On the CMS-1500 claim form, Box 32 names the place where the services were actually performed (the service facility) when that needs to be identified separately from the billing provider. This guide explains Boxes 32, 32a, and 32b, and when Pabau fills them.
NOTE: This article is part of the US Insurance Billing Additional Resources series, which walks through every box of the CMS-1500. If you are new to claims in Pabau, start with Creating a US Professional (CMS 1500) Claim.
Box 32 — Service facility location information
Box 32 holds the name and address of the location where the services were performed, over three lines: the facility name, the street address, and the city, state, and ZIP. Payers read it alongside Box 33, which carries the billing provider's details — the two differ only when you perform services somewhere other than the address you bill from.
How Pabau fills it
Box 32 comes from the location on the invoice: the clinic branch where the visit was booked. When that location's address differs from the billing address in your billing profile (Setup > Claims > Claim.MD > Billing profile), Pabau prints the location's name and address in Box 32 and sends it as the service facility on the electronic claim. When the two addresses match, Box 32 stays empty and payers use the billing provider details in Box 33.
Home visits are the exception: when every line on the claim uses place of service 12 (Home), there is no facility to name, so Box 32 stays empty. Keep each location's name and full address (street, city, two-letter state and ZIP) complete, because an incomplete address is left off the claim.
Box 32a — Service facility NPI
Box 32a holds the NPI of the service facility named in Box 32. When Pabau prints Box 32, it puts your billing NPI (group) in 32a on the printed form. When Box 32 is empty, so is 32a.
Box 32b — Other ID
Box 32b is for a non-NPI identifier of the service facility, such as a state license number. It is rarely required — the NPI in 32a is the standard identifier — and Pabau always leaves it blank.
NOTE: An empty Box 32 is not an error. When no separate service facility is reported, the payer works from the billing provider details in Box 33 instead — exactly right when you treat patients at the address you bill from.
The billing details payers fall back on live in Box 33 – Billing Provider Info & Phone. For the other boxes of the form, browse the US Insurance Billing Additional Resources series.