163WR0006X Registered Nurse First Assistant

Definition

A perioperative registered nurse who works in collaboration with the surgeon and other health care team members to achieve optimal outcomes. The RNFA has acquired the necessary knowledge, judgment, and skills specific to the expanded role of RNFA clinical practice. Intraoperatively, the RNFA assists the surgeon.

— NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy, version 26.1

Where 163WR0006X sits

• Group: Nursing Service Providers — code 53 of 59 in the group
• Classification: Registered Nurse 163W00000X
• Specialization: Registered Nurse First Assistant 163WR0006X

Choose 163WR0006X over the general Registered Nurse code (163W00000X) when the provider's training or certification is specifically in registered nurse first assistant; the general code covers the classification as a whole. A provider may report more than one taxonomy code on an NPI but marks one as primary.

Medicare

163WR0006X has no entry in the CMS Medicare Provider and Supplier Taxonomy Crosswalk. That usually means Medicare does not enroll this kind of provider under its own specialty — the provider can still hold an NPI and use this code on claims to other payers.

Related codes

The nearest 6 of 55 other codes under Registered Nurse; all are on the group page.

History of 163WR0006X

163WR0006X was added to the code set in 2006.

• 2006-07-01 — new

Similar codes in other groups

If 163WR0006X is not quite right, these codes in other groups share a word with it — often the same field practised by a different kind of provider:

• 106E00000X Assistant Behavior Analyst (Behavioral Health & Social Service Providers)
• 126800000X Dental Assistant (Dental Providers)
• 136A00000X Registered Dietetic Technician (Dietary & Nutritional Service Providers)
• 133V00000X Registered Dietitian (Dietary & Nutritional Service Providers)
• 156FX1101X Ophthalmic Assistant (Eye and Vision Services Providers)
• 156FX1201X Optometric Assistant Technician (Eye and Vision Services Providers)

Using 163WR0006X

The code goes in the taxonomy field of the NPI application in NPPES, and on claims where a payer asks for it — box 24J (shaded) or 33b on the CMS-1500 with the ZZ qualifier, or the PRV segment of an 837 electronic claim. Payers match it against the taxonomy on the NPI record and, for Medicare, against the specialty on the enrollment, so all three should agree. To see which code a provider uses, search their NPI in the lookup.

Sources: NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set, version 26.1 (CSV). Checked 2026-10-24. Methodology.