A taxonomy code is a unique ten-character alphanumeric code that identifies your specialty on claims. Some examples of specialties include Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Speech-Language Pathologists, and Physical Therapists.

In this guide, we'll cover:

• Finding your taxonomy code
• Entering your taxonomy code for claims
• Default taxonomy codes
• Using taxonomy codes with supervision
  
• Resolving a rejected claim due to a missing or invalid taxonomy code in box 24j
• Troubleshooting taxonomy codes

Finding your taxonomy code

Certain payers require the rendering provider’s taxonomy code listed in box 24j of claim submissions. If a payer requires this, they’ll also require the ZZ qualifier listed in box 24i. 

Since the requirements for these fields vary by payer, the ZZ qualifier would be enabled from our administrative backend. Once it’s enabled, the taxonomy code will populate all claims created for the specific payer ID that requires it. 

The ZZ qualifier (box 24i) and the rendering provider’s taxonomy code (box 24j) won’t appear on an electronic claim. However, this information is sent to the insurance payer through the electronic claim’s backend. 

If you’d like to review the information that gets sent to the payer, you can download the PDF version of the claim. Here’s what this section looks like on a downloaded claim:

If the information appears on a downloaded claim, then it’s being sent to the payer electronically. 

If a downloaded claim for a payer that requires a taxonomy code and ZZ qualifier doesn’t appear with these items in box 24, submit a help request to our team. We can work with our clearinghouse to verify the requirement and make any necessary updates to the settings from our end. 

To find your taxonomy code:

• Visit the NPPES NPI Registry
• Enter your NPI Number into the field
• Click Search

Entering your taxonomy code for claims

Typically, a claim will need to reflect the taxonomy code associated with your billing provider NPI in box 33b, which may either be an individual or organizational NPI. Certain payers may also require the taxonomy code associated with your rendering provider NPI in box 24j, which would be your individual NPI.

To enter the taxonomy code associated with your billing provider NPI:

• Navigate to Settings > Billing and Services > Insurance
• Select Edit next to your default Billing provider info  

• Enter your billing provider Taxonomy code 

• Click Save profile

Note: Billing profiles can be used to populate unique information for certain payers and/or clinicians in boxes 25 and 33, including taxonomy codes. For more information, see Managing billing profiles for insurance. 

To enter the taxonomy code associated with your rendering provider NPI:

• Navigate to Settings > Profile & Security > Clinical 
• Under Clinical Information, enter the Taxonomy Code associated with your individual NPI

• Click Save Information

Our system will automatically populate the taxonomy code you enter in the above section into box 24j for payers that require it. However, because the rendering provider taxonomy code isn’t required by all payers, it’s not visible unless you download the claim form.

Note: If you’re billing under your supervisor's credentials, your clinical information may need to be adjusted depending on the payer’s requirements. For more information, see Using taxonomy codes with supervision below.

Default taxonomy codes

The Account Owner’s rendering provider taxonomy code and practice taxonomy code will default to the specialty they select when creating their account. For an overview of the default taxonomy code for each specialty, see Choosing your specialty. 

A new team member’s rendering provider taxonomy code will default to the specialty the Account Owner selects when adding them. 

For more information on adjusting these, see Entering your taxonomy code for claims.

Note: Only the clinician will be able to update their rendering taxonomy code. Account Owners don’t have access to make this change. 

Using taxonomy codes with supervision

If you’re a supervisee, you may need to submit claims using your supervisor’s credentials in box 24j, including their taxonomy code. You’ll want to confirm with the payer how they require this information on claims. 

The following are two ways that payers may require this information: 

• The supervisee’s name and the supervisor’s credentials in box 24j 
• The supervisor’s name and credentials in box 24j 

Supervisees will have to update their settings depending on which option the payer requires. For an overview of this process, see How to bill insurance under your supervisor's credentials. 

Resolving a rejected claim due to a missing or invalid taxonomy code in box 24j

If you receive a claim rejection for a missing or invalid taxonomy code in box 24j, you'll want to first check in the clinician's account settings to make sure that the correct taxonomy code was entered in the appropriate field.

Note: If you're part of a group practice, only the individual clinician can update their taxonomy code within their Clinical settings.  

To do this: 

• Visit the NPPES NPI Registry
• Enter the clinician’s NPI in the field
• Click Search
• Navigate to Settings > Profile & Security > Clinical 
• Enter the taxonomy code in the Clinical Information section

• Click Save Information

Next, you'll need to delete the existing claim and create a new claim to have the updated settings auto-populate. To do this: 

• Navigate to Insurance > Claims
• Select View next to the rejected claim
• Click the trash icon to delete the claim

Important: Deleting claims is a permanent action. When claims are deleted, all information listed in them is deleted from our database and can't be recovered. To keep this information for your records, we recommend downloading and saving a claim to a client's profile before deleting it. See Uploading a new client file for steps on how you can store this. When deleting a claim, it’s recommended that you save the clearinghouse reference number and claim number for your records as well.

• Navigate to Insurance > Unbilled appointments
  • Any dates of service that were on the deleted claim will now be free to include on a new claim
• Create and submit the new claim

Tip: You can download the new claim before submitting it to confirm that the correct rendering provider taxonomy code is populated into box 24j.  

If a claim is created before your taxonomy code is updated in your account settings, you'll need to recreate the claim in order for the changes to appear on the claim, even if it wasn't submitted. 

Troubleshooting taxonomy codes

If your taxonomy codes aren’t populating on claims as expected, you can review the information your payers have on file and confirm this matches your settings. To do this: 

• Confirm the billing provider taxonomy code and rendering provider taxonomy code your payers have on file 
• Review your rendering provider taxonomy code at Settings > Profile & Security > Clinical 
  • If part of a group practice, each team member should review their rendering taxonomy code 
    • Account Owners can’t update a team member’s rendering taxonomy code 
• If you’re a supervisee, check your payers’ requirements for submitting claims and review your settings to make sure they’re set up correctly 
  • For more information, see Using taxonomy codes with supervision above
• Review your practice’s billing provider taxonomy code at Settings > Billing and Services > Insurance
  • If using billing profiles, review the taxonomy codes in your billing profiles 
    • For more information, see Managing billing profiles for insurance
• If you’re receiving a rejection related to the rendering taxonomy code in box 24j, see Resolving a rejected claim due to a missing or invalid taxonomy code in box 24j above