How to Find Pulmonologists by Zip Code
Data sourced from live CMS NPI Registry API v2.1 queries, run June 12, 2026. All provider counts are real API responses, not estimates. Raw query results are available for download. See methodology below.
taxonomy_description=Pulmonary+Disease — the exact CMS taxonomy label. The everyday term "Pulmonology" returns zero results; it is not a valid taxonomy value in the NUCC classification system CMS uses. This guide covers why that silent failure trips up most first-time NPI searches for this specialty, the critical care medicine overlap that adds a second required query for many territories, and real provider counts from 9 markets we pulled on June 12, 2026.
taxonomy_description=Pulmonology returns zero results — confirmed June 12, 2026 against the live CMS NPI API. No error, no warning, just an empty result set. The correct string is Pulmonary Disease. This is the single most common cause of a rep concluding "the NPI registry doesn't have pulmonologists" in their territory when it actually does.
Pulmonary Disease in the NPI registry: real counts from 9 markets
We queried the CMS NPI API v2.1 on June 12, 2026 with taxonomy_description=Pulmonary+Disease
across nine representative markets. The 200-record cap applies per response; counts below 200 are exact totals.
| Market | Query scope | NPI records returned | At 200-record cap? |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | City filter | 200+ | Yes (more exist) |
| Los Angeles, CA | City filter | 200+ | Yes (more exist) |
| Chicago, IL | City filter | 200+ | Yes (more exist) |
| Houston, TX | City filter | 200+ | Yes (more exist) |
| Phoenix, AZ | City filter | 198 | No (complete) |
| Nashville, TN | City filter | 171 | No (complete) |
| Memphis, TN | City filter | 104 | No (complete) |
| Vermont (statewide) | State filter | 55 | No (complete) |
| Wyoming (statewide) | State filter | 35 | No (complete) |
Source: CMS NPI Registry API v2.1, taxonomy_description=Pulmonary+Disease, limit=200. Queried June 12, 2026. Includes both NPI-1 individual providers and NPI-2 organization records.
Pulmonary subspecialties: what requires a separate query
Pulmonary Disease is a subspecialty of Internal Medicine under the NUCC taxonomy. Several related
specialties that share patient populations require their own separate queries — a single
Pulmonary Disease search does not return them:
| Specialty | taxonomy_description value | NUCC code | National sample (June 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| General pulmonologist | Pulmonary Disease |
207RP1001X | 200+ nationally |
| Critical care medicine (intensivist) | Critical Care Medicine |
207RC0200X | 200+ nationally |
| Sleep medicine specialist | Sleep Medicine |
207RS0012X | 200+ nationally |
| Pediatric pulmonologist | Pediatric Pulmonology |
2080P0208X | 200+ nationally |
In the Memphis data, 26 of 104 records filed Critical Care Medicine as their primary taxonomy.
That means a straightforward Pulmonary Disease query still catches many
pulmonary/critical care dual-trained providers — because the API matches any record where
Pulmonary Disease appears in the taxonomy list, not only as primary. But intensivists
who filed exclusively under Critical Care Medicine will not appear. If your territory plan covers
ventilator or bronchoscopy accounts, run both.
How to search for pulmonologists by zip code (5 steps)
Choose your search method
- NPI registry directly at npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov — free, no account, filters by city or state only. No radius search.
- getdork Physician Search — same CMS API with zip-code radius filtering, taxonomy strings pre-mapped, and CSV export. Search pulmonologists by ZIP →
Use the correct taxonomy: Pulmonary Disease
The exact API parameter is taxonomy_description=Pulmonary+Disease. "Pulmonology"
returns zero results — it is the conversational term, not the NUCC taxonomy label. The numeric
code 207RP1001X is silently ignored by CMS NPI API v2.1 and returns unfiltered results.
If you need both pulmonary disease and critical care intensivists in your territory, plan for two separate queries and deduplicate on NPI number.
Set your radius based on market density
Pulmonologists concentrate around hospital campuses with bronchoscopy suites and ICU access. Recommended starting radii:
- Dense urban (NYC, Chicago, LA): 5–15 miles
- Mid-metro (Memphis, Nashville, Phoenix): 25 miles
- Rural or low-density (Wyoming, Vermont): 50–100 miles — Wyoming returned only 35 statewide
For outpatient COPD management and sleep medicine clinics, which are more geographically distributed than hospital-based pulmonology, 50 miles is safer in any mid-size market.
Run the search and review the taxonomy field
Each result includes NPI number, provider name, credential (MD/DO), practice address, phone, and entity type. Because the API returns records where Pulmonary Disease appears anywhere in the taxonomy list, check the primary taxonomy field — some results will show Internal Medicine or Critical Care Medicine as the listed primary specialty.
Export to CSV (Pro) and bring it to your CRM
Pro users export the complete result set as a CSV with all NPI fields. Column headers: NPI, Name, Credential, Address, City, State, Zip, Phone, Entity Type. UTF-8 BOM included for Excel compatibility. Import directly into Salesforce, HubSpot, or any CRM with a CSV import path.
