How to Find Colorectal Surgeons by Zip Code

Q: Why does 'Colorectal Surgery' return zero results in the NPI registry?

Because the CMS NUCC taxonomy was written before 'colorectal surgery' became the standard modern term for the specialty. The official taxonomy string is 'Colon & Rectal Surgery' — the older terminology that the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery still uses in its formal name. The NPI API has no synonym matching; 'Colorectal Surgery' does not match 'Colon & Rectal Surgery' and returns zero results. We confirmed this live on June 13, 2026.

Q: What is the NUCC code for colon and rectal surgery?

The NUCC code is 208C00000X. Every one of the 9 Memphis NPI records returned by a June 2026 query showed 208C00000X as the primary taxonomy code. This is a clean, single-code specialty — there are no subspecialty variants, no competing strings, and no multi-parent scatter. One code, one string, one query.

Q: How sparse is colorectal surgery and what does a rural call list look like?

Very sparse. Vermont returned 9 statewide records; Wyoming returned 3 statewide. New York returned 106, Chicago 86, Houston 83. None of the 9 markets we queried hit the 200-record cap, meaning even the largest cities have countable colorectal surgeon populations. A Wyoming rep covering the state has 3 potential accounts. Vermont has 9. A national colorectal surgery call list is measurable rather than overwhelming.

By the getdork research team — we build and maintain the NPI/physician-search tooling at getdork.com — Published June 13, 2026

Data sourced from live CMS NPI Registry API v2.1 queries, run June 13, 2026. All provider counts are real API responses, not estimates. Raw query results are available for download. Memphis and Vermont raw dumps: Memphis raw, Vermont raw. See methodology below.

To find licensed colorectal surgeons near a zip code, query the federal NPI registry with taxonomy_description=Colon+%26+Rectal+Surgery — the ampersand is required and must be URL-encoded. "Colorectal Surgery," "Proctology," and "Rectal Surgery" all return zero results. The official CMS taxonomy preserves the older specialty name ("Colon & Rectal Surgery," NUCC 208C00000X) that pre-dates modern terminology. Once you have the right string, the data is clean: every record is an NPI-1 individual physician with a single well-defined code.

Every modern term for this specialty fails the NPI API:

Colorectal Surgery → 0 results. The modern field name; not a NUCC taxonomy string. Confirmed June 13, 2026.
Proctology → 0 results. Historical name; also no active NUCC code. Confirmed June 13, 2026.
Rectal Surgery → 0 results. Partial term; does not substring-match the CMS string. Confirmed June 13, 2026.
Correct string: Colon & Rectal Surgery (URL-encoded: Colon+%26+Rectal+Surgery) — ampersand is mandatory.

Colorectal surgery in the NPI registry: real counts from 9 markets

We queried the CMS NPI API v2.1 directly on June 13, 2026 for taxonomy_description=Colon+%26+Rectal+Surgery. No market hit the 200-record cap — this is among the sparsest surgical specialties in the NPI registry.

Market	Query scope	NPI records returned	At 200-record cap?
New York, NY	City filter	106	No (complete)
Chicago, IL	City filter	86	No (complete)
Houston, TX	City filter	83	No (complete)
Los Angeles, CA	City filter	45	No (complete)
Phoenix, AZ	City filter	43	No (complete)
Nashville, TN	City filter	24	No (complete)
Memphis, TN	City filter	9	No (complete)
Vermont (statewide)	State filter	9	No (complete)
Wyoming (statewide)	State filter	3	No (complete)

Source: CMS NPI Registry API v2.1, taxonomy_description=Colon+%26+Rectal+Surgery, limit=200. Queried June 13, 2026. Counts include both individual providers (NPI-1) and organization records (NPI-2).

Memphis, TN drill-down (9 total records, June 13, 2026):
All 9 records: NPI-1 individual physicians, MD credential, NUCC code 208C00000X (Colon & Rectal Surgery)

Memphis colorectal surgeons confirmed June 13, 2026:
Ray Daugherty MD • Nathan Hinkle MD • Paul Johnson MD • Joshua Katz MD
Alexander Mathew MD • Justin Monroe MD • Raymond Staniunas MD • Jesse Wright MD
Plus 1 additional record (NPI-2 surgery group practice with Colon & Rectal Surgery sub-designation)

Credentials: all MD. NUCC code: 208C00000X in every record — no noise, no bleed-in, no non-physician records.

The taxonomy string and NUCC code

Unlike multi-parent specialties that scatter across several NUCC codes, colorectal surgery has a single, clean code. There are no subspecialty variants, no parent-child code splits, no alias strings.

Specialty	Correct NPI `taxonomy_description`	NUCC code	Failing terms (return 0)
Colon & Rectal Surgery	`Colon & Rectal Surgery`	208C00000X	Colorectal Surgery · Proctology · Rectal Surgery · Colon Surgery

NUCC code confirmed from Memphis raw NPI API dump, June 13, 2026. All 9 Memphis records carry 208C00000X as primary taxonomy.

