Expanded information about North Carolina’s 35,000 licensed physicians and physician assistants (PAs) is now available at www.ncmedboard.org, the website of the North Carolina Medical Board.

The Board, which licenses and regulates physicians, PAs and certain other health care professionals, has for years maintained the state’s only free, comprehensive searchable database of information regarding its licensees’ education, training and professional background. Each day, thousands of visitors access these online pages, which are designed to help patients and others gather information that may help them select medical practitioners.

Until the recent expansion, a licensee’s individual page displayed basic facts such as his or her name, license number, license issue and renewal dates, practice address and telephone number, medical school or PA program attended and graduation year, hospital affiliations, Board certifications and disciplinary history, if any, with the North Carolina Medical Board.

A recent change in North Carolina law authorized the Board to expand this information to include the following new details:

• Final suspensions or revocations of hospital privileges
• Final disciplinary orders or actions of any regulatory board or agency, including other state medical boards, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Medicare or the N.C. Medicaid program
• Felony convictions
• Misdemeanor convictions involving offenses against a person, offenses of moral turpitude, offenses involving the use of drugs or alcohol and violations of public health and safety codes.
• Certain malpractice/professional liability payment information

The additional information, which licensees are required to report to the Board under state law, makes the Board’s licensee information pages among the most comprehensive offered by state regulatory boards nationally.

The expansion also includes several new optional categories of information that patients and others may find helpful. New optional categories include:

• Practice Web address
• Days licensee sees patients at the primary practice setting
• Number of years in clinical practice (since completing residency)
• Whether the licensee participates in Medicare and Medicaid if they are accepting new patients in these insurance programs
• Whether the licensee uses electronic medical records in the office setting
• Non-English languages spoken in the office and by the licensee
• Honors and awards
• Professional volunteer service (work in indigent clinics, etc.)
• Current faculty appointments
• Professional publications (peer-reviewed)
• Memberships in professional organizations
• Description of ‘practice philosophy’

The North Carolina Medical Board is the agency responsible for licensing, monitoring, disciplining and guiding the health care practitioners it regulates to ensure their fitness and competence. For more information, visit the Board’s website at: www.ncmedboard.org