Surgical Assistant
5,268 active US providers register Surgical Assistant as their primary taxonomy. That is 0.06% of every provider in the registry, and the 186th largest of 584 specialties with a page here.
- Taxonomy code
- 246ZC0007X
- Grouping
- Technologists, Technicians & Other Technical Service Providers
- Classification
- Specialist/Technologist, Other
- Specialization
- Surgical Assistant
- Active providers
- 5,268
- States covered
- 49 of 51
What the code means
A surgical assistant is a skilled practitioner who has undergone formalized education and training as a surgical assistant. The surgical assistant performs surgical functions that include, but are not limited to: retracting, manipulating, suturing, clamping, cauterizing, litigating, and tying tissue; suctioning, irrigating and sponging; positioning the patient; closure of body planes and skin; and participating in hemostasis and volume replacement. Surgical assistants are certified and registered or licensed by the state, or, in states without licensure, certified as surgical assistants by completing appropriate education and training.
Definition quoted verbatim from the NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set, version 25.1. Not paraphrased.
Where they are
Counted by practice location, not by mailing address or by licence state. A provider practising across a state line is counted where they practise.
| State | Providers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 1,434 | |
| Florida | 939 | |
| Georgia | 415 | |
| Virginia | 306 | |
| Illinois | 303 | |
| Colorado | 226 | |
| Kentucky | 172 | |
| Arizona | 143 | |
| Tennessee | 121 | |
| Indiana | 99 | |
| Maryland | 95 | |
| Ohio | 82 | |
| Louisiana | 75 | |
| Wisconsin | 66 | |
| Nevada | 62 |
Showing the 15 largest of 49 states with at least one.
Who registers under this code
4,552 of these are people and 716 are organisations, so 14% of the code is businesses rather than clinicians. Half of them had registered by 2018, and 2,007 registered in the last five years, 38% of the current population.
That is close to the pace of the registry as a whole.
Where the practices are
By practice-location city. City counts are noisier than state counts, because a large employer files one address for many providers.
- HOUSTON, TX300
- MIAMI, FL208
- SAN ANTONIO, TX139
- SUGAR LAND, TX89
- HIALEAH, FL57
- FAIRFAX, VA54
- TAMPA, FL53
- DALLAS, TX51
- TUCSON, AZ44
- LOUISVILLE, KY41
What else they list
Providers whose primary code is Surgical Assistant most often carry these secondary taxonomies as well. This is the closest thing the registry has to a map of which specialties overlap in practice, and it is not published anywhere else.
| Also listed | Providers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Surgical Technologist | 281 | 5.3% |
| Surgical Physician Assistant | 122 | 2.3% |
| Orthopedic Assistant | 29 | 0.6% |
| Surgery Physician | 26 | 0.5% |
| Physician Assistant | 25 | 0.5% |
| Specialist | 16 | 0.3% |
| Other Specialist/Technologist | 12 | 0.2% |
| Registered Nurse First Assistant | 9 | 0.2% |
Nearby specialties
Other taxonomies NUCC files under Specialist/Technologist, Other.
- Electroneurodiagnostic Specialist/Technologist4,801
- Other Specialist/Technologist2,425
- Surgical Technologist1,956
- Medical Art Specialist/Technologist262
Looking up a specific provider
These counts come from the monthly NPPES file. To check one provider, use their NPI: the lookup reads the live registry and shows whether the identifier is still active, which the monthly file cannot tell you about the last few weeks.
Counts from npidata_pfile_20050523-20260712.csv, built 2026-08-09. Primary taxonomy only, deactivated identifiers excluded.