Which person would assess me?
Ask for the person’s name before you assess the service’s name.
Get the details in plain words
Ask who would assess you, what role they have, and their full name. Ask whether that person also handles questions after the visit.
If you cannot choose whom you see, ask when you will learn their name.
Match the record to the person
The state office that licenses doctors publishes whether a doctor has a licence and any public record of penalties.
Nurse practitioners are nurses whose work can include assessing patients and prescribing medicines, as permitted by their state’s rules.
Physician assistants are health professionals able to give medical care and write prescriptions within state rules governing their work with a doctor.
The national doctor search from the Federation of State Medical Boards excludes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and clinics.
Ask the service: Can this person examine me and prescribe the medicine in my state? Which state office holds their licence record?
Do not treat a website badge as an answer
The Food and Drug Administration reviews medicines in the US; its short name is FDA.
For a medicine-making business, FDA registration means the business has submitted information to be listed with the agency.
Being registered with the FDA gives neither a facility nor its medicines FDA approval, as of September 2026.
Doctors’ offices receive no FDA approval as of September 2026.
Some facilities on the FDA’s registered list have not yet been inspected, and some listed information comes from the business without FDA verification.
Ask which record a badge refers to and whether it shows an inspection. A registration badge alone leaves that question unanswered.
Ask who makes the care decision
Who decides whether a treatment fits your concern? Can that person explain another option? Ask what happens if their answer is that the treatment you asked about is not a fit.