Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians / 208600000X
Individual · classification · Medicare specialty 02
208600000X Surgery Physician
208600000X is the taxonomy code for Surgery, in the NUCC group “Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians”. It is a code for individual providers — the kind used on a Type 1 NPI. Medicare maps it to specialty 02, Physician/General Surgery, under which 27,817 practitioners are enrolled.
- 1Taxonomy code 208600000X
- 2Level Classification
- 3Medicare specialty 02 Physician/General Surgery
- 4Codes in this group 238
Definition
A general surgeon has expertise related to the diagnosis - preoperative, operative and postoperative management - and management of complications of surgical conditions in the following areas: alimentary tract; abdomen; breast, skin and soft tissue; endocrine system; head and neck surgery; pediatric surgery; surgical critical care; surgical oncology; trauma and burns; and vascular surgery. General surgeons increasingly provide care through the use of minimally invasive and endoscopic techniques. Many general surgeons also possess expertise in transplantation surgery, plastic surgery and cardiothoracic surgery.
— NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy, version 26.1
Where 208600000X sits
- Group: Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians — code 224 of 238 in the group
- Classification: Surgery 208600000X
This is the general code for Surgery. 9 more specific codes sit beneath it; pick one of those when the provider's training or certification matches it, and this one otherwise. A provider may report more than one taxonomy code on an NPI but marks one as primary.
Medicare
CMS's taxonomy crosswalk links 208600000X to Medicare specialty 02 (Physician/General Surgery). That specialty — not the taxonomy code itself — is what Medicare enrollment records and uses for payment. 27,817 practitioners are enrolled under it nationally, and 24 other taxonomy codes map to the same specialty.
Other codes under the same Medicare specialty: 204E00000X Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (D.M.D.); 204F00000X Transplant Surgery Physician; 207T00000X Neurological Surgery Physician; 207X00000X Orthopaedic Surgery Physician; 207XP3100X Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery Physician; 207XS0106X Orthopaedic Hand Surgery Physician; 207XS0114X Adult Reconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery Physician; 207XS0117X Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine Physician; and 16 more.
Related codes
| Code | Surgery — specializations |
|---|---|
| 2086H0002X | Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
| 2086S0120X | Pediatric Surgery |
| 2086P0122X | Physician Nutrition Specialist |
| 2086S0122X | Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery |
| 2086S0105X | Surgery of the Hand |
| 2086S0102X | Surgical Critical Care |
| 2086X0206X | Surgical Oncology |
| 2086S0127X | Trauma Surgery |
| 2086S0129X | Vascular Surgery |
History of 208600000X
NUCC's earliest recorded change to 208600000X is from 2007 (definition added, source added), and has been revised 1 time since.
- 2007-07-01 — definition added, source added
- 2011-07-01 — modified source
Similar codes in other groups
If 208600000X 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:
- 1223S0112X Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Dentist) (Dental Providers)
- 163WS0121X Plastic Surgery Registered Nurse (Nursing Service Providers)
- 213ES0103X Foot & Ankle Surgery Podiatrist (Podiatric Medicine & Surgery Service Providers)
- 213ES0131X Foot Surgery Podiatrist (Podiatric Medicine & Surgery Service Providers)
- 261QS0132X Ophthalmologic Surgery Clinic/Center (Ambulatory Health Care Facilities)
- 261QS0112X Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic/Center (Ambulatory Health Care Facilities)
Find providers with 208600000X
Using 208600000X
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); CMS Medicare Provider and Supplier Taxonomy Crosswalk, August 2026; CMS Medicare Fee-For-Service Public Provider Enrollment, extract of 2026-09-29. Checked 2026-10-24. Methodology.