Register your organization with the NPDB at https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov; organizations must submit credentialing policies and procedures and be approved before querying.
For high-volume credentialing, integrate with the NPDB Querying and Reporting XML Service (QRXS) — an XML-based API that allows automated submission of queries and retrieval of reports from within your credentialing system.
Submit a continuous query (ongoing monitoring) or one-time query per provider: supply the provider's name, date of birth, NPI, and professional license number(s) to maximize match accuracy.
Parse the NPDB XML report response: review MedicalMalpractice, Licensure, ClinicalPrivilege, and ExclusionAction sections; any adverse report requires credentialing committee review before a privilege decision is made.
Document NPDB query results, dates, and committee disposition in the credentialing file — NCQA and The Joint Commission require evidence of NPDB query at initial credentialing and at each recredentialing cycle.
For self-queries, direct providers to the NPDB self-query portal (practitioners may query their own record at any time at no cost to review what hospitals and plans see).
Known gotchas
The NPDB only contains reports on adverse actions, malpractice payments, and Medicare/Medicaid exclusions — a clean NPDB report does not mean the provider has no disciplinary history from sources not required to report.
Hospitals are mandated to report certain adverse privilege actions; failure to query the NPDB before granting clinical privileges can expose a hospital to liability if the provider later causes harm.
QRXS integration requires testing in the NPDB test environment before production access is granted; budget for a multi-week integration and approval timeline.
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claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp