| Guide | GDE-095 |
| Topic | Professional licence lookup |
| Domain | Identity |
| Last tested | 28 October 2026 |
Short answer: Check a doctor, nurse or pharmacist on the register of the board that issued the licence, such as a US state board or the UK's GMC, NMC or GPhC, and note its data date. An NPI number alone does not prove a licence.
What is a license lookup?
A license lookup is a search of the official register kept by the body that licenses a profession, used to confirm that a named practitioner or business holds a current licence, where it is valid and whether any discipline is recorded.
In the United States each state licenses its own health professionals, so the board in the state of practice is the primary source. In Britain the regulators are national: the General Medical Council (GMC), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
A National Provider Identifier (NPI) is different: a 10-digit number identifying a US health care provider in insurance transactions, issued through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Only the board register shows whether someone may practise.
| • | Checking a source who says they are a doctor, nurse or pharmacist |
| • | Confirming that a clinic, pharmacy or online prescriber is licensed where it operates |
| • | Finding public discipline or conditions recorded against a licence |
| • | Testing a credential quoted in a court filing, advert or press release |
How do you run a license lookup?
Seven steps from the claimed credential to a dated record from the board that issued it.
All eight resources are free to search; status as tested on 28 October 2026.
NPPES NPI Registry: The NPPES NPI Registry is the CMS register of US provider identifiers, with an API. Free, no login or key; working; queries are limited per hour.
California DCA License Search: The California Department of Consumer Affairs License Search covers the state's medical, nursing and pharmacy boards. Free, no login; working. Other states run their own.
Nursys QuickConfirm: Nursys QuickConfirm is the nurse licence service of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). Free, but users must first certify employer and Fair Credit Reporting Act terms; not tested.
DocInfo: DocInfo is the physician lookup of the Federation of State Medical Boards. It blocked our test connection; not tested.
OIG Exclusions Database (LEIE): The OIG Exclusions Database lists people and entities excluded from US federal health care programmes. Free, no login; working.
GMC register: The GMC register lists doctors licensed to practise in the UK. Free, no login; search loads.
NMC register: The NMC register lists UK nurses and midwives. Free, no login; its robot check needs cookies accepted.
GPhC registers: The GPhC registers list pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises in Great Britain. Free, no login; working.
What we tested: On 28 October 2026 we ran each resource with organisation names, a constructed number or generated inputs, never a named individual. The NPI Registry, California DCA search and GPhC register returned live records and the OIG search ran; the GMC and NMC searches reached no record with our generated inputs; Nursys was not tested because it requires accepting terms; DocInfo blocked our connection.
Mayo Clinic in Minnesota returned five active records (our limit), one created 15 October 2026; an altered NPI returned none. | ||
Python and JavaScript agreed on three issued NPIs and one altered number. | ||
CVS Pharmacy returned about 1,300 Board of Pharmacy records with status and expiry. | ||
Boots in Nottingham returned 30 premises; data stamped 28 October 2026. | ||
A generated entity returned no result; source data dated 9 October 2026. | ||
A generated GMC number produced no result list and no not-found message. | ||
A generated PIN was rejected as invalid before any lookup. | ||
Requires certifying employer and credit-reporting terms first. | ||
Access denied by the site's security service. |
One or two queries per resource on one day: a snapshot of access, not a measure of data accuracy.
The Issuing-Board Rule: Confirm a licence only on the register of the board that issued it, and record that register's own data date. Treat every other database as a lead.