Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
General coding and administrative reference only. It is not medical, legal or billing advice, and it does not tell any organization which code it must use.
Short answer
A taxonomy code is a unique 10-character code that designates a provider’s or supplier’s classification and specialization (CMS, “Find Your Taxonomy Code”). For durable medical equipment and medical supplies, the NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set lists a parent code, 332B00000X, and five specialization codes beneath it: 332BC3200X, 332BD1200X, 332BN1400X, 332BX2000X and 332BP3500X. The code describes what kind of organization the supplier is. It does not describe any product.
What a NUCC taxonomy code is
The National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) describes the Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set as an external, nonmedical data code set designed for use in an electronic environment, specifically within the ASC X12N Health Care transactions. Each code is a unique alphanumeric code ten characters in length, and the set is structured into three levels: Provider Grouping, Classification and Area of Specialization (NUCC, checked 2026-10-30).
CMS tells providers and suppliers to use the NUCC code set list to find the code that most closely describes their provider type, classification or specialization. CMS also states that more than one code can be selected when applying for a National Provider Identifier (NPI), but one must be indicated as primary, and that the code set is published and released twice a year, in January and July (CMS, checked 2026-10-30).
Version pinned in this guide
The codes below come from NUCC code set Version 26.1, dated 7/1/26, the version listed as current on 2026-10-30. NUCC lists earlier versions, including 25.1 (7/1/25 and 1/1/26) and 25.0 (1/1/25). Because releases are published twice a year, confirm the current version before relying on any list, including this one.
The taxonomy codes for DME and medical suppliers (the 332B family)
In the NUCC file, all six rows below sit in the Suppliers grouping, under the classification “Durable Medical Equipment & Medical Supplies”, and are marked as non-individual (organization) codes.
| Code | Specialization | NUCC display name |
|---|---|---|
| 332B00000X | (none; parent classification) | Durable Medical Equipment & Medical Supplies |
| 332BC3200X | Customized Equipment | Customized Equipment (DME) |
| 332BD1200X | Dialysis Equipment & Supplies | Dialysis Equipment & Supplies (DME) |
| 332BN1400X | Nursing Facility Supplies | Nursing Facility Supplies (DME) |
| 332BX2000X | Oxygen Equipment & Supplies | Oxygen Equipment & Supplies (DME) |
| 332BP3500X | Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition | Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition Supplies (DME) |
Only the parent code carries a definition. NUCC defines 332B00000X as “a supplier of medical equipment such as respirators, wheelchairs, home dialysis systems, or monitoring systems, that are prescribed by a physician for a patient’s use in the home and that are usable for an extended period of time.” In the Version 26.1 file, the definition field for each of the five specializations reads “Definition to come…”, so this guide does not define them beyond their names.
Taxonomy code for DME
The broadest NUCC taxonomy code for DME is 332B00000X. The codes carry a trailing “X”; the NUCC file uses the form 332B00000X, and variants ending in other letters seen on some third-party pages do not match the NUCC file.
Related supplier codes that are not DME
Several other Suppliers codes sit next to the DME family. They are separate classifications in the NUCC file, so a supplier of one of these should not assume the 332B family covers it.
| Code | NUCC classification | NUCC definition (abridged) |
|---|---|---|
| 335E00000X | Prosthetic/Orthotic Supplier | An organization that provides prosthetic and orthotic care |
| 332H00000X | Eyewear Supplier | An organization that provides spectacles, contact lenses and other vision enhancement devices prescribed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist |
| 332S00000X | Hearing Aid Equipment | The manufacture and/or sale of electronic hearing aids, their component parts and related products and services |
| 335G00000X | Medical Foods Supplier | A supplier of special replacement foods for clients with errors of metabolism that prohibit a regular diet |
| 333300000X | Emergency Response System Companies | A supplier of a personal emergency response system (PERS) |
| 333600000X | Pharmacy | A facility used by pharmacists for the compounding and dispensing of medicinal preparations (specializations such as Community/Retail Pharmacy and Specialty Pharmacy have their own 3336 codes) |
Where it matters for suppliers and procurement teams
CMS states that a taxonomy code is used when applying for an NPI, and that Medicare enrollment requires an NPI, with the application needing to include the taxonomy code that reflects the applicant’s classification and specialization (CMS, checked 2026-10-30). CMS also publishes a crosswalk linking the types of providers and suppliers eligible to enroll in Medicare with taxonomy codes.
For a hospital or laboratory procurement team, the practical reading is narrow: the code on a supplier’s record is a classification of the organization, assigned by the organization itself when it registers. Treat it as one field among a vendor’s identifiers, alongside records such as those discussed in vendor-managed inventory and vendor status codes, which are unrelated code systems with their own meanings. The taxonomy code does not tell you what a supplier stocks, whether it is enrolled in any program, or whether it is suitable for a purchase.
Common misunderstandings
“A taxonomy code is a product code”
It is not. NUCC calls the code set nonmedical, and each code classifies a provider or supplier type. Product and service coding is a different system; this guide does not cover it.
“The 332B code is required for every medical supplier”
Neither NUCC nor CMS says so. CMS directs applicants to pick the code that most closely describes their classification and specialization, and permits more than one with a primary designation. Which code applies to a given organization is for that organization to decide from the NUCC list.
“Any list I find online is current”
NUCC and CMS both describe twice-yearly releases (January and July). A list copied from a directory page may reflect an older version than 26.1.
“Taxonomy codes work like controlled vocabularies in research”
In one respect they do: both are agreed code sets that make records comparable. For the research-side concept, see ANSI/NISO Z39.19 controlled vocabularies. The two are not interchangeable standards.
FAQ
What is a taxonomy code?
A unique 10-character code designating a provider’s or supplier’s classification and specialization, used when applying for an NPI (CMS, checked 2026-10-30).
What is the taxonomy code for DME?
332B00000X, “Durable Medical Equipment & Medical Supplies”, is the parent code in NUCC Version 26.1. Five specialization codes sit under it (see the table above).
What is a NUCC taxonomy code?
A code from the Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set maintained by the National Uniform Claim Committee, designed for use within ASC X12N Health Care transactions and released in January and July.
Can a supplier have more than one taxonomy code?
CMS says more than one code or description may be selected when applying for an NPI, with one indicated as primary.
