Investigating Your Doctor’s Credentials

One of the most frightening professional occurrences that a physician may experience is their investigation by a licensing authority.

Even though placing your care in the hands of a doctor takes trust and confidence, it is surprising how few people take the time to check the credentials of their doctors. Most people will simply take a referral from a friend or find the doctor who is most conveniently located. Information is available, but many people do not know where to start.

Clark & Associates, has provided a list of resources that will allow you to check the credentials of your doctor before you choose one, or in the event that something has gone wrong and you are concerned about a history of malpractice.

Questions to ask when investigating your doctor

When investigating the credentials of your doctor, you should first determine whether he or she is board-certified in a particular area and what type of experience he or she has.

Another area of interest is whether he or she has been investigated for malpractice or negligence in the past, has been sued, or has been disciplined by the state board.

To investigate your doctor’s credentials, please follow the links below:

• American Medical Association: The American Medical Association provides extensive resources including links to state disciplinary boards. The site also contains links to training information about hundreds of thousands of physicians currently licensed in the United States.
• Health Grades: Health Grades provides a searchable database of physicians nationwide. The search database is free of charge and only requires that you enter the last name of the physician and the state of practice. Using this site, you should be able to determine whether the doctor has been sanctioned, rankings of local doctors, and affiliations with local networks, health plans, and hospitals.
• Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Oklahoma Osteopathic Association: These sites allow you to see whether your doctor is licensed and whether they are board-certified for surgeries or other complicated procedures.
• Oklahoma State Courts Network: Here you can look at the number of times they’ve been sued and the number of times they have lost malpractice claims.

Even if your doctor does not show up on one of these Web sites or you do not find negative reports or information, that does not mean nothing has happened or that the doctor’s record is clear.

Our medical malpractice attorneys have connections and resources with hospitals and medical professionals throughout the state and can investigate your doctor more closely, especially if you suspect malpractice.