Every profile on ClinicLink is built from several independent public sources, brought together in one place so you don't have to check each of them separately. Here's what goes into a profile, and what each piece does and doesn't tell you.
The base record: NPPES
Every physician's core listing (name, credentials, specialty, practice address, NPI number) comes from the NPPES NPI Registry, the federal database every licensed provider in the U.S. is required to register with. This is why we can list doctors who haven't set foot on ClinicLink yet: the base listing exists independent of whether a doctor has claimed their profile.
License and board-action history: Texas Medical Board
License status and any disciplinary board actions come directly from the Texas Medical Board's public records, the same records you can look up yourself, which we link to on every profile. See our guide to reading a TMB record for how to interpret what's shown.
Reviews: aggregated, not written by us
Star ratings and review counts are pulled from public review platforms such as Google and Healthgrades, with the source clearly labeled next to each rating. We don't generate, edit, or curate reviews. We aggregate what's already public and show you where each number comes from, so you can weigh sources however you trust them.
Recognition: D Magazine Best Doctors
Where shown, the D Magazine "Best Doctors" badge reflects that publication's own annual editorial recognition process, a separate and independent evaluation we simply display, not something ClinicLink awards.
What "claimed" and "verified" mean
Most listings are unclaimed, meaning a directory entry built from the public sources above. A doctor can claim their own profile by verifying their NPI, work email and state license number, and getting endorsed by peers in our network. When the license number a doctor gives matches the Texas Medical Board record we already hold for that NPI, clicking the link we email to their work address verifies the claim on the spot. Anything we cannot confirm that way, such as a claim made by practice staff, is reviewed by a ClinicLink admin instead. Either way the profile is then marked verified and the doctor gets a checkmark, along with the ability to add a photo, bio, insurance list and booking link themselves.
Verification confirms identity, that the person editing the profile really is that doctor or an authorized member of their practice. It is not a clinical endorsement of the doctor's quality of care.
What we don't verify
Insurance plans listed on a claimed profile are self-reported by the practice, the same way most major directories handle it. We don't have a live connection to insurance networks, so it's worth a quick call to confirm coverage before you book. Similarly, bios and photos are provided by the doctor's own practice, not independently fact-checked beyond the identity verification during claiming.