Malpractice Accountability
We cross-referenced federal exclusion lists with the national provider registry to find physicians barred from federal healthcare programs who may still be practicing.
Data last updated 2026-03-23
The OIG maintains a List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) — physicians convicted of patient abuse, healthcare fraud, drug felonies, and other offenses who are barred from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and all other federal healthcare programs.
This investigation cross-references the LEIE against the CMS National Provider Registry (NPPES) to identify excluded physicians who still maintain active National Provider Identifiers — a prerequisite for billing federal programs.
An active NPI does not definitively prove a physician is currently seeing patients. However, maintaining an active NPI suggests ongoing engagement with the provider registry, and these findings warrant investigation by state medical boards and the OIG.
Key Findings
- 2,855 federally excluded physicians still maintain active National Provider Identifier (NPI) records
- 149 physicians convicted of patient abuse or neglect have active NPI records
- 202 convicted of felony healthcare fraud maintain active provider identifiers
- 716 excluded physicians (25%) migrated to a different state after exclusion
- 1202 physicians are double-flagged with both federal exclusion and state board sanctions
- 1267 excluded physicians received $23,864,007 in industry payments (2018–2024)
Overrepresented Specialties
How many times more likely a physician in each specialty is to be excluded, compared to the average physician.
1.0× = average rate among all physicians. Higher = more overrepresented.
Where Excluded Physicians Move
After being excluded, some physicians move to a different state. The new state's medical board may not be aware of the federal exclusion.
Why Physicians Were Excluded
Breakdown of the federal offenses that led to exclusion.
- Do not panic. An active registry record does not confirm they are currently practicing.
- Check your state medical board's website for their current license status.
- Contact your insurance provider to ask whether this physician is currently in-network.
- You can report concerns to the OIG Hotline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477).
- Consider speaking with another physician about your care.