RESEARCH
The Fastest-Growing Healthcare Provider Roles by New NPI Registrations
Which parts of the healthcare workforce are expanding fastest? We compared new National Provider Identifier registrations in 2019 and 2025 across established provider classifications.
Complete active NPPES registry snapshot, updated August 2026.
Results
The table includes classifications with at least 1,000 active individual providers first enumerated in each comparison year. This floor prevents very small categories from dominating a percentage-growth ranking.
| Rank | Provider classification | 2019 registrations | 2025 registrations | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Home Health Aide | 1,624 | 12,007 | +639.3% |
| 2 | Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 7,443 | 52,947 | +611.4% |
| 3 | Behavior Technician | 35,076 | 114,657 | +226.9% |
| 4 | Technician | 7,985 | 22,784 | +185.3% |
| 5 | Peer Specialist | 1,897 | 5,181 | +173.1% |
| 6 | Community Health Worker | 2,339 | 5,775 | +146.9% |
| 7 | Registered Nurse | 10,401 | 24,930 | +139.7% |
| 8 | Massage Therapist | 3,245 | 5,778 | +78.1% |
| 9 | Dietitian, Registered | 3,347 | 5,479 | +63.7% |
| 10 | Case Manager/Care Coordinator | 10,124 | 14,796 | +46.1% |
| 11 | Licensed Practical Nurse | 3,395 | 4,643 | +36.8% |
| 12 | Psychologist | 4,596 | 5,748 | +25.1% |
| 13 | Counselor | 34,282 | 42,280 | +23.3% |
| 14 | Social Worker | 21,862 | 25,623 | +17.2% |
| 15 | Chiropractor | 2,352 | 2,728 | +16.0% |
How to interpret this ranking
An NPI enumeration is a registry entry, not a hiring event, a claim, or proof that a clinician began practicing in that year. This comparison measures registrations that remain active in the current snapshot. It shows how the mix of registered roles is changing, but it is not an employment-growth estimate.
Methodology
We selected active individual NPI records whose enumeration date falls in 2019 or 2025, assigned each record to its primary NUCC taxonomy classification, and counted each NPI once. We retained categories with at least 1,000 records in both years, calculated percentage change as (2025 minus 2019) divided by 2019, and ranked the 15 largest increases. Deactivated NPIs and organizations are excluded.
The source is CMS's National Plan and Provider Enumeration System. Historical totals can change when an older NPI is later deactivated.
Cite this study
This analysis is free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Citation: Praxis MD, “The Fastest-Growing Healthcare Provider Roles by New NPI Registrations” (2026), https://getpraxismd.com/research/fastest-growing-provider-roles/