171R00000X Interpreter

Definition

An Interpreter is a person who translates oral communication between two or more people. This includes translating from one language to another or interpreting sign language. An interpreter is necessary for medical care when the patient does not speak the language of the health care provider or when the patient has a disability involving spoken language.

— NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy, version 26.1

Where 171R00000X sits

• Group: Other Service Providers — code 14 of 38 in the group
• Classification: Interpreter 171R00000X

Interpreter has no specializations, so 171R00000X is the only code for it. A provider may report more than one taxonomy code on an NPI but marks one as primary.

Medicare

171R00000X 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

No other codes share the classification Interpreter. The rest of Other Service Providers is on the group page.

History of 171R00000X

171R00000X was added to the code set in 2006.

• 2006-07-01 — new

Using 171R00000X

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.