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Care questionLongevity care guide

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Guide index

Find care

- Start here

- Find a search route

- Read reviews carefully

- Ask for a referral

- Use a board search

- Check the name

- Check the pharmacy

- Online or in person

- A visit by screen

- A visit in a room

- When states differ

Understand treatment

- Sort the medicine terms

- Medicine made to order

- Weight medicine questions

- Ask about treatment offers

Plan the bill

- What care can cost

- Insurance and cash routes

Ask and check

- When to pause

- Questions for the visit

- Read the source records

The care guideFind care

Find care / guidebook

# Where is the public record?

To check a doctor’s licence, start with their full name and the state where they work.

## Find the right board

The Federation of State Medical Boards has a directory linking to medical board websites for the states and territories.

In some states, doctors using MD and doctors using DO after their names have licence records held separately.

Both are doctors. Use the letters after the name to choose the right office in the directory. If a name is missing, check which office you searched.

## Read the record, then read its limits

Boards publish whether a doctor is licensed, any public record of penalties, and any formal charges still awaiting a decision.

The details a board makes public differ from state to state.

Read any linked record rather than guessing from a short status label. If a term is unclear, use the board’s explanation of that term.

## A clear record is not a care review

A record showing no penalties leaves the quality of the doctor’s care unanswered.

You still get to ask about the visit, the treatment, the costs, and the plan for hearing back.

## For an online visit, check your location too

As of September 2026, HHS guidance says clinicians need a licence or other lawful permission where the patient is during telehealth care.

HHS stands for Department of Health and Human Services, a US department. Telehealth means a visit by screen, phone, or online exchange. Ask how the service meets your state’s rules.

Read and check

## Source records

- Find a state medical board

- State boards: what public records show

- Federal guidance on telehealth licences

Keep readingCheck the name

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