--- title: "NPPES mailing addresses, practice locations, and subparts" description: "Read organizational NPI address roles and subparts before territory research. Use a worksheet to separate source records from confirmed practice facts." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/nppes-organization-mailing-practice-location-subparts" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Services - Services - [AI systems](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-systems) - [Site build](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#site-build) - [Whole website fix](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#whole-website-fix) - [Content library with SEO](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#content-library) - [Working session](https://scalewithsearch.com/audit) - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Example scope](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#review-the-example-scope) - [Prices and terms](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prices-and-terms) - Industries - Real estate - [Real estate agents and teams](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - [Platforms, ownership, and IDX](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-platforms-ownership-idx) - [Search, content, and AI](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-search-content-ai) - [Inquiries, campaigns, and handoffs](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-inquiries-campaigns-handoffs) - [Buyer, seller, and local pages](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-buyer-seller-local-resources) - [Rules, privacy, and trust](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-rules-privacy-trust) - Browse by business - [Trades and home services](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-trades) - [Health, wellness, and animal care](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-practices) - [Law, finance, and IT](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-professional) - [Marketing and SEO agencies](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-agencies) - [Shops and manufacturers](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-manufacturing) - [Restaurants, shops, studios, and nonprofits](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-local-services) - Chiropractic practices - [Chiropractic and wellness practices](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-wellness-practices) - [Chiropractic and physical therapy clinics](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-physical-therapy-clinics) - [All industries](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/) - Resources - Free tools - [AI readiness check](https://scalewithsearch.com/check) - [Free tools](https://scalewithsearch.com/tools/) - [Free Starter Kit](https://scalewithsearch.com/kit/business-memory-starter-kit.zip) - Guides - [AI-native library](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-native) - [Industry intelligence](https://scalewithsearch.com/intelligence) - [Office job guides](https://scalewithsearch.com/guides/) - [Business memory](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide) - [Agent governance](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/ai-agent-governance-guide-small-business) - [Migration and ownership](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/leaving-vendor-ai-memory-guide) - Articles - [All articles](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/) - [What changed](https://scalewithsearch.com/changes/) - About - Evidence - [Proof](https://scalewithsearch.com/proof) - Scale With Search - [About](https://scalewithsearch.com/about) - [How it works](https://scalewithsearch.com/how-it-works) # NPPES organization locations: separate mailing addresses, practice locations, and subparts Before assigning an organization to a medical billing research territory, identify which address put it there. A mailing city, a practice city, and a location associated with a subpart require different reading decisions. Keep the organizational record and the location question separate until the evidence supports a relationship. The [medical billing company overview](/for/medical-billing) describes office tasks and staff review. This guide focuses on public organization research. Use it to prepare questions for a researcher, rather than to infer who owns a practice or who needs billing help. The proposed worksheet below retains address roles, location evidence, and unresolved identity questions. All named organizations are fictional. City references illustrate reading choices and make no statement about actual providers or locations. ## Read the address role before the city CMS-10114 distinguishes correspondence mailing information from business practice location information. Mailing information supports contact about the NPI. Practice information identifies a primary practice location; the instructions ask applicants with several locations to select one primary location. [CMS-10114, revision July 2026, page 2, sections 3A and 3B](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/cms-forms/cms-forms/downloads/cms10114.pdf). Keep those roles when you copy a city into a research note. A city without its source role invites an unsupported territory assignment. “Mailing city: Raleigh” gives the reviewer a different fact from “primary practice city: Raleigh.” Neither entry answers every question about the organization's activity there. NPPES API documentation distinguishes mailing and practice-location searches through `address_purpose`. A bounded `NPI-2` response inspected on October 28, 2026 contained address objects labeled `LOCATION` and `MAILING`. Read the role value, rather than assuming that position in a displayed list defines it. [API help](https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api-page) and [the one-result CMS query inspected](https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/?version=2.1&enumeration_type=NPI-2&postal_code=27101&limit=1). For your research worksheet, record