How to Check and Verify a Doctor's Board Certification

Board certification is important as it confirms that a doctor of medicine or osteopathy has completed training in a particular medical subspecialty and has the credentials, qualifications, and expertise to treat your medical condition.

It is in your interest to check that your doctor is not only board-certified but that the certification is current and no violations or disciplinary actions taken by the board. In some instances, you may even need to check if the certifying board is bona fide.

This article explains how to check the board certification and credentials of a medical practitioner. It also offers tips on how to check for malpractice or disciplinary actions.

Why It's Important to Verify Board Certification

State medical boards are responsible for ensuring that all physicians are properly licensed and comply with laws and regulations pertaining to their field of practice. Even so, infractions can sometimes occur, and it is in the patient's right to know.

In 2022, state medical and osteopathic boards issued no less than 6,584 disciplinary board actions to 3,062 physicians. Of these, 954 were serious, resulting in the revocation or suspension of their license or the denial of a license.

While the number of infractions pales in comparison to the number of doctors of medicines (MDs) or doctors of osteopathy (DOs) operating in the United States—over one million, according to the Federation of State Medical Board —infractions do occur and can place you at risk if a treater acts outside of the prescribed code of contact.

This not only applies to MDs and DOs but other healthcare providers (like psychologists or pharmacists) who also obtain certification from other state boards.

Start by Verifying the Board

Before you start checking medical board websites for certification, be sure that the medical board is one that is legitimate and recognized.

In the United States, state medical boards for MDs and DOs are certified by one of three national medical boards:

• American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)
• American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS)
• American Osteopathic Association (AOA)

According to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), which is certified by the ABMS, there are "medical boards" that operate outside of the construct of any regulating body.

Some like the American Board of Geriatric Medicine, the American Board of Geriatrics, the United States Medical Specialists Federation, the American Board of Diabetes, the American College of Christian Physicians, and the American Academy of Oncology have been flagged as bogus.

These illegitimate boards target doctors who have recently immigrated to the U.S., promising them certification with only basic information but a substantial fee.

This can also be confusing to consumers who might mistake a legitimate board, like the American College of Cardiology, with an illegitimate one, like the American Academy of Cardiology.

If in doubt, call the ABMS, ABPS, or AOA to check if a medical board falls under their body. Or call your state's medical licensure association which is often aware of scams.

Check Board Certification Websites

The best place to start your search is by looking at either the ABMS certification website or the ABPS certification website. You can learn if a doctor is a current member and which state board they have been certified by.

Access to this information requires you to register and log in. You will also be asked to warrant that the information is for your personal use.​

Once you find the state certification board, you can do an online search to double-check that the certification is current. These sites may or may not provide details of disciplinary actions.

Checking certification with the AOA is not as easy as it doesn't publish a master list of members. Instead, you will need the doctor's nine-digit Certified Electronic Document Identifier (CeDID) code, which you can use to verify certification on the AOA website,

How Many Specialities Are There?

The ABMS is the oldest and most well-known medical board. It is made up of 24 member boards representing 40 specialties and 89 subspecialties:

• American Board of Allergy and Immunology
• American Board of Anesthesiology
• American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery
• American Board of Dermatology
• American Board of Emergency Medicine
• American Board of Family Medicine
• American Board of Internal Medicine
• American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics
• American Board of Neurological Surgery
• American Board of Nuclear Medicine
• American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
• American Board of Ophthalmology
• American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
• American Board of Otolaryngology
• American Board of Pathology
• American Board of Pediatrics
• American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• American Board of Plastic Surgery
• American Board of Preventive Medicine
• American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
• American Board of Radiology
• American Board of Surgery
• American Board of Thoracic Surgery
• American Board of Urology.

Check Doctor Rating Websites

Doctor rating websites like ZocDoc and Healthgrades are often the first place people turn to when checking a new provider. As insightful as they can be, they have their limitations.

It's important to take the following into account when using these websites:

• The information is not always as current. While they can provide information about a doctor's certification, you would still need to check if it is up to date with the ABMS, ABPS, or AOA.
• The information on these sites is subjective. If there are only a handful of reviews, one bad review (fair or unfair) can bring down the rating. The information may be slightly more trustworthy if there are numerous reviews.
• It is important to read good and bad reviews. Check the dates of the review and whether it is from a "ghost" or registered user.
• The information, however positive or negative, cannot tell you if a doctor is qualified to perform a medical procedure.

Some rating websites may require registration or even a fee to access their information.

Contact Your State Licensing Association

Licensing is not the same thing as certification. Licensing is required to practice medicine and certification is not. Moreover, licensing in one state does not mean that a provider can practice in another state.

Each state makes its medical licensing information public via an online search portal. Most will provide board certification and educational background information as well. Because the information is in the public domain, you are usually not required to register to do a search.

The information can vary from one state to the next and may not always be current. However, for most doctors, the websites provide adequate licensing and board certification information.

Check for Disciplinary Actions or Malpractice Suits

Even if the doctor is fully certified and licensed, you may want to check if there are any disciplinary actions or malpractice suits—particularly if you find numerous complaints on a review site.

For disciplinary actions, you can search the Federation of State Medical Board's DocInfo service for the disciplinary history of specific doctors in every state.

To check if a doctor has been sued for malpractice or medical negligence, contact the court clerk in the county where the physician practices. Though the information is considered to be in the public domain, some counties may only provide a brief of the case.

It's important to note that the filing of a malpractice suit does not mean that the claim was legitimate. If a suit has been filed or disciplinary action has been taken, call or write the practitioner and ask for details.

What If a Doctor Isn't Listed?

There are several reasons why you can't find a doctor on a certification search.

Because MDs and DOs go through a constant cycle of certification and re-certification, it is possible that the certification may not yet be posted. This is especially true for new doctors or doctors recently licensed in a new state.

If you can't find your doctor on any listing, simply call their office and ask for the information. You can then call the member board directly for verification.

It is also possible that the doctor is not certified. While certification is standard among practitioners in the United States, it is not required. There is currently no law that requires that a physician be board-certified.

However, unless they are certified by a specialty board as defined by law, they are barred from using the term "board-certified" in their advertisements.

Summary

You can verify a doctor's board certification by first calling or checking the websites of the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Board of Physician Specialties, or the American Osteopathic Association.

Licensure information can be found through the state medical licensure association, while malpractice information can found through the court clerk of the county where the doctor practices. The DocInfo website operated by the Federation of State Medical Board can provide information about any disciplinary actions.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. Federation of State Medical Boards. Physician discipline in 2022.
2. Federation of State Medical Boards. Physician licensure in 2022.
3. American Board of Internal Medicine. Attorney General warns of bogus medical board certification scam targeting immigrant doctors.

By Trisha Torrey
Trisha Torrey is a patient empowerment and advocacy consultant. She has written several books about patient advocacy and how to best navigate the healthcare system.

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