How we verify providers

What the badge means

“Credential verified” means someone on our team looked the provider’s certification or license number up at the organization that issued it and checked three things that day: the number exists, the record is in the provider’s name, and the credential is current. When the registry publishes an expiration date, we record it, and the badge comes down on that date until a renewal is on record. We re-check credentials periodically, about once a year. A registry does not tell us when it suspends or revokes a credential between those checks; if we learn a credential was suspended or revoked, we remove the badge. We never grant the badge from a photo of a certificate alone.

Where we check

We verify at the source, using the issuing organization’s own lookup:

• State registries — California’s CDPH phlebotomist search, Washington’s Department of Health credential lookup, and the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners’ license verification, for the states that license phlebotomists.
• National certifying bodies — NHA, AMT, NCCT, NPS, NPCE, ACA and ASPT, checked through each organization’s own lookup or its verification department; ASCP, which has no public lookup, through the digital badge ASCP issues to the holder.
• Nursys — for providers whose main credential is a nursing license (RN/LPN/LVN).
• The CMS CLIA database — for laboratories, we confirm the CLIA certificate number in the federal registry. A laboratory’s badge reads “CLIA certificate verified”: it covers the laboratory, not the individual credentials of its staff.

What “self-reported” means

A profile marked “Self-reported credential” lists a certification we have not yet confirmed at the source. That is not an accusation — some registries offer no public lookup, and new listings start there while verification is in progress. Every provider attests at signup that their information is accurate, and you are always free to ask a provider for their credential directly. They expect the question.

A credential marked “on file” means the provider sent us a copy of the document — a certificate, a card or a school certificate — and we read it. It is not the verified badge: we have not confirmed that document with the organization that issued it.

What we do not verify

• Liability insurance — three honest levels, and each one switches off on the policy’s expiry date when we have it (the two upper levels always do). Self-reported: the provider says they carry it. Insurance on file: we read a current certificate of insurance they sent us. Insurance verified: we confirmed that certificate directly with the carrier or broker. We never audit the policy’s terms or whether the cover is enough for your situation.
• Pricing and availability — set by each provider and can change; confirm when you book.
• Clinical quality — PhlebFlow is a directory and logistics platform, not a medical provider. Reviews below are the closest signal we have.

Where reviews come from

There is no public review form. A review reaches a profile by one of two private links, and each review is labeled by its source. Verified patient: the link we send after a request made through PhlebFlow. Invited by the provider: a link the provider sends to a patient for a visit arranged elsewhere. Both go through the same moderation before they publish, and we do not remove a review for being negative. The star rating on a profile is calculated from verified-patient reviews only, and a profile with no reviews shows none rather than an invented score. These checks reduce abuse; they do not guarantee that every statement in a review is accurate.

How a request is assigned

If you choose a provider from their profile, your request goes to them. If you ask us to match you, it is not a lottery, and no provider can pay to be chosen. Among providers who are published, taking new patients, not on vacation, and whose coverage includes your ZIP code — leaving out anyone who has told us that ZIP or that service is outside what they do — the request goes first to providers who list your area specifically rather than a statewide or multi-state list; among those, to one who offers what you asked for (same-day, visits to care facilities, or the specific service), then to providers who answer requests rather than let them expire, then to the most local coverage, then to whoever has the fewest requests waiting, and providers who are equal on all of that take turns. If nobody answers within the response window, the request moves to the next provider on the same rule, more than once if needed, and never overnight in the provider’s time. You can cancel from your status link at any point, and you are never charged for a request.

Something look wrong?

If a credential, price, or claim on any profile doesn’t match reality, tell us at support@phlebflow.com — we investigate every report and unpublish listings that can’t back up what they claim. Providers: our accepted credentials and the full signup process are on the Provider Requirements page.