Whose permission covers your visit?
The licence check starts where you are.
A clinic name gives you little to search. Ask for the person who will assess you and the pharmacy that will fill any prescription.
Myth to test
Does a licence somewhere cover a visit everywhere?
Short answer
For an online visit, the patient's location determines which state's permission the doctor needs, according to U.S. guidance checked in September 2026.
Look up the person, then the state
A state medical board is the body that licenses doctors and can take action against them. Its public record is a place to start.
- Look to the state medical boards for published records of a doctor's licence status and public disciplinary history.
- The Federation of State Medical Boards puts those board links in a directory.
- Finding no public disciplinary record tells you nothing about how the doctor's care would rate.
- Match the record against the full name; for a care provider with another professional title, ask which board holds the relevant record.
- Ask which state rule permits that person to treat you where you will be during the visit.
Make a separate pharmacy check
The prescriber and the pharmacy are different parts of care. Ask who will fill the prescription before you commit to a service.
- Pharmacies have a separate state board that holds their licence records.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) links to state pharmacy searches through BeSafeRx, its online pharmacy guide.
- A pharmacy's licence record confirms a licence, not that every product or practice is sound.
- Use the pharmacy's full name, not just the online service's name.