Protecting the Public: Health Facility Licensing

While hospitals and nursing homes are readily recognized as examples of institutional healthcare facilities, many other types of health facilities deliver patient care within the U.S. healthcare system.  Comprised of both profit and non-profit oriented organizations, these institutional providers typically focus on delivering either a specific type of healthcare service or, in some cases, serving a particular segment of the community.  Beyond hospitals and nursing homes, institutional health facilities include:

• adult day care centers
• ambulatory surgery centers
• assisted living facilities
• birth centers
• clinical laboratories
• federally qualified health centers
• community mental health centers
• dialysis clinics
• outpatient rehabilitation facilities
• end-stage renal disease centers
• home health agencies
• hospices
• intermediate care facilities
• facilities for the developmentally disabled
• residential treatment facilities
• rural health clinics
• skilled nursing facilities
  
  

Regulatory oversight of hospitals, nursing homes and these other types of institutional health facilities comes at both the federal and state levels.  At the federal level, all of these institutional providers must meet certain requirements in order to participate in the Medicare program that provides health insurance to most everyone over the age of 65, plus several million younger individuals with disabilities.  In order to assist consumers in determining if a hospital or other health facility meets these federal requirements to participate in Medicare, the U.S. government makes available more than a half-dozen online provider lookup tools:

• Hospital Compare
  
• Nursing Home Compare
  
• Home Health Compare
  
• Hospice Compare
  
• Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Compare
  
• Long Term Hospital Compare
  
• Dialysis Facility Compare
  

Beyond meeting requirements to participate in Medicare, institutional health facilities must also satisfy licensing standards established by regulatory authorities in each state in which they operate.  These state licensing efforts aim to protect the public by assuring that health facilities have demonstrated an ongoing ability to meet certain technical and quality-of-care standards in their delivery of services to consumers.  

To assist the public with determining the license status of institutional health facilities that operate within their boundaries, each state provides online license verification tools or resources.  Visit our Health Facilities License Lookup resource page for more information about these state license verification tools and resources.

Nursing Specialty Certification Boards

All nurses must be licensed by the state's in which they work.  While licensing requirements vary some from state-to-state, individuals must demonstrate a specific level of education and competency in their chosen nursing profession in order to obtain, and maintain, a license to practice in a state.  Much like doctors and dentists, nurses can attain specialty designations in specific practice areas, such as ambulatory care, gerontology, oncology, orthopedics, pediatrics and other advanced clinical specialties. Nurses can attain such specialist designation by demonstrating, to a national certification organization, a specified level of clinical knowledge and proficiency in a particular nursing practice area. Although certification is usually voluntary, it demonstrates a specific level of competency that nursing employers often desire.

There are more than twenty national boards that confer specialty certifications to nursing professionals who meet their certification (or recertification) standards.  To find these national nursing specialty certification organizations and to learn more about their contribution to establishing and maintaining professional nursing standards, visit our resource page:

Nursing Specialty Certification Boards | Health Guide USA

Confirming Dental Specialty Certifications

It is estimated that about 20% of practicing dentists are specialists.  Like all dentists, specialty practitioners are educated in general dentistry, then opt, at considerable personal time and expense, to pursue advanced education and training in one of ten recognized areas of specialization:

Dental Anesthesiology

Dental Public Health

Endodontics

Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology

Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Orthodontics

Pediatric Dentistry

Periodontics

Prosthodontics.  

Dentists can earn the privilege to practice as a dental specialist if they can demonstrate their advanced dental care knowledge and skills to the satisfaction of a national dental specialty certification board.  Those practitioners who can meet the certification (or recertification) standards set by one of these national dental boards are granted "Board Certified" status in which to practice in their area(s) of specialization.  

There are more than a dozen national boards that confer specialty certifications to dental practitioners who meet their certification (or recertification) standards.  Visit our resource page below to find online license confirmation tools that these national dental certification organizations make available to the pubic:

Dental Specialty Certification Boards | Health Guide USA

Protecting the Public: Dental License Verification

Dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants and other dental healthcare professionals are subject to regulatory oversight by each of the individual states in which they practice.  While licensing requirements vary from state-to-state, the core objective of dental regulators everywhere is to protect the public from unqualified individuals offering or delivering dental care services.  This is accomplished by establishing standards, educational and otherwise, which individuals must satisfy in order to obtain a license to deliver dental care services. Similarly, dental licensing authorities establish standards which practitioners must attain in order to periodically renew their license to practice.  When licensees fail to meet established standards, dental licensing authorities can impose a range of disciplinary measures against offending practitioners, including, in the most egregious situations, the suspension or revocation of an individuals license to practice. 

In order to assist the public, as well as credentialing professionals working for hospitals, health plans and other entities needing to confirm the license status of dental care practitioners, dental licensing authorities in each state provide online license verification tools.  To find state-operated online tools that permit the public to confirm the license status of dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants and other dental healthcare professionals, visit our resource page:

Health Guide USA Dental License Lookup

Speech Language Pathologist License Lookup

Speech-language pathologists (sometimes known as speech therapists) are healthcare professionals involved in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults. These disorders can result from a variety of causes, including stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, Parkinson’s disease, a cleft palate, or autism.  Licensing requirements for speech-language pathology practitioners vary from state to state. To find state-operated online tools that permit the public to confirm the license status of speech-language pathology practitioners, check out our resource page:

Health Guide USA Speech Language Pathologist License Lookup

Occupational Therapy License Lookup

Occupational therapists are healthcare professionals who treat injured, ill, or disabled patients through the therapeutic use of everyday activities. These therapies help patients develop, recover, improve, and maintain the skills they need for daily life and work. Most states require that occupational therapy practitioners be licensed to practice within their borders. Licensing requirements for occupational therapy practitioners vary from state to state. To find state-operated online tools that permit the public to confirm the license status of occupational therapists and other OT professionals, check out our resource page:

Health Guide USA Occupational Therapy License Lookup

Verifying Florida Health Licenses

According to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, well over 450,000 Floridian's are employed as healthcare practitioners.  This includes a wide variety of occupations, ranging from doctors and nurses to orthotists and prosthetists.  More than a dozen regulatory boards are involved in licensing healthcare practitioners in the State.

Florida, like most States, provides online tools that allow the general public to verify the health license status of practitioners that are licensed by the State.  Through Florida's health license verification portal, visitors can lookup the license status for more than 120 health profession designations. This includes checking on the health license status of  doctors, dentists, pharmacists, physician assistants, nurses, podiatrists, optometrists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and acupuncturtists.  Moreover, the Florida health license verification tool provides search results that includes a drilldown feature that offers additional information about each licensee.

To access Florida's primary online health license verification tool, visit our Florida Medical License Lookup page.  Besides the Florida's primary health license verification tool, it includes links to two other important online license status tools operated by the State.  One is the State operated portal to verify the license status of insurance professionals, for those wanting to confirm the license status of health insurance agents and brokers.  The other online tool is one that permits user to verify the license status of Florida's institutional healthcare providers, like hospitals, surgery centers and nursing homes.