Find Neurosurgeons by Zip Code — NPI Registry Guide

Q: What is the difference between Neurological Surgery and Neurology in the NPI registry?

Neurological Surgery (207T00000X) = neurosurgeons — surgeons who operate on the brain, spine, and peripheral nerves. Neurology (2084N0400X) = medical neurologists — non-surgical physicians who treat neurological diseases with medication. They are separate specialties with separate NUCC codes, separate training programs, and zero record overlap in the NPI registry. A Neurology query returns 159 records in Memphis; a Neurological Surgery query returns 70 Memphis records — no provider appears in both.

Q: Why does Memphis have more neurosurgeons than all of Vermont or Wyoming?

Neurosurgery concentrates at Level I trauma centers, academic medical centers, and specialized spine programs. Memphis hosts the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Regional One Health (Level I trauma), and Baptist Memorial neuroscience programs. Vermont's 16 statewide neurosurgeons reflect that the state has one Level I trauma center (UVM Medical Center in Burlington) serving the entire state. Wyoming's 22 reflect a similar pattern. Urban academic centers anchor the specialty.

Q: Do neurosurgeons appear in a pain medicine or spine surgery query?

Some neurosurgeons hold Interventional Pain Medicine or Spine Surgery sub-certifications, but the NPI registry's primary taxonomy reflects their residency-level specialty. A neurosurgeon whose primary NPI taxonomy is 207T00000X will appear in a Neurological Surgery query. They will only appear in a Pain Medicine query if they also hold a Pain Medicine subspecialty NUCC code as a secondary taxonomy — and even then, only if they list it as primary. For a spine implant call list, run both Neurological Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery; the overlap between those groups, not the pain medicine taxonomy, is where you find most spine surgeons.

Methodology: All counts queried live from CMS NPI Registry API v2.1 on 2026-06-13 using taxonomy_description=Neurological+Surgery. No auth required. result_count=200 means page cap hit; true total is higher. Raw data: npi-counts-neurosurgery.json · Memphis raw · Vermont raw · Script: npi-counts-neurosurgery.ps1

The short answer: Use taxonomy_description=Neurological+Surgery (NUCC 207T00000X). "Neurosurgery" returns zero. "Neurosurgeon" returns zero. Neurological Surgery is a completely separate specialty from medical Neurology — the two taxonomies share no records.

Critical gotcha — empirically verified 2026-06-13: taxonomy_description=Neurosurgery returns 0 results. taxonomy_description=Neurosurgeon returns 0 results. The clinical everyday term "neurosurgery" does not exist as a CMS NUCC taxonomy string. The official name is Neurological Surgery (207T00000X). A second critical distinction: medical neurologists (Neurology, 2084N0400X) and neurosurgeons (Neurological Surgery, 207T00000X) are completely separate specialties with zero record overlap in the NPI registry. A Neurology query will not return neurosurgeons — and vice versa. See the find neurologists guide for the medical neurology call list.

Neurological surgery records by market

Market	Records returned	Notes
New York, NY	200+	Capped — major academic neurosurgery centers
Los Angeles, CA	200+	Capped
Chicago, IL	200+	Capped
Houston, TX	200+	Capped — includes MD Anderson neurosurgery
Nashville, TN	116	Complete count for city proper
Phoenix, AZ	154	Complete count
Memphis, TN	70	Complete count — see drill-down below
Wyoming (statewide)	22	Complete statewide count
Vermont (statewide)	16	Complete statewide count — very sparse

Memphis drill-down — Neurological Surgery, 2026-06-13 (n=70)
Entity type: ~66 NPI-1 (individual providers) · ~4 NPI-2 + non-neurosurgery records
Primary taxonomy breakdown:
• 66 records: 207T00000X — Neurological Surgery (the active neurosurgeon call list)
• 2 records: 207R00000X — Internal Medicine (city address overlap, not neurosurgeons)
• 1 record: 207Q00000X — Family Medicine
• 1 record: 207RC0200X — Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine
The 4 non-neurosurgery records appear because the city/state query returned all Memphis providers in the result page, and the API sometimes includes address-matched records. Confirm primary taxonomy code 207T00000X for a clean call list. The 66 NPI-1 207T00000X records are the practicing neurosurgeons.

Vermont comparison (n=16): All 16 are NPI-1 207T00000X — a clean, complete statewide neurosurgeon list.

