QUESTIONS / NPDB REPORTS
Can I fix or dispute my NPDB report?
A hospital, licensing board, health plan, or insurer has filed a report about you with the National Practitioner Data Bank. You got a notice from the NPDB, or you found the report on a self-query. Every hospital, health plan, and board that checks your name will see it, and it stays on file unless it is corrected or voided. We help practitioners nationwide, because the NPDB process is federal and the same in every state.
WHAT YOU’RE ASKING
Is the report accurate? Should it have been filed at all? What can you do now, before your next credentialing cycle, payer enrollment, or license renewal?
WHY IT MATTERS
NPDB QUESTIONS
The NPDB is a confidential federal database run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hospitals must check it when granting privileges and every two years after, and health plans, licensing boards and employers use it for credentialing. A report generally stays on file permanently unless it is corrected or removed, and disagreeing with it does not trigger a review.
Does it matter which state I practice in?
No. The NPDB is federal, so the dispute process is the same in every state. We represent physicians, dentists, nurses and other practitioners nationwide in NPDB matters.
What gets reported to the NPDB?
The main reports about practitioners are:
Medical malpractice payments made on a practitioner’s behalf
Hospital actions that restrict clinical privileges for more than 30 days for reasons of competence or conduct
Surrendering or restricting privileges while under investigation, or in return for the hospital not investigating
State licensing board actions
DEA actions, and exclusions from Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs
Certain healthcare-related criminal convictions and civil judgments
Reporting entities generally must file within 30 days of the action.
Can I stop a report before it is filed?
Sometimes, and this is often when a lawyer helps most. Whether something must be reported depends on its exact form: how long a restriction lasts, whether an investigation was formally open, and how a resignation or settlement is worded. Getting advice before you resign, accept a restriction or sign a settlement can change whether a report is required at all.
I already have a report. What are my options?
Add a subject statement. You can add a statement to your report at any time, giving your account of what happened. Everyone who receives the report in the future also receives your statement.
Enter the report into Dispute Status. This formally records that you dispute the report’s facts, or whether it should have been filed. The reporting entity is notified, and so is every organization that received the report in the last three years.
Ask the reporting entity to correct or void the report. Outside of Dispute Resolution, only the entity that filed the report can change it. The NPDB will not edit a report just because you ask.
Request Dispute Resolution by HHS. If the entity declines to fix the report, or does not respond within 60 days, you can ask HHS to review it. You must place the report in Dispute Status first and document that you tried to resolve it with the entity.
What will HHS review in Dispute Resolution?
HHS reviews only two things: whether the report is factually accurate, and whether it was required to be reported, including whether the entity was eligible to report it. HHS will not reconsider the merits of the hospital’s or board’s decision, and it will not review whether you received fair process. Those issues have to be raised with the hospital or board itself, usually before the action becomes final.
HHS can keep the report as is, correct it, or remove it. A dispute that focuses on what HHS can actually decide has a much better chance than one that argues the merits.
What about the hospital or board action behind the report?
The underlying action, such as a peer review decision, fair hearing or board order, is governed by the hospital’s bylaws and state law. Getting advice before you resign, accept a restriction or sign a settlement can change whether a report is required at all. Outside DC, and Virginia, we work with local counsel on these negotiations. Elsewhere, we coordinate with local counsel on the underlying action and handle the federal NPDB dispute ourselves.
WHAT WE REVIEW
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
The report’s narrative, codes, dates, and stated basis
Whether the action was reportable: the length of a privilege restriction, whether an investigation was actually open when you resigned, and whether the action was final
Medical staff bylaws, hearing records, board orders, and settlement or consent terms
Your contacts with the reporting organization, and the 60-day timeline
Your draft subject statement
How to answer the report question on credentialing, enrollment, and license applications
We handle the NPDB report itself. We do not defend the underlying malpractice or tort claim.
A written assessment of whether the report is accurate and reportable
A plan: ask the organization to correct or void the report, add a statement, request Dispute Resolution, or a combination
A drafted subject statement and dispute submission
Someone to handle communications with the reporting organization and the NPDB
Guidance on how to disclose the report from here on
Reviewed by Reza Ghafoorian, MD, JD · Updated November 2026
Governing law: Health Care Quality Improvement Act, 42 U.S.C. § 11101 et seq. · Social Security Act § 1921, 42 U.S.C. § 1396r-2 · Social Security Act § 1128E, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7e · 45 C.F.R. Part 60 · 45 C.F.R. § 60.21 (disputes) · NPDB Guidebook, Dispute Process
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