Online privacy for healthcare workers

Why your details are easier to find in this job

Many healthcare roles require a licence, and state licensing boards generally offer a public way to check that a licence is valid, because patients and employers need to verify it. What a lookup shows differs by state and profession. Some show only name and licence status; others may show a practice or mailing address. We cannot tell you what yours shows, so look it up under your own name.

If you have a National Provider Identifier, the NPPES NPI Registry, run by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is a public search tool. Records can include a practice location, so it is worth checking what yours shows. Providers log in to NPPES to view and update their own record, and which address you may use there is a question for NPPES and your employer or credentialing team.

Beyond that, the usual factors apply. People-search sites collect property and other public records and publish your name, age, past and present addresses and phone numbers. Hospitals and practices also publish staff pages and provider directories.

Step 1: opt out of people-search sites (free)

• Search your own name, your name plus your city, and your home address in a private browsing window. Write down every people-search site that shows you.
• Open each listing and copy its address into a spreadsheet with the date.
• Use each site's opt-out page. Our step-by-step guides cover Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, Intelius, PeopleFinders, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch, MyLife, Instant Checkmate and TruthFinder. The general method is in how to remove your personal information from the internet.
• Click the confirmation link in the email each site sends. Skipping that step is a common reason a request does nothing.
• Set a calendar reminder to search again in a few months. Listings can come back when a site refreshes its data.

Step 2: ask Google to remove results about you (free)

Google has a Results about you tool that lets you ask for search results showing your home address, phone number or email to be removed from Google Search. Google can only remove the result from its own search, not the page that hosts it, so you still need the opt-outs. Our guide to removing your address and phone number from Google walks through it.

Step 3: social media settings

• Make personal accounts private and review who can see old posts and tagged photos.
• Do not post anything that could identify a patient, even indirectly. Your employer's policy and the law on patient privacy apply, and they differ by workplace, so check with your compliance office.
• Turn off location tagging, and avoid showing your home, car or commute.
• Consider using a shortened name on personal accounts so patients searching your full professional name do not land on them.
• Keep professional profiles, such as a practice page or professional network, separate from personal ones.

Step 4: separate work and personal contact details

• Use a work email and work phone number, or the clinic's main line, in anything public.
• Where a licensing board, directory or professional society asks for an address, ask whether a practice address or P.O. box is accepted. Many boards also need a current address on file for official mail, so ask whether the address you give for notices can be kept out of the public lookup. The answer depends on your state and board.
• Use a separate personal email for banks, shopping and accounts.
• If you run a private practice from home, look at whether a business address, virtual office or commercial mailbox is allowed under your board's and your state's rules before changing anything.

Step 5: healthcare-specific things to check

• Your state licensing board's public lookup: see exactly what is displayed, and ask the board what is public and whether a different mailing address can be used.
• The NPI Registry: search your name and review the practice location shown.
• Hospital or practice staff pages and provider directories: ask whether your photo, bio or details can be trimmed.
• Review sites and doctor-directory profiles that list your office: confirm they show a business address, and use each site's claim or correction process.
• Address confidentiality: Many US states run address confidentiality programs, sometimes called Safe at Home. They are mainly for people who have been through domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, and they give participants a substitute mailing address that state and local agencies can use instead of a home address. Eligibility and what the program covers differ by state, and private businesses are often not required to accept the substitute address. California's Safe at Home page, for example, lists victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking and child abduction, and says it also serves certain other groups the state names. Because the rules are set state by state, search for your own state's program (usually run by the Secretary of State or Attorney General) and read the eligibility section before you apply. If you are in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.

Where a paid service fits in (optional)

The opt-outs are free, but they take time and listings can return. A data-removal service does the repeating work. According to DeleteMe's own website, as read on October 31, 2026, it searches data brokers and people-search sites, submits opt-out requests, and keeps removing your information over time. We have not tested it. Look at the current price and renewal terms on its site first.

If you want to look, here is DeleteMe (Affiliate link). It does not touch your licence lookup, NPI record, Google results or social media, so those steps remain yours.

A simple plan, in order

• This week: search yourself, then check your licence lookup and NPI record.
• This week: submit the people-search opt-outs and confirm each one.
• Next: send Google's Results about you requests for what remains.
• Then: set social media to private and separate work and personal contacts.
• Then: ask your board and employer about address options.
• In a few months: search again and repeat for anything that came back.
• Optional: a paid removal service (Affiliate link) can handle the repeat opt-outs.