both the role of the returned address and the role intended by the search. If a geographic match came through mailing information, label it that way. Hold any claim of a local operating practice until the corresponding evidence has been reviewed. ## A mailing match and a practice match lead to different questions Imagine the fictional Juniper Compass Care Group. Its example research record shows a mailing city of Raleigh and a primary practice city of Durham. Your billing company wants to research organizations serving Durham. The practice-city entry gives the researcher a Durham location question to investigate. The Raleigh mailing entry remains part of the record, but it does not move the practice into a different territory. Write the two observations on separate rows so a colleague can see why the research task was assigned. Now reverse the cities. The fictional record lists a Durham mailing city and a Raleigh practice city. A broad Durham address search could place that record in front of your researcher. The appropriate note is “Durham mailing match; local practice evidence unresolved.” Do not describe it as a confirmed Durham practice. Use the same discipline when your company serves several territories. A record may need review by more than one researcher, but each task should state the location question. Avoid creating duplicate business profiles just because different city matches reached different staff members. If your service model is national, preserve the roles anyway. The question may concern which office handles an administrative process rather than which territory contains care delivery. Name that business question explicitly. A national remit does not make unlike address roles interchangeable. ## A primary location is a role, not a complete location inventory CMS dissemination guidance identifies a separate practice-location reference file containing non-primary locations for Type 1 and Type 2 NPIs. [CMS data dissemination guidance, practice-location reference-file description, reopened October 28, 2026](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/regulations-guidance/administrative-simplification/data-dissemination). Therefore, do not turn a single primary-location entry into a complete account of every site your research should consider. State which source you reviewed and which location role it provides. If a secondary location matters to the business question, give it its own evidence row and review task. Suppose fictional Juniper Compass has a primary practice city of Raleigh. An approved research source also describes a Durham location. Keep the Durham evidence beside that location question. Do not change the meaning of the primary entry to make the two sources look identical. Check which location each source describes. Ask whether both sources refer to the same organization and what current operation remains unconfirmed. If a source was not checked, mark it unreviewed. A blank location row should not become a closure finding or proof that no other sites exist. ## Understand what an organizational subpart represents CMS defines a subpart as a component of an organizational health care provider. It may represent another location or a different type of care. CMS-10114 also provides for organizational subparts to receive NPIs. [CMS-10114, revision July 2026, pages 1 and 2, sections 1B and 3D](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/cms-forms/cms-forms/downloads/cms10114.pdf). An organizational NPI should therefore begin as an organizational record in your research, rather than an assumed independent business. Add an explicit question: does the reviewed evidence identify a parent relationship or subpart? Keep the answer unresolved when you have not inspected the relevant evidence. Consider fictional Alder Quay Health and Alder Quay Rehabilitation in Charlotte. Suppose the approved example evidence identifies Rehabilitation as a subpart. Preserve both records and their documented relationship. Do not automatically convert them into two independent company opportunities, and do not erase the subpart because the parent is already in your notes. The useful question concerns the business process you are researching. Which organization and location would a responsible person need to understand before discussing that process? Keep that question with the note. Do not infer purchasing authority, legal ownership, or a billing arrangement from the similar names. Where the relationship remains uncertain, retain a candidate relationship with its reason. Require a reviewer to accept or reject it. A guessed family tree is difficult to correct after it has been copied into several territory lists. ## Shared names and shared addresses need separate identity checks Use similarity to create a review task. Do not use it alone to merge organization records. A name comparison and an address comparison are different observations, and neither supplies every missing relationship fact. For a fictional example, imagine two organizational records called North Lantern Care and North Lantern Therapy in Greensboro. Even if the examples share a mailing location, the worksheet should ask whether they share a documented organization relationship. It should not declare common ownership or a single operating practice. Try the opposite example as well. Two records could have different names and different practice cities, while reviewed evidence identifies a parent-subpart relationship. Preserve that evidence rather than insisting that matching text is required for every relationship. When a reviewer accepts a match, write the reason and the source that supports it. Keep the original record references available for later comparison. If the evidence supports only a shared mailing location, accept that narrow observation and leave the organization relationship open. Separate organization identity from service fit throughout this work. A well-supported identity match still leaves your company's scope question unanswered. The public record does not explain whether the organization wants help, which