Taxonomy Codes

A dictionary says a taxonomy is: "The orderly classification of organisms or lists into appropriate categories (taxa), with application of suitable and correct names". (cannot find the exact source of quote) Taxonomies are a hierarchy. In the healthcare industry, Taxonomy Codes indicate a healthcare providers areas of specialty. Taxonomy Codes are 10 characters long.

Who Maintains Taxonomy Codes?

The National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) maintains over 880 Taxonomy Codes as of November 2025. NUCC is the copyright owner of Taxonomy Codes. You would think that Taxonomy Codes belong to the government, but apparently not. You can license the Taxonomy Codes from NUCC at no cost, just follow their license agreement.

NUCC ships the Taxonomy Codes as a text file whose content is Comma Separated Values (CSV). We've reversed engineered a normalized database schema from their CSV. We populate our database schema with the NUCC data and it distribute in MediSeek Recaster, providing meaning to the Taxonomy Codes. NUCC also provides notes and definitions for many Taxonomy Codes.

Taxonomy Code Hierarchy Levels

Taxonomy Codes are 10 characters long with three hierarchy levels..

Groups are the top level and occupy the first -2- characters in the Taxonomy Code. In our example above, the Group is "11".
Classifications are the 2nd level. Technically they exist in the 3rd and 4th position. However, to uniquely identify a Classification the Group must be included, therefore Classification Codes consume the first -4- characters in the Taxonomy Code.
Specialties are the 3rd and last level. To identify a particular Specialty involves using the entire Taxonomy Code, all 10 characters. Technically the Specialty is in position 6 thru 10, but because these positions are not unique you must use the entire Taxonomy Code to find a particular specialty.

Let's look at the Taxonomy Code 111NP0017X. The Group for this Taxonomy Code is "11", and the Classification is "111N".

Taxonomy Codes Schema

MediSeek Recaster adds value by providing a Table of Contents and a map to Taxonomy Codes for that Table of Contents. The structure and nomenclature is not very consumer friendly, and this provides an opportunity to express a more understandable structure to consumers.

MediSeek Recaster also offers a keyword map, allowing keywords to associate with relevant Taxonomy Codes.