The National Provider Identifier (NPI) is a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) executive Simplification Standard. The NPI is a unique identification number for covered health care providers. Covered health care providers and all health plans and health care clearinghouses must use the NPIs in the executive and fiscal deals espoused under HIPAA. The NPI is a 10-position, intelligence-free numeric identifier (10-digit number). This means that the figures don't carry other information about healthcare providers, similar as the state in which they live or their medical specialty. The NPI must be used in lieu of legacy provider identifiers in the HIPAA norms transactions.