supplier it uses, or what business task it would authorize. ## Use a location worksheet with a reviewable decision Give every entry a source role and a conclusion field. The following proposed worksheet describes fictional Juniper Compass. It is designed for a researcher and a service lead to review together. | Worksheet field | Fictional example or instruction | | --- | --- | | Organization reference | Juniper Compass Care Group; retain the source record reference | | NPI type | Organizational record, NPI-2, as observed in the source | | Search scope | Durham territory research; name the address role searched | | Mailing observation | Raleigh city in the mailing role | | Practice observation | Durham city in the primary practice role | | Additional-location evidence | Not reviewed; no complete site count claimed | | Subpart evidence | Relationship review pending; no independence conclusion | | Operating evidence | Record the specific source and dated statement reviewed | | Service-fit question | Does the confirmed business task fall within our approved scope? | | Reviewer decision | Continue location research; hold unsupported identity conclusions | Keep street detail, personal contacts, and unrelated identifiers out of a broadly shared research summary. City and role are sufficient for this exercise. Collect additional business information only when the defined research task needs it and the responsible owner has set its handling rules. Give unresolved questions distinct owners. The researcher checks public source roles and location statements. The service lead checks whether the business task fits the company's scope. Responsible people retain professional, commercial, financial, legal, and clinical decisions. ## Carry dates alongside the location evidence A worksheet needs a date for each observation. It also needs the date described by the source when that differs. A current page describing a planned location should retain its planned status. A later reviewer can then see which question still needs a current answer. For registry dates, use the companion guide to [enumeration, last update, and first observation](/articles/nppes-enumeration-last-update-first-seen-dates). Keep an address observation separate from a claim that an organization moved. A comparison between like address roles may identify a difference worth checking; it does not supply every fact about the transition. The [public practice signals overview](/intelligence/medical-billing) describes how a proposed research watch can present these questions. Preserve the reviewed source map and corrections using the [business memory guide](/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide). Your colleague should be able to reopen the record without reconstructing an earlier chat. ## Accept the reading procedure before widening the territory Before applying this worksheet broadly, review three fictional cases together: a mailing-only territory match, a practice-location match, and a documented subpart. Ask the reviewer to explain what each case supports and what remains open. Require the mailing-only case to retain its mailing label. Require the practice-location case to name its operating-evidence gap. Require the subpart case to retain the documented relationship without inventing independence or purchasing authority. If reviewers reach different conclusions, clarify the worksheet instructions before adding more records. Scale With Search can scope this handoff around source roles, location questions, accepted relationships, and reviewer decisions. Start with one territory and the questions your business needs answered. [Send your brief](/work) Continue the website review: [AI-native medical billing: the first functions to build](/articles/ai-native-medical-billing-first-functions); [Medical billing AI rules: data, approvals, and spend](/articles/medical-billing-ai-rules-data-approvals-spend); [Medical billing AI search: make your service facts clear](/articles/medical-billing-ai-search-source-pages); [Medical billing case studies: support every result](/articles/medical-billing-case-study-website-claims); [Medical billing client portal links: separate access](/articles/medical-billing-client-portal-website-link); [Medical billing form spam: test the server decision](/articles/medical-billing-inquiry-form-spam-checks); [Medical billing SEO: national service or local office](/articles/medical-billing-national-seo-service-area); [Medical billing pricing pages: define what the fee covers](/articles/medical-billing-pricing-page-fee-definitions); [Switching billing companies: explain the website steps](/articles/medical-billing-provider-switch-website-page); [Medical billing page not on Google: inspect the URL](/articles/medical-billing-service-page-not-indexed); [Medical billing service pages: show the actual scope](/articles/medical-billing-specialty-service-pages); [Medical billing demo forms: ask for business context](/articles/medical-billing-website-demo-request-form); [Medical billing website HIPAA badges: what to verify](/articles/medical-billing-website-hipaa-certification-claims); [NPPES dates: separate enumeration, last update, and first observation before calling a practice new](/articles/nppes-enumeration-last-update-first-seen-dates). [medical billing companies](/for/medical-billing): website and search resources. ## Related: medical billing companies - [AI-native medical billing: the first functions to build](/articles/ai-native-medical-billing-first-functions) - [Medical billing AI rules: data, approvals, and spend](/articles/medical-billing-ai-rules-data-approvals-spend) - [Medical billing AI search: make your service facts clear](/articles/medical-billing-ai-search-source-pages) ---- ```text .|########||. .|########||. .|########||. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. .#| .#. .#| .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. |#. .#. |#. .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| .||########||. .||########||. .||########||. 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