A guide to care questions / Check a licence
How do I check a licence?
Before looking up a record, get the person’s full name and identify the state for the appointment. Check the record rather than a badge on a page.
Check the state record, permission and medicine source
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has a directory that links to state medical and osteopathic boards.
The board entry can tell you if a doctor has a current licence and list any public disciplinary action.
Some states have separate boards for medical and osteopathic doctors, so the relevant record may be on a different board’s site.
Match the full name and profession. Read the status and any public action attached to the entry.
Check permission where you will be
HHS guidance, checked in September 2026, makes the patient’s location decisive: the professional must have that state’s licence or another legal route to practise there.
Travel plans matter to this question. Give the service the state where you expect to sit for the appointment.
For other types of health professional, find out which state board issued the licence.
If a medicine is proposed, check its source too
FDA’s pharmacy lookup links to each state’s pharmacy licence records.
Finding a pharmacy licence does not establish that every product it dispenses is appropriate.
Federal rules recorded in September 2026 do not treat FDA registration as approval of a facility’s products.
If a medicine is proposed, request the preparing and sending pharmacy’s name so you can check its record with the relevant state board.
Understand the compounded-product claim