CMS now has something the US healthcare system has talked about for years: a national, searchable provider directory that can also be downloaded and used by software.
The National Provider Directory is already live at directory.cms.gov. People can search by provider name, location, specialty or NPI, providers can review their own information, and developers can work with the directory data.
That does not mean the project is finished.
CMS is still adding data, testing its FHIR infrastructure and connecting the directory with other parts of Medicare. One of the largest remaining steps is using the national directory as the underlying source for Medicare Advantage provider-network information in Medicare Plan Finder.
The National Provider Directory Is Already Live, but It Is Not Finished
The National Provider Directory is publicly accessible now.
Its current tools allow users to search provider records, download data and access information intended for developers. Providers can also sign in to review and manage their records.
CMS describes the directory as infrastructure connecting healthcare providers, payers, data networks and interoperability systems. That is a larger goal than simply creating another doctor-search page.
| National Provider Directory Feature | Status In September 2026 |
| Public provider search | Available |
| Search by NPI, specialty and location | Available |
| Provider record management | Available |
| Downloadable national data | Available |
| FHIR API development and testing | Under active development |
| Medicare Advantage network integration | Being implemented in stages |
| Full connection with Medicare Plan Finder | Planned, no final completion date announced |
| One finished national source replacing every existing directory | Not available |
The distinction is important because providers already maintain information across NPPES, PECOS, payer systems, credentialing platforms and individual network directories. A public national directory does not make those workflows disappear overnight.
Our PECOS enrollment guide covers one part of that fragmented system. Medicare enrollment still depends on PECOS, NPPES, legal entity information, reassignment records and other enrollment data even as CMS builds the newer directory layer.
The administrative problem extends well outside Medicare. A June 2026 benchmark based on 458 payer-enrollment cases found a median first-time enrollment timeline of 69 days, with the 75th percentile reaching 97 days. The Assured report also found that 28% of first-time applications encountered a rejection, denial or written request for more information.
CMS Has Been Moving Toward One National Directory for Several Years
The current system did not appear from nowhere in 2026.
CMS formally asked for public input on a National Directory of Healthcare Providers and Services in 2022. The agency said a centralized directory could reduce the need for providers to maintain the same information across multiple payer and healthcare databases.
By June 2025, the plan had moved beyond discussion. CMS announced that it was building a dynamic national directory as part of a wider digital-health infrastructure program.
Later that year, CMS said it had begun building a FHIR-based API that could help software locate provider networks, healthcare organizations and digital endpoints.
The agency described the rollout as iterative rather than a single launch.
What FHIR Changes
FHIR stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. It is a standard for exchanging healthcare information between computer systems.
For a national directory, that means provider information does not have to exist only as a webpage or spreadsheet. Software can request structured information and use it inside health-plan tools, referral systems, provider applications and other healthcare platforms.
CMS already requires several government-regulated payers to expose provider-directory information through public APIs. Its current Provider Directory API requirements cover Medicare Advantage organizations and several Medicaid and CHIP programs.
The National Provider Directory gives CMS an opportunity to connect those separate data streams instead of leaving every payer directory as its own island.
CMS Has A Three-Phase Plan for Medicare Advantage Provider Data
The Medicare Plan Finder work gives the clearest picture of how CMS expects the directory to develop.
A technical guide released during the project describes three phases.
| Phase | What CMS Is Doing |
| Phase 1 | Use an interim source for Medicare Advantage provider and facility data for Contract Year 2026 |
| Phase 2 | Collect provider-directory data directly from Medicare Advantage plans for Contract Year 2027 |
| Phase 3 | Use the National Provider Directory as the connecting layer between payer APIs and Medicare Plan Finder |
The CMS implementation guide describes Phase 3 as the point when the National Provider Directory, once fully implemented, will consume Medicare Advantage FHIR-based provider data and feed it into Medicare Plan Finder.
CMS did not attach a firm date to that final phase.
The Directory Does Not Replace NPPES or PECOS
Another source of confusion is the relationship between the new directory and CMS systems providers already use.
NPPES
NPPES manages National Provider Identifiers. An NPI identifies an individual provider or healthcare organization, but CMS explicitly warns that receiving an NPI does not prove that a provider is licensed or credentialed.
CMS continued updating the NPPES downloadable files throughout 2026, including moving to Version 2 files with longer provider and business-name fields.
PECOS
PECOS manages Medicare enrollment. It handles information needed for billing privileges, practice locations, ownership, reassignment and other enrollment actions.
