What's Inside a Verified Physician Database: 15 Data Fields Explained

Why field-level detail matters more than record count

Vendors love to advertise raw contact counts — "500,000 physicians!" — but the number that matters is how many usable, verified fields exist per record. A database with 15 accurate fields per contact is worth more than one with 5 fields across a bigger list.

Here's what should actually be inside a physician record, field by field.

1. Full name and credentials. MD, DO, NP, PA — credential accuracy affects both compliance and how you should approach outreach.

2. NPI number. The National Provider Identifier, cross-referenced against the federal registry — the single most reliable anchor for verifying a physician record is real and current.

3. Primary specialty. Board-certified specialty designation, not a self-reported title.

4. Sub-specialty where applicable. Interventional cardiology vs. general cardiology, for example — critical for device and pharma targeting.

5. Practice setting. Private practice, hospital-employed, academic medical center, or IDN-affiliated.

6. Current employer / facility name. Verified against recent sources, not a stale snapshot from a data pull years old.

7. Facility address. Street-level practice location, used for territory mapping and direct mail.

8. Work email. Verified and deliverability-tested, not just pattern-guessed from a name and domain.

9. Direct or facility phone. Where available, distinguished from a general front-desk line.

10. State license information. Used for compliance and territory-boundary accuracy.

11. Years in practice / career stage. Useful for segmenting early-career vs. established prescribers or purchasers.

12. Hospital affiliations. Physicians often have privileges at multiple facilities — this field maps that network.

13. Procedure or prescribing volume tier (where available). Relevant for device and pharma use cases specifically.

14. Last verification date. The single most-skipped field by low-cost vendors. If a vendor can't tell you when a record was last checked, assume it's old.

15. Data source and verification method. NPI cross-reference, direct outreach confirmation, LinkedIn corroboration — transparency here is a strong signal of overall data quality.

The questions to ask any vendor

• "Which of these 15 fields do you actually include, and which are optional add-ons?"
• "What's your last-verified date policy — is it per-record or a database-wide refresh date?"
• "Can I see a sample with all fields populated, not just name and email?"

What NPLUS Global includes by default

Every physician record includes NPI verification, specialty and sub-specialty, practice setting, current employer confirmation, verified email, and a documented last-verification date — no add-on tiers required to get the fields that actually make a list usable.

Request a sample and see the full field set populated for your specific specialty and geography before you commit to anything larger.