How to search colorectal surgeons step by step

Open the NPI registry or getdork

Navigate to npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov or open the Physician Search tool at getdork.com.

Enter the exact taxonomy string — ampersand required

Use taxonomy_description=Colon+%26+Rectal+Surgery in a direct API call (the %26 is the URL-encoded ampersand). In getdork, select "Colon & Rectal Surgery" from the specialty dropdown and the encoding is handled automatically.

Set your zip code and radius

Enter your territory zip. Colorectal surgeons practice in colorectal surgery clinics, hospital-based surgical groups, and cancer centers. Use 25 miles in mid-size metros; in rural states (Wyoming = 3 statewide), a statewide query covers the entire market.

Review clean results

Unlike specialties with noise from non-physician records or multi-parent scatter, a Colon & Rectal Surgery query is remarkably clean. Every record in our Memphis pull was an MD individual physician. No filtering needed.

Export to CSV (Pro)

Pro users export the full result as CRM-ready CSV with NPI number, name, credential, address, phone, and entity type — ready to import into Salesforce, HubSpot, or any CRM with CSV import.

Radius guidance for colorectal surgery territories

Market type	Recommended radius	Rationale
Dense metro (NYC, Chicago, Houston)	15–25 miles	83–106 records per city — complete, manageable list
Mid-size metro (Memphis, Nashville, Phoenix)	25–40 miles	9–43 records; zip-radius captures suburban surgical group addresses
Rural (Wyoming, Vermont)	75–150 miles or statewide	3–9 statewide; one query covers the entire state

Search colorectal surgeons by ZIP — free
getdork.com queries the live NPI registry with Colon+%26+Rectal+Surgery — handling the ampersand encoding automatically — and applies Haversine radius filtering across ZIP codes. Clean results: NPI number, name, credential, practice address, phone. Export to CSV for your CRM when ready.

Frequently asked questions

Why does 'Colorectal Surgery' return zero results in the NPI registry?

Because "colorectal surgery" became the standard modern term for the specialty after the NUCC taxonomy string was established. The official CMS taxonomy preserved the older name "Colon & Rectal Surgery" — which matches the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery's formal title. The NPI API has no synonym matching; "Colorectal Surgery" does not match "Colon & Rectal Surgery" and returns zero results. Confirmed live June 13, 2026.

Why does 'Proctology' also return zero?

Proctology was the historical term for the specialty before it was renamed. Like "Colorectal Surgery," it is not in the active NUCC taxonomy set. The field was formally renamed Colon & Rectal Surgery decades ago, and "Proctology" has no active NUCC code. Confirmed zero on June 13, 2026.

What is the NUCC code for colon and rectal surgery?

208C00000X. Every one of the 9 Memphis NPI records in our June 2026 query carried 208C00000X as the primary taxonomy code. This is a clean, single-code specialty — no subspecialty variants, no competing strings, no multi-parent scatter. One code, one string, one query.

How sparse is colorectal surgery and what does a rural call list look like?

Very sparse. Vermont returned 9 statewide; Wyoming returned 3. New York returned 106; Chicago 86; Houston 83. No market hit the 200-record cap. A Wyoming rep covering the state has 3 potential accounts. A national colorectal surgery call list is measurable rather than overwhelming — for a device rep, that sparsity means every account matters and the NPI list should be complete.

Does a Colon & Rectal Surgery query include colorectal oncology surgeons?

Yes — colorectal oncology surgery is not a separate NPI taxonomy. A colorectal surgeon who operates on colon and rectal cancers is still registered under "Colon & Rectal Surgery" (208C00000X). However, if the surgeon's primary identity is surgical oncology, they may have enrolled under a different taxonomy (Surgery, Surgical Oncology) and would not appear in a Colon & Rectal Surgery query. For a comprehensive colorectal oncology call list, complement this query with a Surgical Oncology query.

How does the NPI data quality compare to other surgical specialties for colorectal surgery?

Colorectal surgery NPI data is unusually clean. Every Memphis record in our June 2026 query was an NPI-1 individual physician with 208C00000X as their primary taxonomy. No nurse practitioners, no dialysis technicians, no medical oncologists, no radiation oncologists — common noise in other specialty queries. The single-code, no-multi-parent structure means your call list is as clean as the query itself.

Methodology

All data was retrieved live from the CMS NPI Registry API v2.1 (https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/?version=2.1) on June 13, 2026. The PowerShell script is available for download, along with the full JSON results file, the Memphis raw dump, and the Vermont raw dump.

NUCC code 208C00000X was confirmed from the taxonomies[].code field of live NPI records. Failing taxonomy strings (Colorectal Surgery, Proctology, Rectal Surgery) were confirmed zero via separate live API queries on June 13, 2026.