Direct API queries
# Pulmonologists in Memphis, TN — returned 104 records (June 2026) https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/? version=2.1 &taxonomy_description=Pulmonary+Disease &city=Memphis &state=TN &limit=200 # FAILS — "Pulmonology" is not a valid taxonomy_description; returns 0 https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/? version=2.1 &taxonomy_description=Pulmonology &city=Memphis &state=TN &limit=200 # Critical care intensivists — separate query, required if your territory covers ICU accounts https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/? version=2.1 &taxonomy_description=Critical+Care+Medicine &city=Memphis &state=TN &limit=200 # Sleep medicine specialists — third separate query for sleep lab accounts https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/? version=2.1 &taxonomy_description=Sleep+Medicine &state=TN &limit=200
Radius guidance for pulmonologist territories
| Market type | Recommended starting radius | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Dense urban (NYC, Chicago, LA) | 5–15 miles | High hospital density; most pulmonologists within tight geographic clusters around academic medical centers |
| Mid-metro (Memphis, Nashville, Phoenix) | 25 miles | Covers main hospital campuses and affiliated outpatient pulmonology clinics |
| Rural / low-density (Wyoming, Vermont) | 50–100 miles | Wyoming returned 35 statewide; Wyoming's largest city (Cheyenne) at 100 miles still yields a short list. Plan for lower call volume in rural territories. |
| Any market — sleep or outpatient COPD focus | Add 25 miles to above | Sleep medicine and outpatient COPD practices are more distributed than hospital-based pulmonology |
getdork queries the CMS NPI API live, handles the radius math across every U.S. ZIP code, and maps the correct taxonomy string automatically. Free to preview; Pro for the full list and CRM-ready CSV.
Search pulmonologists by ZIP code — free →
Frequently asked questions
Why does searching "Pulmonology" in the NPI API return zero results?
"Pulmonology" is the conversational term but is not in the NUCC taxonomy table that CMS uses.
The correct taxonomy_description value is Pulmonary Disease. The API
performs an exact match — no partial match, no phonetic correction, no error message. This is the
single most common failure mode when reps or developers first try to pull pulmonologist data from
the NPI registry.
Should my pulmonologist list include Critical Care Medicine providers?
It depends on your product. In Memphis, 26 of 104 Pulmonary Disease records had Critical Care
Medicine as their primary taxonomy — these are intensivists cross-trained in pulmonology. A rep
covering COPD biologics does not need ICU-focused intensivists; a rep covering ventilators or
bronchoscopy systems likely does. Run taxonomy_description=Critical+Care+Medicine
separately and deduplicate by NPI number.
How are pulmonologist NPI addresses structured — office or hospital?
The NPI practice address is the location filed with CMS, which for hospital-based pulmonologists often reflects a pulmonology clinic or academic office address rather than a hospital floor. Of 86 NPI-1 individual providers in Memphis, practice addresses reflected clinic or medical office settings. Organization records (NPI-2, 18 of 104) may reflect a hospital pulmonary department address. Use the last-update date on each record to gauge address currency.
What radius covers a pulmonologist territory in different market types?
Dense urban markets: 5–15 miles. Mid-size metros (Memphis, Nashville): 25 miles covers the major hospital systems. Rural states: Wyoming returned 35 statewide — 100-mile radius still yields a short list. Outpatient COPD and sleep medicine practices are more distributed; add 25 miles to your baseline radius when those accounts matter.
What products does a pulmonologist call list support?
COPD maintenance inhalers (LABAs, LAMAs, ICS), severe asthma biologics (anti-IL-4/5/13 agents), pulmonary fibrosis antifibrotics, PAH therapies, flexible bronchoscopes, navigational bronchoscopy systems, high-flow nasal cannula, positive-pressure ventilation equipment, and sleep diagnostic and PAP therapy systems.
Does the NPI registry show a pulmonologist's hospital affiliations?
No. The NPI record shows the primary practice address, credential, and taxonomy as filed with CMS. Hospital privileges and academic appointments are not in the NPI database — those are maintained by individual institutions and state medical boards. Use the NPI data as your call list starting point; verify hospital relationships through hospital medical staff directories.
Data methodology
All provider counts in this article come from direct queries to the CMS NPI Registry API v2.1,
run on June 12, 2026. We used the endpoint
https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/ with version=2.1,
taxonomy_description=Pulmonary+Disease (and subspecialty variants),
and limit=200. No authentication token is required.
The API's result_count field reflects records returned on that page, not a global total.
When result_count equals 200 the actual total exceeds 200 and is not determinable from this endpoint.
Counts below 200 are exact totals for that query.
Raw API responses for Memphis, TN and Wyoming are saved for independent verification: npi-pulmonary-memphis-tn-raw.json, npi-pulmonary-wyoming-raw.json. The PowerShell collection script is at _data/npi-counts-pulmonary.ps1.
Related guides
- How to search the NPI registry (full guide) — complete API reference, all search methods, and the taxonomy_description quirk explained in detail.
- What is an NPI number and what can you look up? — background on NPI types, fields, and data freshness.
- How to find physicians by specialty and state — state-level NPI searches across multiple specialties.
- How to find endocrinologists by zip code — another Internal Medicine subspecialty with its own naming quirk.
- How to find ENT doctors (otolaryngologists) by zip code — similar hospital-based clustering pattern.