Doctors in Boston, MA
Active healthcare providers in Boston sourced from the CMS NPPES weekly file, no proprietary ratings, no editorial scores. NPI counts, specialty distribution, and primary practice addresses refreshed each release.
Where this city sits in the corpus
Boston ranks 1st among 400 Massachusetts cities by CMS provider count, holding 19% of the state's NPIs, led by Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program.
- 40,542
- NPPES providers in city
- 1st
- of 400 MA cities
- 19%
- of Massachusetts providers
- 29.7%
- in top 3 specialties
Boston ranks #1 of 10 Massachusetts cities for Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program.
Where Boston ranks among Massachusetts cities
Provider count vs every Massachusetts city in CMS NPPES (400 cities)
40,542 Top 1% higher than 99% of 400 cities
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source CMS National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) · 2026
Specialty mix in Boston
Share of the city's NPPES registrations by NUCC taxonomy
- Student in an Organi…
Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program
7,234 providers
- Internal Medicine Ph…
Internal Medicine Physician
3,032 providers
- Clinical Social Worker 1,769
Clinical Social Worker
1,769 providers
- Physician Assistant 1,466
Physician Assistant
1,466 providers
- Pediatrics Physician 1,166
Pediatrics Physician
1,166 providers
- Registered Nurse 978
Registered Nurse
978 providers
- Anesthesiology Physi… 930
Anesthesiology Physician
930 providers
- Family Nurse Practit… 815
Family Nurse Practitioner
815 providers
- Nurse Practitioner 803
Nurse Practitioner
803 providers
- Physical Therapist 801
Physical Therapist
801 providers
What this shows Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program is the largest specialty (7,234 providers, 17.8% of the city), followed by Internal Medicine Physician.
City vs state specialty index
Specialties Boston has more, and fewer, of than Massachusetts average
Each multiple is this city's share of a specialty divided by that specialty's average share across Massachusetts , Boston over-indexes neurology physician at 2.9× the state average and under-indexes mental health counselor at 0.24×. This reflects local practice structure, not care quality.
More common here than Massachusetts average
Less common here than Massachusetts average
- Mental Health Counselor 0.24×
- Behavior Technician 0.29×
- Social Worker 0.45×
- Pharmacist 0.45×
How to read this directory & data limitations
Boston, Massachusetts appears in the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System with 40,542 registered healthcare providers spanning 20 distinct NUCC-taxonomy specialties. This count includes every individual clinician who has applied for an NPI and listed a practice address in Boston - physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, chiropractors, physical therapists, optometrists, psychologists, podiatrists, and every other credentialed provider type CMS tracks. It does not measure hospital beds, urgent-care capacity, or whether a given clinic is accepting new patients; it measures the pool of professionals with current NPI enrollment and a Boston practice location on file. Every figure is drawn from the federal National Provider Identifier Registry (CMS NPPES) - more than 7 million providers, maintained since May 2007, with 2023 Medicare Part D data, and, according to CMS, can be searched, compared, and traced in our methodology.
The provider mix in Boston is weighted toward Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program (7,234 clinicians, followed by Internal Medicine Physician with 3,032 and Clinical Social Worker with 1,769). That distribution reflects how NPPES records specialty: providers self-select a primary taxonomy code, so a family physician who also practices geriatrics will show up under whichever NUCC code they registered first. Relative to Massachusetts's population, Boston reports roughly 579.1 providers per 100,000 residents using the state-level denominator, which is a rough proxy rather than a precise access-to-care measurement; the true catchment area of any {cityName} clinician extends beyond the municipal boundary.
Of Massachusetts's most common specialties, Counselor is the most prominent one with no provider currently listing a Boston practice address, a coverage gap Boston patients typically fill by traveling to a larger nearby hub.
For Boston patients, this directory is most useful as a starting shortlist. Important: PlainDoctor is a directory of publicly available CMS government data, not a review site, a ranking, or medical advice. NPPES data is self-reported and refreshed monthly; call the practice directly to confirm the provider is still there, accepts your insurance, and is taking new patients.
