What to Do When a Provider Has a New Tax ID

The provider that I bill for just advised that he has a new tax ID. What is the process for this change?

Would every insurance company need to be contacted? How would I update billing software? Of course provider does not want interruption in payments so trying to make this as seamless as possible. Thanks, Gina. I’ve spent hours researching and your site has been a life saver.

Response:
I wish there was an easy answer but I’m afraid changing the providers tax ID or EIN number can be challenging. Trying to do so without disrupting claims is tricky but can be managed.

Unfortunately I’m not aware of an easy way to do this without contacting each insurance payer your provider is contracted with. Depending on the payer, they probably have a form or process for handling this. For Medicare I would suggest contacting your MAC (Medicare Administrative Contractor) for guidance on changing the EIN.

I think the easiest change is updating the practice management or billing software. Depending on the software this is usually done under the provider or practice set up screens. For most it’s just a matter of changing the tax ID number.

Once it’s changed this will be the number used on all future claims. So timing of the change is important in that the insurance payers must be set up to recognize the new tax ID associated with your provider. If you use a clearinghouse they may also scrub claims for tax ID also.

I hope this goes well and you can make this change with minimum disruption. I encourage visitors to offer their experiences going through provider changes using the “Click her to post Comments” link below.

You may have already worked through this given the timing of your submission. If so please share via the comments link below. I apologize for not responding sooner as we’re working through our backlog of submissions.

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