Hospice and Palliative Medicine — with the spelled-out word "and," not an ampersand. "Hospice & Palliative Medicine" returns zero results. "Palliative Care" returns zero. "Palliative Medicine" returns zero. Only the full spelled-out string works.
taxonomy_description=Hospice+%26+Palliative+Medicine → 0 resultstaxonomy_description=Palliative+Care → 0 resultstaxonomy_description=Palliative+Medicine → 0 resultstaxonomy_description=Hospice+and+Palliative+Medicine → 200+ nationally, 61 Memphis, 35 Vermont, 7 WyomingPalliative medicine is also a multi-parent subspecialty — physicians reach it through training in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, or Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. All five parent paths are captured by a single Hospice and Palliative Medicine query.
| Market | NPI records returned | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | 200+ | Capped — actual total exceeds 200 |
| Chicago, IL | 198 | Near-cap; effectively complete |
| Houston, TX | 163 | Complete city count |
| Los Angeles, CA | 148 | Complete city count |
| Phoenix, AZ | 97 | Complete |
| Nashville, TN | 74 | Complete |
| Memphis, TN | 61 | 47 NPI-1, 14 NPI-2 |
| Vermont (statewide) | 35 | Complete — whole state |
| Wyoming (statewide) | 7 | Complete — sparsest palliative market in dataset |
Source: CMS NPI Registry API v2.1, queried June 13, 2026. Download: npi-counts-hospice-palliative.json
| NUCC code | Taxonomy string (exact) | Parent training path | Memphis count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 207QH0002X | Family Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
Family Medicine residency + palliative fellowship | 19 |
| 207RH0002X | Internal Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
Internal Medicine residency + palliative fellowship | 13 |
| 2080H0002X | Pediatrics, Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
Pediatrics residency + palliative fellowship | 9 |
| 207LH0002X | Anesthesiology, Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
Anesthesiology residency + palliative fellowship | Appears in dataset |
| 2081H0002X | Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
PM&R residency + palliative fellowship | Appears in dataset |
| 251G00000X | Hospice Care, Community Based |
NPI-2 organization code — hospice agencies | Appears in NPI-2 records |
All physician codes are returned by a single Hospice and Palliative Medicine query. The 251G00000X code identifies hospice organizations (NPI-2) which also appear in the query results.
Query with taxonomy_description=Hospice+and+Palliative+Medicine. The "&" form, "Palliative Care," and "Palliative Medicine" all return zero results. This is the single most important thing to get right before building this call list.
City + state for urban queries; statewide for rural states. Wyoming has only 7 statewide — a statewide query is more productive than trying city-level filtering.
https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/?version=2.1
&taxonomy_description=Hospice+and+Palliative+Medicine
&city=Memphis&state=TN&limit=200The hospice organization code (251G00000X) causes NPI-2 hospice agency records to appear in results. For a physician call list, filter to NPI-1 and MD/DO credentials. For institutional accounts (hospice agencies, hospital palliative programs), the NPI-2 records are your entry point.
The taxonomies[].desc field in each record identifies the parent training path. Anesthesiology-trained palliative physicians are more likely to use interventional pain procedures; FM-trained palliative physicians manage more community hospice patients. For targeted product segments, filter post-export on parent specialty.
The getdork physician search tool sends the correct string and produces a CRM-ready CSV for Pro users. At 61 Memphis records and 35 Vermont statewide, palliative medicine is completable in a single export for most territories.
| Market type | Suggested radius | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dense urban (NYC, Chicago) | 15–25 miles | Caps; academic medical center concentration |
| Mid-size metro (Memphis, Nashville, Phoenix) | 25–50 miles | 61–97 records; manageable in a single export |
| Rural state (Wyoming, rural VT) | Statewide | Wyoming: 7 statewide; statewide query is the only approach |
The getdork physician search sends Hospice and Palliative Medicine correctly (spelled-out "and") and returns a CRM-ready result. Pro users export to CSV with parent-specialty visible in the taxonomy field.
This is the reverse-ampersand trap. Specialties like "Obstetrics & Gynecology," "Allergy & Immunology," and "Colon & Rectal Surgery" require the "&" symbol because their NUCC strings use it. But "Hospice and Palliative Medicine" uses the spelled-out word "and." Querying with "&" returns zero; querying with "and" returns 200+ nationally. Confirmed live June 13, 2026. You cannot assume consistency — each specialty must be verified empirically.
Five parent-specialty sub-codes confirmed from the Memphis dataset: 207QH0002X (Family Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine), 207RH0002X (Internal Medicine), 2080H0002X (Pediatrics), 207LH0002X (Anesthesiology), 2081H0002X (Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation). All are returned by a single "Hospice and Palliative Medicine" query. Additionally, 251G00000X identifies hospice organizations in NPI-2 records.
In Memphis (61 records, June 2026): Family Medicine path 19, Internal Medicine path 13, Pediatrics path 9. Fourteen NPI-2 organization entities (hospice agencies, hospital programs). Credential breakdown of NPI-1 physicians: MD 21, M.D. 16, D.O. 4, DO 2, MD with additional degrees 3. The pediatric palliative presence (9 records) reflects Memphis's major children's hospital and cancer center.
Wyoming statewide returned 7 records — the smallest count of any specialty in this batch. Three parent NUCC codes confirmed: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics paths. For Wyoming territory planning, a statewide query is appropriate and the call list is entirely manageable. Vermont returned 35 statewide, showing the specialty concentrates near academic medical infrastructure.
In Memphis (61 records), 14 were NPI-2 — hospice agencies and hospital-based palliative care programs (including one with primary taxonomy "Clinic/Center, Pain"). For a pharma or device rep, NPI-2 records identify institutional programs where palliative medicine is administered — hospice agencies that purchase symptom-management drugs in bulk, and hospital palliative consultation services that drive formulary decisions. These require a different approach than individual prescriber outreach.
Palliative medicine physicians are high-volume prescribers of opioid analgesics, antiemetics, anxiolytics, and corticosteroids for symptom management in advanced illness. They also drive use of transdermal drug delivery systems, subcutaneous infusion devices, patient-controlled analgesia pumps, and non-pharmacologic pain interventions. For device companies, palliative programs are buyers of suction systems, hospital beds, wound-care products, and comfort-focused patient handling equipment. Pediatric palliative programs (9 Memphis records) represent a distinct segment with pediatric-specific formulations.
taxonomy_description=Hospice+and+Palliative+Medicine. Zero-return confirmed for: Hospice+%26+Palliative+Medicine, Palliative+Care, Palliative+Medicine. All figures are live API responses. "200+" means the 200-record cap was hit. Raw JSON available above.