Which specialties are most common in Boston
| # | Specialty | Providers | % of city |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 7,234 | 17.8% |
| 2 | Internal Medicine Physician | 3,032 | 7.5% |
| 3 | Clinical Social Worker | 1,769 | 4.4% |
| 4 | Physician Assistant | 1,466 | 3.6% |
| 5 | Pediatrics Physician | 1,166 | 2.9% |
| 6 | Registered Nurse | 978 | 2.4% |
| 7 | Anesthesiology Physician | 930 | 2.3% |
| 8 | Family Nurse Practitioner | 815 | 2.0% |
| 9 | Nurse Practitioner | 803 | 2.0% |
| 10 | Physical Therapist | 801 | 2.0% |
| 11 | Mental Health Counselor | 791 | 2.0% |
| 12 | Psychiatry Physician | 754 | 1.9% |
| 13 | Diagnostic Radiology Physician | 710 | 1.8% |
| 14 | Dentist | 668 | 1.6% |
| 15 | Behavior Technician | 581 | 1.4% |
Healthcare Providers (Page 308)
| Name |
|---|
| Beverly Hector-Smith, NP School Nurse Practitioner |
| Mona Hedayat, MD Anesthesiology Physician |
| Daniel Hedequist, MD Orthopaedic Surgery Physician |
| Thomas Hedges, M.D. Specialist |
| Sandeep Hedgire, MD Diagnostic Radiology Physician |
| Meredith Hedin, DO Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physician |
| E Hedley-Whyte, MD MBBS Neuropathology Physician |
| Jane Hedlund, LICSW Social Worker |
| Marc Hedlund, MD Emergency Medicine Physician |
| Elizabeth Hedreen Clinical Social Worker |
| Luke Hedrick, MD Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Ali Hedwan Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Dorcas Heebner-Cardwell, NNP Neonatal Nurse Practitioner |
| Matthew Heeney, MD Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Physician |
| Paul Heering Behavior Analyst |
| Gerald Hefferman, MD Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Elaine Heffernan, LICSW Clinical Social Worker |
| James Heffernan, M.D. Internal Medicine Physician |
| Jody Heffernan, NNP-BC Critical Care Neonatal Nurse Practitioner |
| Margaret Heffernan Clinical Neuropsychologist |
| Thomas Heffernan, PA-S Physician Assistant |
| Linda Heffner, M.D. Obstetrics & Gynecology Physician |
| Jonathan Heflin, MD, MPH Internal Medicine Physician |
| Jaye Hefner, MD Internal Medicine Physician |
| Rebecca Hefner, MD Internal Medicine Physician |
| Fahad Hegazi, B.D.S. Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Tarek Hegazi, MBBS, FRCPC Body Imaging Physician |
| Nicole Hegberg, PHD Clinical Psychologist |
| Siddhi Hegde, MD Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Eliot Heher, MD Nephrology Physician |
| Katrinka Heher, M.D. Specialist |
| Yael Heher, MD MPH Anatomic Pathology Physician |
| Pedram Heidari, M.D. Diagnostic Radiology Physician |
| Gena Heidary, MD Ophthalmology Physician |
| Justin Heidel, MD Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Caroline Heider, LCSW Clinical Social Worker |
| Amy Heiderich, MD Pediatrics Physician |
| Jeffrey Heier Ophthalmology Physician |
| Emily Heikamp, MD PHD Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Physician |
| Deirdre Heilbron, RN Registered Nurse |
| Carl Heilman, M.D. Neurological Surgery Physician |
| Brent Heimlich, PA-C Physician Assistant |
| Danielle Heims-Waldron, MD Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Carrie Heincelman, MD Orthopaedic Trauma Physician |
| Patrick Heindel, MD Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Emily Heinen, PA Physician Assistant |
| Marilyn Heino, LICSW Clinical Social Worker |
| Edythe Heins Mental Health Counselor |
| Timothy Heintz Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program |
| Alexandra Heinz, LICSW Clinical Social Worker |
Nearby Cities in Massachusetts
Other Massachusetts cities with provider coverage in the CMS NPPES registry.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many doctors are in Boston, MA?
What are the most common medical specialties in Boston?
Related guides
Explore Massachusetts
Provider data from CMS NPPES (download.cms.gov/nppes); specialty classification from NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy. PlainDoctor does not rate or rank providers. Methodology · About
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Every figure on PlainDoctor is rendered directly from the federal CMS NPPES registry, Medicare Part D, MIPS, and Open Payments records, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-05-20.