How to Validate a CLIA License Number

With many medical records now stored in electronic format, numbers and codes are more important than ever. Errors can lead to costly delays, so it's important that you format and process claims correctly. Your laboratory's Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) number is one of the most important numbers to format correctly, since it's used to interact with the Medicare system and establishes your lab's legal status. You may also need to ensure that the lab you're dealing with is legitimate.

Instructions

1. Open your web browser and go to hipaaspace.com.

2. Click on "HIPAA/EDI Validation" at the top of the page.

3. Scroll down until you see "Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment Number (CLIA) Validation" on the left-hand side. Type in the CLIA number you want to validate (yours or another provider's) into the text box below.

4. Click "Validate". The number will come back as either valid or invalid.

Tips & Warnings

• If your CLIA number or another organization's is invalid, contact the responsible agency in your state (see Resources section). You may have forgotten to renew your certification or the other lab may be operating illegally. Either way, the agency can help.

• Note that a lab in New York or Washington State will not have a CLIA number. These states have their own requirements that meet or exceed CLIA's.

References

• Hipaaspace.com: Online CLIA Number Validation

Resources

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: CLIA Contacts by State