NHCX Participant (Provider) ID Generation

Overview

To exchange claims and pre-authorization data over NHCX (National Health Claims Exchange), a hospital must first register as a participant on the NHCX registry. After registration, the hospital receives a unique participant code that identifies it on the exchange.

In production, participant codes end in @hcx (for example 1234567890@hcx). The registration is confirmed with a one-time passcode sent to the hospital's registered mobile number.

This article covers provider (hospital) onboarding in production. Payer-side operations are handled through separate tooling and are not covered here.

Prerequisites

Before you can generate an NHCX participant code, the organization must have:

• A valid ABDM HFR ID (Health Facility Registry ID) configured for the organization.
• A mobile number that matches the one recorded in the HFR registry. NHCX validates the mobile number against HFR records and sends the confirmation passcode to it.

If the organization does not have an HFR ID, participant registration cannot proceed.

Production onboarding (4 steps)

Registering a provider in production is a four-step process, completed from the Admin panel.

Step 1 — Create the participant

1. Sign in as an Admin and open Create NHCX Participant (/admin/admin/org/nhcx-participant/{orgId}).
2. Enter the organization's Mobile number and Email.
3. Submit the form.

The system calls the NHCX V2 "create participant" API using the organization's HFR ID as the registry ID (registry type HFR 10001, role Provider 10001). NHCX validates the mobile number against HFR records and sends a passcode to that mobile number. The API returns a transaction ID and a preliminary participant ID.

Step 2 — Confirm creation with the passcode

1. The app redirects you to the Passcode NHCX Participant page.
2. Enter the passcode received on the registered mobile number.
3. Click the confirmation link.

This confirms the participant creation with NHCX.

Step 3 — Update the participant (upload certificate and endpoint)

1. Open the update page at /admin/admin/org/nhcx-update-participant/{orgId}.
2. The system uploads the organization's public encryption certificate and the endpoint/bridge URL to finalize registration.
3. NHCX sends a second passcode to the registered mobile number.

Step 4 — Confirm the update with the passcode

1. On the passcode page, enter the second passcode received on the mobile number.
2. Submit to confirm the update.

The participant is now fully registered and active on NHCX.

Note: The passcode and transaction ID are valid for 24 hours. If you lose or miss a passcode, re-run the create or update step to generate a fresh transaction ID and passcode.

FAQ

Q: What is an NHCX participant code? A: A unique identifier assigned to a hospital (provider) when it registers on the NHCX registry. It identifies the hospital on the exchange for claims, pre-authorization, and related workflows. In production it ends in @hcx.

Q: How do I get my hospital's NHCX participant code? A: As an Admin, complete the four-step onboarding: create the participant from Create NHCX Participant, confirm the passcode, then update the participant (which uploads the encryption certificate and endpoint) and confirm the second passcode.

Q: Where do I enter the passcode? A: After creating (or updating) a participant, the app shows a Passcode NHCX Participant page. Enter the passcode that was SMS'd to the registered mobile number there.

Q: I didn't receive a passcode, or it expired. What should I do? A: Passcodes and transaction IDs are valid for 24 hours. Re-run the create or update step — each run generates a new transaction ID and sends a new passcode to the registered mobile number.

Q: Why does the mobile number need to match HFR? A: NHCX validates the mobile number against the one recorded in the HFR (Health Facility Registry) and sends the confirmation passcode to it. The numbers must match for registration to succeed.

Q: Does this cover insurance payers too? A: No. This flow is for providers (hospitals). Payer onboarding and payer-side operations are handled through separate tooling.

Q: I already have a participant code. Do I need to create it again? A: No. If the organization is already registered, use the update flow (/admin/admin/org/nhcx-update-participant/{orgId}) to update details such as the encryption certificate or endpoint URL.