California medical license lookup
The license itself is verified on the Medical Board of California search, not by CMS or any directory. 974,315 registry records list a practice address in California, and not all of them hold a state license. Search the provider's name there to see license status, expiration and any public orders.
Open the California license search →Medical Board of California
Physicians and surgeons (MD) and other professions regulated by the Medical Board of California; other boards use the DCA search.
Verify a California provider in five checks
- 1IdentityNPI record in CMS NPPESNPI lookupStart here
- 2LicenseActive license and public ordersMedical Board of California searchCheck the board
- 3Other statesLicenses and actions elsewhereDocInfo (FSMB)Not checked
- 4ExclusionsMedicare and Medicaid bansHHS-OIG exclusion listNot checked
- 5CertificationBoard certificationABMS AOA NCCPA AANPNot checked
9,716 people and businesses in California are barred from Medicare and Medicaid
California has the most entries on the federal exclusion list among the 50 states and D.C. Per resident, it has 24.9 per 100,000, against 25.0 for the 50 states and D.C.: the 22nd highest of 51.
Exclusion list entries per 100,000 residents
Source: HHS-OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE), file of Sep 10, 2026 (oig.hhs.gov); 2023 Census population estimates (census.gov).
Who holds a California registry record
974,315 NPPES records list a practice address in California. 48% report no credential at all, which is why the board search, not the registry, is the license record. A record that lists several credentials counts in each row.
Source: CMS NPPES, file of Aug 9, 2026, by reported credential text (NPPES files on CMS.gov).
California board discipline, FY 2022-23: 374 actions
The board's annual report counts 374 administrative disciplinary actions in FY 2022-23, against 148,769 physician licenses in effect: about 2.5 per 1,000. The most common action was probation (148).
The California discipline breakdown →
Source: Medical Board of California Annual Report 2022-2023, page 18 (licenses in effect: page 12).
Which California search to use, by profession
The Medical Board of California licenses physicians; nurses, pharmacists and dentists are licensed by other boards, so a nurse practitioner searched on the medical board returns nothing. That is not a warning sign: search the right board.
- Physicians (MD)The Medical Board of California search
- Osteopathic physicians (DO) and physician assistantsThe Osteopathic Medical Board of California and the Physician Assistant Board, on the DCA license search
- Nurses (RN, LPN, NP)Not the medical board: the Board of Registered Nursing (RNs and NPs) or the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (LVNs), both on the DCA license search, or Nursys QuickConfirm for any state
- Pharmacists and dentistsSeparate boards: the Board of Pharmacy and the Dental Board of California, on the same DCA search
No NPI yet? Find the provider first
Common questions
Is the California license search free?
Yes. The Medical Board of California publishes its license search at no charge. It shows license status, license number and expiration, and board actions the board has made public.
Does an NPI prove a provider is licensed?
No. An NPI is an identifier CMS issues for billing. It is not a license and does not confirm board certification. Check the state board search for the license itself.
Does the California search show malpractice payments?
It depends on the board, so open one profile on the Medical Board of California search and read its fields. Some boards list malpractice judgments or settlements on the licensee profile; many list only license status and public board actions. The full payment history is in the National Practitioner Data Bank, which is not open to the public for individual lookups.
License lookup in other states
Source: the official link was checked on Sep 25, 2026 (license search, opened); CMS NPPES NPI Registry (npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov); Medical Board of California. PlainDoctor is not a primary-source verifier.
Figures on PlainDoctor are read from the federal files each page names (CMS NPPES, Medicare Part D, MIPS, Open Payments; the HHS-OIG exclusion list only as counts) and from Census population estimates, with the file date shown beside them. The board link above carries its own check date. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of Aug 9, 2026.