Check licenses
Check a name.
Then read the record.
Start with the person assessing you. A business name and the person’s license are separate questions.
A clinician is a doctor, nurse or other health professional who assesses or treats you.
Check the state license behind a website’s badge.
State record
A license you can check.
Florida’s free health license website shows whether a person holds a license. It also has a “Practitioner Profile”, a record about that person, and “Discipline & Admin Actions”, records of action by the licensing office. These actions can include a fine, limits on work or a suspended license.
Website display
A claim to look past.
Federal Trade Commission guidance warns that official-looking logos and seals can be copied to make a health website seem legitimate.
Get the role in plain words.
Florida medical doctors with an MD degree are licensed through the Board of Medicine.
Doctors with a DO degree, called osteopathic doctors, use the separate Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
Both are doctors. Ask which degree and license record belongs to the person treating you.
The Board of Nursing covers nurses and nurse practitioners.
Nurse practitioners are nurses with advanced training. A physician assistant works in a medical role with a supervising doctor. Ask the person to explain their role in your care.
A different role is not a reason to skip the check.
As of September 2026, Florida physician assistants work with supervising doctors.
An assistant who prescribes must tell the patient their role and name the supervising doctors on the prescription.
As of September 2026, Florida nurse practitioners generally work under a written plan with a supervising doctor.
A separate registration lets those who meet its conditions work on their own in primary care, such as family medicine.
Read the public record.
A license record with no public board action cannot establish the quality of someone’s care.