Is data contained in an AMA Physician Profile considered primary source?
The AMA Physician Professional Data™ is the source for the data in the AMA Physician Profiles and has been primary source verified. Those organizations that accept certain elements of the AMA Physician Professional Data as primary source verified data include:
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- The Joint Commission (TJC)
- Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP)
- DNV Healthcare (DNV)
- National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
- Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC)
See a table that demonstrates how AMA data elements meet and exceed accrediting body standards.
What data is contained in an AMA Physician Profile?
An initial or full AMA Physician Profile includes the following information:
- Mailing address
- Primary office address
- Primary office phone number
- Date of birth
- Self-designated specialty
- AMA member status
- National provider identifier (NPI) number
- Medical education information
- ACGME accredited graduate medical training information
- NBME certification
- State licensure information
- ECFMG application number, if applicable
- DEA registration number
- ABMS specialty board certification (including MOC)
- Sanction information
View a sample initial profile.
AMA Physician Reappointment Profiles include the following information:
- Mailing address
- Primary office address
- Primary office phone number
- Date of birth
- National provider identifier (NPI) number
- State Licensure information
- DEA registration number
- ABMS specialty board certification (including MOC)
- Sanction information
View a sample reappointment profile.
How do organizations use physician data?
AMA Physician Profiles are often used by health care organizations to confirm information submitted by a physician when applying for clinical privileges at that organization. Profiles may also be used by payers validating physician information for reimbursement or during the provider enrollment process.
What does it mean when a profile has a “Do Not Release” flag?
On a rare occasion an AMA Physician Profile may have a "Do Not Release" flag associated with a physician’s AMA Physician Professional Data record. This flag is a safety measure for AMA Credentialing Services; physicians with this flag have requested that AMA not release any information without their consent. No judgment should be inferred due to this flag. Some physicians simply want to know who is requesting their profile. AMA policy is to send a consent form asking the physician to give signed permission to release his or her records to the organization requesting it. This consent form is mailed via US Postal Service and, therefore, fulfillment of the profile order may take four to six weeks. If you are in contact with the physician, please let him or her know to expect this form and that their prompt response will help speed the process. We will notify you via email when the profile is available for download as soon as we receive permission.
How does AMA determine which graduate medical training programs to display in an AMA Profile?
The graduate medical education section includes current and historical graduate medical training programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The data includes the sponsoring institution, state, program name (after 2010), specialty, training type (after 2017), dates attended, and verification of completion. The profile does not include non-ACGME accredited training programs, and the absence of such training programs in the AMA Profile does not necessarily indicate a gap in completion of training. To confirm completion of non-ACGME accredited training programs, AMA recommends reaching out to the applicable training program directly to confirm completion.
Why are some license renewal dates set in the future and others in the past?
Licensing boards use the renewal date field for different purposes. For some boards, like North Carolina, the renewal date is provided in lieu of an expiration date. For other boards, the renewal date represents to beginning of a physician’s license renewal eligibility period. A few boards even utilize the field to represent the date the license was last renewed. View a list of jurisdictions that provide a renewal date and their definitions.
If you don’t see an answer to your question in this list of FAQs, please contact us. We will respond to your question by email within three business days, and we will continuously update our FAQ list, as needed.
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