How to check a doctor's license and record in New Jersey

Before you share your history with a new clinician, and certainly before you start a controlled medication, it is reasonable to confirm that the person is who they say they are and is licensed to treat you. In New Jersey this takes about ten minutes with free public tools run by the state's Division of Consumer Affairs and the federal government. This matters even more with online services, because New Jersey's telehealth law requires a clinician to disclose and validate their identity and credentials, such as license, title and specialty, when establishing care remotely. You should be able to check what they tell you.

Step 1: Confirm the New Jersey license

The Division of Consumer Affairs runs a license verification site that describes itself as a real-time system with access to the most current professional license information.

1. Go to the verification site and choose Person Search.
2. Choose the profession that matches the clinician:
   • Medical Examiners for physicians, including psychiatrists (MD or DO).
   • Nursing for advanced practice nurses, listed as "Adv. Practice Nurse - Resident" or "Non Resident."
   • Physician Assistants for PAs.
   • Psychology for psychologists, who do psychological and neuropsychological testing.
   • Social Work Examiners or Marriage and Family Therapy for therapists in those fields.
3. Enter the last name, and the first name if it is common.
4. Check that the name matches, the license type fits what they told you, and the status is active.

If you cannot find someone who says they are licensed in New Jersey, try spelling variants and a search without the first name. If you still cannot find them, ask the clinician for their license number and look it up again.

Step 2: Read the physician's Health Care Profile

For physicians, the New Jersey Health Care Profile (run by the Division of Consumer Affairs) adds background the license lookup does not show. You can search by name and by field of practice, including psychiatry. The profile covers physicians, podiatrists and optometrists. It does not cover nurse practitioners, physician assistants or psychologists.

Under the law that created the profile (P.L.2003, c.96, as enacted), it includes:

• medical school and graduate medical education, including residencies and fellowships;
• the year first licensed, and the year first licensed in New Jersey;
• office practice locations;
• final disciplinary actions by the New Jersey board within the most recent 10 years, with any action under appeal identified;
• final disciplinary actions by licensing boards in other states within the most recent 10 years;
• criminal convictions for first- to fourth-degree crimes within the most recent 10 years (expunged convictions are not included);
• revocations or restrictions of hospital privileges for reasons of competence, misconduct or impairment within the most recent 10 years; and
• malpractice judgments, arbitration awards and settlements with a payment to the patient within the most recent five years. Pending malpractice claims are not included.

Two cautions. The profile's own FAQ notes that it does not list the license expiration date, so use Step 1 for current status. And an empty discipline section covers only the time windows above.

Step 3: Check the prescriber's CDS registration

New Jersey regulates controlled dangerous substances (CDS), which include ADHD stimulants, separately from medical licensing. According to the Division of Consumer Affairs' Drug Control Unit, New Jersey practitioners who prescribe controlled dangerous substances need a New Jersey CDS registration and a DEA registration for a location in New Jersey.

The same verification site lists CDS registrations. Choose CDS as the profession; registration types include "CDS Physician," "CDS Advanced Practice Nurse" and "CDS Physician Assistant." A clinician can be fully licensed and still not hold a CDS registration, for example if they do not prescribe controlled medications. That matters only if stimulant treatment is on the table.

Step 4: Know what an NPI number does and does not mean

Many clinic websites list a National Provider Identifier (NPI). The NPI is the 10-digit standard identifier for health care providers that health plans use in billing, and you can look it up in the federal NPI Registry. CMS states plainly that having an NPI does not ensure a provider is licensed or credentialed, does not guarantee payment by a health plan and does not enroll a provider in a health plan. Use it to match a name to a billing record, not as proof of a license.

What each tool tells you

Clinicians licensed in other states

New Jersey's telehealth law requires a clinician providing care by telehealth under it to be validly licensed, certified or registered under New Jersey's Title 45, so a clinician seeing you by video while you are in New Jersey should show up in Step 1. If you sometimes take visits from New York, for example from your workplace in Manhattan, the clinician also needs a New York license, which you check through New York's own tools. The steps are in how to check a psychiatrist's license in New York.

Specialty claims are a separate question from licensure. If a clinician describes a specialty or certification, ask which organization granted it and check with that organization directly.

If something does not match

• A name that does not appear, a license type that does not fit what you were told, or an inactive status is a reason to stop and ask before going further.
• An online service that will not tell you the name of the clinician who will see you is a warning sign on its own. See red flags in online ADHD clinics.
• Complaints about physicians go to the State Board of Medical Examiners, which accepts them through an online consumer complaint form. Additional disciplinary information is available from the Board by phone at 609-826-7100.

Checking Dr. Shershow

Dr. John C. Shershow, M.D. is a psychiatrist licensed in New York and New Jersey who focuses on adult ADHD. You can confirm both licenses with the public tools described here and on the New York page linked above. His background is on the about page. Other questions worth asking any psychiatrist are in questions to ask an ADHD psychiatrist in New Jersey, and who else can diagnose in the state is covered in who can diagnose ADHD in New Jersey.