("authorized_official_telephone"), }) else: # Individual fields provider_data.update({ "first_name": basic.get("first_name"), "last_name": basic.get("last_name"), "middle_name": basic.get("middle_name"), "name_prefix": basic.get("name_prefix"), "name_suffix": basic.get("name_suffix"), "credential": basic.get("credential"), }) # Add addresses provider_data["addresses"] = data.get("addresses", []) # Add practice locations provider_data["practice_locations"] = data.get("practice_locations", []) # Add taxonomies provider_data["taxonomies"] = data.get("taxonomies", []) # Add other identifiers provider_data["identifiers"] = data.get("identifiers", []) return NPIProvider(**provider_data) - src/npi_registry_mcp/server.py:197-197 (registration)The @mcp.tool() decorator on the search_npi_registry function registers it as an MCP tool with FastMCP.
@mcp.tool()