State Licensing and Certification Agencies
The term state licensing and certification agency (state licensing boards) includes, but is not limited to, any authority of a state responsible for the licensing or certification of health care practitioners, health care entities, providers, or suppliers. These include state licensing boards and boards of medical examiners.
Steps to Ensure Your State Licensing Board is Compliant
Complete the following steps to achieve and maintain compliance with NPDB reporting requirements:
- Renew your board's registration.
- Verify and update your list of regulated professions.
- Attest to your reporting compliance.
- Review your Compliance Summary page. If your board is selected for a compliance review, you will have additional tasks and timeline information related to your review activities.
- Continue to submit reportable state licensure actions to the NPDB as required by law.
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What should I do if my board is selected for a compliance review?
Sign in to your account to check your Compliance Summary page. Review the actions you need to take and your due date to respond. If your board designated an agent to submit reports on your behalf, you must give us permission to work with your agent to respond to compliance actions.
There are two actions that require a response:
- Data Required : If you see a data required notice on your Compliance Summary it means that we could not find public data from your website regarding adverse actions taken by your board for certain professions. Follow the instructions to complete a data worksheet and return it to us by the due date on the notice. The worksheet information must include all actions that are reportable for the time period under review for the requested professions on your notice.
Reportable actions include those that revise prior actions, such as reinstatement or changes in the effective dates of a suspension. For details regarding reportable actions visit NPDB Guide to Reporting State Licensure Actions.Data Request
- Unmatched Actions : If we identified an adverse action and could not match it to a report, the action is unmatched and must be resolved by the due date listed. There are three ways to resolve an unmatched action:
- Submit a report of the action.
- Provide the report number if the action was reported.
- Provide information from NPDB regulations proving that the action is not reportable.
List of Professions with Compliance Actions You Must Resolve
How do I send a data request worksheet to NPDB?
If your Compliance Summary page shows that data is required:
- Select the link displayed on the page to go to the Data Request Worksheet (XLSX - 22 KB).
- Complete the worksheet and save it to your computer.
- Upload the worksheet on the Compliance Summary page.
The completed worksheet must be received by the due date listed on the summary page. Failure to do so may result in your board being posted as non-compliant.
When is the data submission deadline?
The due dates to return the completed Data Request Worksheet (XLSX - 22 KB) and to resolve unmatched actions are shown on the Compliance Summary page.
Attestation
Attestation is our national education and outreach effort to ensure that all registered organizations are meeting their NPDB reporting, querying, and confidentiality requirements.
All state licensing and certification agencies in the U.S. and its territories renew their registration every 2 years and attest to their compliance with NPDB reporting requirements. During attestation, Data Bank administrators attest that their organizations have submitted all reportable actions and medical malpractice payment reports. Federal law requires state licensing boards to report certain adverse actions within 30 days of the date the action was taken.
Organizations that fail to submit their required reports may be subject to the sanctions outlined in 45 CFR 60.
Quick Links
Reporting
State licensing boards must register with the NPDB and report certain actions taken against health care practitioners, entities, providers, or suppliers to the NPDB. They report to the NPDB under the authority of Section 1921 and Section 1128E of the Social Security Act.
NPDB Guide to Reporting State Licensure Actions
An infographic for reporting state licensure actions.
See the full infographicState licensing board and state medical boards or other state authorities that license health care practitioners may query the NPDB. Their authority to query is defined in Title IV of Public Law 99-660, Section 1921 of the Social Security Act, and Section 1128E of the Social Security Act.
