Federal officials say they will not give providers and others looking for National Provider Identifier data the information they seek until Aug. 1. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services made the announcement Tuesday after promising earlier to post the information online by the end of this month. The information is to be used to process claims for payment.

CMS officials said the delay will give providers more time to analyze the data and make needed changes. The agency will soon give details about submitting changes, officials said. National Provider Identifier numbers became mandatory this spring for all healthcare providers seeking federal reimbursements.

For current information on what data is to be disclosed, among other aspects about NPI’s, visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand/06a_DataDissemination.asp.