Where can I get care?

Can the doctor be somewhere else?

Telehealth connects you with care remotely: a video link, telephone conversation or web form are examples.

As of September 2026, the doctor needs a current California license when you are in California during the visit.

The doctor can live in another state under California's September 2026 rules.

For an in-person visit, ask where you will meet. For remote care, ask how to reach the health professional with questions.

How do I check the name?

California's free license search includes doctors who use MD or DO after their names.

These two types of doctors have separate state medical boards, but you can check both in the same search.

Match the full name and type of license. Check whether the license is current or expired.

The search also shows penalties from the licensing board, such as a license being paused or taken away.

Open any linked documents about those penalties and ask the doctor to explain them.

Even when the license record lists no penalties, it cannot establish the quality of that doctor's care.

How can I check a nurse practitioner?

Alongside being a nurse, a nurse practitioner holds a separate professional certificate.

California's nursing board records include the nurse license, the practitioner certificate and the certificate for prescribing.

Use the same state search, choosing the nursing records. Ask the person which entries match the care they will give.

Who will make and send the medicine?

A custom medicine prepared by a doctor or pharmacy is called compounded.

Ask for the pharmacy's actual name. A care website's name may not tell you who made a compounded medicine.

The California pharmacy board has a free search, with separate entries for pharmacies that make sterile medicines.

A preparation described as sterile contains no living germs.

To ship prescription medicine to you in California, an out-of-state pharmacy must hold a California nonresident license, as of September 2026.

The word nonresident tells you that the pharmacy's home state is elsewhere.