Neurological Surgery vs. Neurology — two completely separate specialties

How to build a neurosurgeon call list

Specialty	NUCC code	Memphis count	Who they are
`Neurological Surgery`	207T00000X	70 (66 neurosurgeons)	Surgeons who operate on brain, spine, and peripheral nerves — the call list for spine implants, neuromonitoring, surgical equipment
`Neurology`	2084N0400X	159	Medical neurologists — non-surgical physicians treating neurological disease with medication; separate call list entirely
`Neurosurgery`	N/A	0 results	Not a NUCC taxonomy code — returns zero
`Neurosurgeon`	N/A	0 results	Professional title — not a NUCC taxonomy code; returns zero

Query Neurological Surgery

https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/?version=2.1
  &taxonomy_description=Neurological+Surgery
  &city=Memphis&state=TN&limit=200

Returns 207T00000X primary — the complete neurosurgeon call list for the market. Verify primary taxonomy code in the raw data to exclude any address-overlap records from other specialties.

For spine-focused call lists, also run Orthopaedic Surgery

Spine surgery is performed by both neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons. For a complete spine surgical call list, run Orthopaedic+Surgery separately and identify orthopedic surgeons with spine sub-specialization from their taxonomy sub-codes (e.g., 207XS0117X — Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine). Memphis returned 156 orthopaedic surgery records — a larger pool than neurosurgery.

Use statewide queries for rural markets

Vermont: 16 total. Wyoming: 22 total. These are small complete lists. Query by state, not by city or radius. The entire Vermont neurosurgeon workforce fits in a single CRM segment with room to spare.

Search neurosurgeons by ZIP — free
getdork queries Neurological Surgery, filters to 207T00000X primary records, and exports a CRM-ready CSV — no manual taxonomy disambiguation required.

Search neurosurgeons in your territory →

Radius guidance for neurosurgery territories

Neurosurgeons are among the most hospital-anchored specialists in medicine. They require operating room access, intraoperative neuroimaging, and ICU support — they practice at large hospitals, not in standalone offices.

Frequently asked questions

Why do "Neurosurgery" and "Neurosurgeon" both return zero results?

Both are colloquial clinical terms. The NUCC taxonomy name — the exact string CMS uses — is "Neurological Surgery" (207T00000X). The API performs exact or prefix matching on the taxonomy_description field. "Neurosurgery" and "Neurosurgeon" match no entry in the NUCC taxonomy table and return zero results. This is one of the most counterintuitive mismatches in the registry for anyone selling into surgical specialties.

What is the difference between Neurological Surgery and Neurology in the NPI registry?

Neurological Surgery (207T00000X) = neurosurgeons who operate on brain, spine, and peripheral nerves. Neurology (2084N0400X) = medical neurologists who treat neurological disease with medication. They are separate specialties with separate NUCC codes and zero record overlap. Memphis Neurology returned 159 records; Neurological Surgery returned 70 — no provider appears in both. See also: Find neurologists by zip code.

Why does Memphis have more neurosurgeons than all of Vermont or Wyoming?

Neurosurgery concentrates at Level I trauma centers and academic medical centers. Memphis hosts the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Regional One Health (Level I trauma), and Baptist Memorial neuroscience programs. Vermont's 16 statewide neurosurgeons reflect a single Level I trauma center (UVM Medical Center in Burlington) serving the entire state. Wyoming's 22 reflect a similar pattern. Urban academic centers anchor the specialty.

What entity types appear in a Neurological Surgery NPI query?

Memphis returned 70 records (2026-06-13): 66 NPI-1 (207T00000X primary) and 4 records from other specialties whose city addresses matched the query page. Filter enumeration_type=NPI-1 and confirm primary taxonomy code 207T00000X for a clean neurosurgeon-only call list. The 66 matching records are the practicing neurosurgeons.

Do neurosurgeons appear in a pain medicine or spine surgery query?

Some neurosurgeons hold Interventional Pain Medicine sub-certifications, but the NPI registry's primary taxonomy reflects their residency specialty. For a spine implant call list, run both Neurological Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery — those two groups, not the Pain Medicine taxonomy, are where most spine surgeons enumerate. A Pain Medicine query will miss the majority of operating spine surgeons.

Is there a pediatric neurosurgery taxonomy string in the NPI registry?

Pediatric neurosurgery is not a separate NUCC taxonomy code. Pediatric neurosurgeons enumerate under Neurological Surgery (207T00000X) like all neurosurgeons — their pediatric focus is a practice characteristic, not a separate taxonomy designation. A Neurological Surgery query includes any pediatric neurosurgeons in the geographic area; you cannot filter to pediatric-only by taxonomy string alone.