How To: Supply a Flat File for Dynamic NPI – ProviderTrust Support Center

Summary:
This article explains how organizations can securely submit their NPI population for Dynamic NPI monitoring using flat file transfer. Clients receive unique SFTP credentials and access to designated upload and download folders. The guide outlines required file naming conventions, monthly processing timelines, and what to expect in the returned output files. It also covers error handling, including validation checks and missing license information. This resource is intended for technical users responsible for securely setting up and managing flat file transfers to ProviderTrust.

If your organization would prefer to submit your NPI population as a flat file for monitoring, this guide outlines how to send your file securely to ProviderTrust and receive your Dynamic NPI profile files in return.

Setup

During implementation, your organization will be provided with unique credentials to a dedicated SFTP folder on:

SFTP Server: sftp.providertrust.com

Clients receiving Dynamic NPI flat files will have the following folder structure set up in their root SFTP folder:

Folder Path:
/Dynamic_NPI_flat_files/
├── DNPI_upload/ → For uploading your input files
├── DNPI_download/ → For retrieving processed output files from our system

File Naming Conventions:

Please follow these naming conventions to ensure your files are processed correctly:

Input File (uploaded by client)

npi_list_[client_name]_[YYYY-MM-DD].csv

[client_name] Client name, use underscores instead of spaces
[YYYY-MM-DD] Date of the file upload

Output Files (returned by ProviderTrust)

dnpi_npi_[client_name]_[YYYY-MM-DD].csv→ NPI table output

[client_name] Client name, use underscores instead of spaces
[YYYY-MM-DD] Date of the file generation

dnpi_license_[client_name]_[YYYY-MM-DD].csv→ License table output

[client_name] Client name, use underscores instead of spaces
[YYYY-MM-DD] Date of the file generation

dnpi_license_[client_name]_[YYYY-MM-DD]_npi_missing_license_creds.csv→ License table output for NPIs missing license credentials

[client_name] Client name, using underscores instead of spaces
[YYYY-MM-DD] Date of the file generation

dnpi_exclusion_[client_name]_[YYYY-MM-DD].csv→Exclusion table output

[client_name] Client name, using underscores instead of spaces
[YYYY-MM-DD] Date of the file generation

Processing the Data Timeline

Step	Action	Responsible Party
1	Client uploads the input data file to `/Dynamic_NPI_flat_files/DNPI_upload/`.	Your organization
2	Upload must occur before the agreed processing date each month. If your file contains only the same NPIs as prior months, you only need to upload once. The system will continue monitoring those NPIs each month. If your file contains new NPIs (NPIs not previously included in your uploads), the file should be uploaded at least 7 business days before the processing date. Note: This lead time allows ProviderTrust to collect the necessary license and credential data for new NPIs before monitoring begins.	Your organization
3	On the agreed processing date, a scheduled job will run and process the most recently uploaded file.. If no new file is uploaded, the job will reprocess the last submitted file. Example: If your organization uploaded a file on June 1 and did not upload anything before the July processing date, the July job will run using the June 1 file.	ProviderTrust
4	Processed output files are placed in `/Dynamic_NPI_flat_files/DNPI_download/`and become available once processing is complete.	ProviderTrust
5	Download the output files for your records.	Your organization

Error Handling

Scenario

Result

Empty Input File Folder

No data will be returned on the scheduled job date

Invalid File Format

An error file is generated: [client_name]_npi_validation_log_file_[YYYY-MM-DD].txt in the /DNPI_download/ folder. The error file will specify the issue, for example:
– File is missing a header. Please add a header with the column name as NPI.
– File must have a single column named npi. Please correct the header.
– File is empty or missing NPI values. Please add valid NPI values.
Important: Only valid files are processed. If the file is invalid, the prior month’s file will not be run automatically. You must correct and re-upload the file for it to be included in monitoring for that month.

The file is missing credentials for some NPIs

ProviderTrust will create an output file of NPIs with no credential data returned.

Note: This output file will be dnpi_license_[client_name]_[YYYY-MM-DD]_npi_missing_license_creds.csv