A provider appearing in the National Provider Directory should not assume Medicare enrollment requirements have disappeared.
National Provider Directory
The new directory sits on top of a different problem. It is designed to make provider information easier to discover, connect and exchange across systems.
That makes it closer to shared infrastructure than a replacement for every existing CMS database.
Why Is CMS Trying to Fix Provider Directories?
Provider-directory data becomes stale quickly.
Doctors change practices. Groups open and close locations. Networks change contracts. Telephone numbers move. A physician can work at several locations and belong to more than one organization at the same time.
Every payer maintaining its own copy creates repeated work and more opportunities for records to disagree.
CMS said in its original national-directory proposal that a centralized system could let providers update information once while allowing payers and other organizations to retrieve the updated data through APIs.
For patients, better data can reduce a common problem: calling a doctor listed as in-network only to learn that the directory is outdated.
For providers, the benefit would be less duplicate data maintenance. For payers, the goal is a cleaner source for building networks and meeting directory requirements.
The National Directory Is Part of a Much Larger Project
The provider directory is being developed at the same time as several other federal interoperability projects.
The 2024 CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule requires major new APIs beginning in 2027. These include Provider Access, Payer-to-Payer and Prior Authorization APIs.
The rule also expands existing patient-access requirements.
We previously covered several related technology changes in our article on new healthcare interoperability rules.
Under the current CMS schedule, many of the major API requirements take effect January 1, 2027.
The 2024 interoperability final rule requires affected payers to exchange more patient, provider and prior-authorization information electronically.
The directory therefore belongs to a wider effort to make healthcare data move between systems without every organization building a separate connection from scratch.
What Still Has to Happen Before the System is Complete?
A searchable website already exists, but several practical pieces still need to mature.
1. Provider Data Has to Stay Current
A national directory becomes much less useful if the information is only centralized but still outdated.
CMS needs reliable processes for corrections, provider updates, payer data and conflicting records.
2. Payer Network Data Needs Better Integration
Knowing that a cardiologist exists is different from knowing that the cardiologist accepts a particular Medicare Advantage plan at a specific location.
Network relationships are one of the harder parts of the project.
3. APIs Need Wider Production Use
CMS is already exposing data and testing FHIR tools, but the larger benefit comes when payers, health systems and software products routinely consume the same information.
4. Existing Systems Still Need to Work Together
NPPES, PECOS, payer credentialing, state licensing and network enrollment all have different purposes.
A useful national directory has to connect those identities without pretending they are the same thing.
When Will the Full National Provider Directory Be Available?
The National Provider Directory itself is already available.
The October 1, 2026 Medicare Plan Finder update adds another major piece. January 2027 brings wider interoperability requirements, and CMS has indicated that the Medicare Advantage directory workflow will not move to FHIR-only submissions before Contract Year 2028.
None of those dates is described by CMS as the moment when every part of the national directory is complete.
The project is being released in layers.
| Date | What It Means |
| 2022 | CMS formally sought input on a national directory |
| 2025 | CMS confirmed it was building the system |
| 2026 | Public National Provider Directory is live |
| October 1, 2026 | New Medicare Advantage provider data goes into CY 2027 Medicare Plan Finder |
| January 1, 2027 | Major CMS interoperability API requirements begin |
| CY 2028 at earliest | CMS may move Medicare Advantage provider submissions fully to FHIR |
| Full NPD implementation | No final date announced |
Final Thoughts
CMS is no longer just discussing a national provider directory. A working system is online, providers can review records, the public can search it and developers can use the data.
The unfinished part is integration.
CMS still has to connect payer network information, Medicare Plan Finder, FHIR feeds and the existing provider systems that healthcare organizations already rely on. The agency has deliberately described the rollout as iterative, and its current technical schedule stretches into at least 2028.
For patients, the biggest improvement should be more reliable information about where providers practice and which networks they belong to. Providers and health systems have a different concern: reducing the repeated work of maintaining the same names, addresses, affiliations and enrollment details across multiple systems.
So the National Provider Directory is available now. The fully connected version CMS has described is still being built, and there is no official final completion date yet.
Sources
- CMS National Provider Directory
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2022
- CMS Digital Healthcare Infrastructure Announcement
- CMS September 2026 Provider Directory Q&A
- CMS Medicare Plan Finder Implementation Guide
- CMS Provider Directory API Standards
- CMS Interoperability Final Rule
- CMS NPPES Files
- Assured Payer Enrollment Benchmark Report
