# Board Certified **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095 "2019-04-05T15:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/1 "2019-04-05T15:34:47Z")
I work for a doctor and just received a faxed invoice from “BoardCertified” in the amount of $299.00. What a scam! On its face you would think is an invoice for board certification. I happen to know from previous research that [boardcertified.com](http://boardcertified.com) is a mere online physician directory. It’s not even a popular one like WebMD or Healthgrades. Just some random company asking for $300 to put your name on a website nobody visits. I’m sure they make hundreds of thousands off unwitting doctors who think “BoardCertified” will actually renew their board certification. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/2 "2019-04-05T17:46:21Z")
I’m hoping doctors who are board certified know how the process works. And who uses faxes anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/3 "2019-04-05T18:08:48Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I’m hoping doctors who are board certified know how the process works. And who uses faxes anymore? My friend, fax messages are still the preferred mode of communication in this industry. And apparently enough doctors fall for this to justify twenty years of continued existence, 1999-2019. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/4 "2019-04-05T20:39:57Z")
Legit board certifications can be found [here at the American Board of Medical Specialties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Board_of_Medical_Specialties') and they include: American Board of Dermatology American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology American Board of Ophthalmology American Board of Otolaryngology American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery American Board of Pediatrics American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology American Board of Radiology American Board of Urology American Board of Internal Medicine American Board of Pathology American Board of Surgery American Board of Neurological Surgery American Board of Anesthesiology American Board of Plastic Surgery American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery American Board of Preventive Medicine American Board of Family Medicine American Board of Allergy and Immunology American Board of Nuclear Medicine American Board of Thoracic Surgery American Board of Emergency Medicine American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics Some subspecialty boards do have legitimacy too, but most of the legit ones require you to have one of these Boards in order to take the subspecialty board exam. Addiction medicine is one that comes to mind. And some of these boards listed above also have their own subspecialty board exams. There too, one must hold that board certification in order to sit for the subspecialty board. Family Medicine has a variety of subspecialty boards one can take, such as geriatrics, sports medicine, pain medicine, and others. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/5 "2019-04-05T23:15:09Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Legit board certifications can be found [here at the American Board of Medical Specialties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Board_of_Medical_Specialties') and they include: Ah, yes. The Board that certifies the medical specialty Boards. But who certifies the Board that certifies the Boards??? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/6 "2019-04-06T01:55:28Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > My friend, fax messages are still the preferred mode of communication in this industry. So are you saying that if one doctor sends the medical records of a patient to another doctor, they use a fax machine? Or are you saying a doctor will use a fax machine to submit an order for supplies? What if a nurse is applying for a license? Does a state board prefer that to be done by fax? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/7 "2019-04-06T02:36:37Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > So are you saying that if one doctor sends the medical records of a patient to another doctor, they use a fax machine? We get most of our medical record requests via fax machine at my office. The rest come by snail mail. Rarely do we get a CD or other medium. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/8 "2019-04-16T22:53:52Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > So are you saying that if one doctor sends the medical records of a patient to another doctor, they use a fax machine? > > Or are you saying a doctor will use a fax machine to submit an order for supplies? > > What if a nurse is applying for a license? Does a state board prefer that to be done by fax? Most of the time, sometimes, no. For urgent matters we will phone, for extensive records we mail, and for regulatory purposes once a year we do the newfangled electronic interchange with the one other office who supports it. Followed by a fax. When ordering supplies we usually do it through the vendor’s website. If we want to negotiate discounts that is always over the phone with our account representative. Office supplies, especially paper, sometimes have better prices in person than through Amazon. I am not a nurse and my nursing staff handle their own licenses. But I handle the doctor’s renewals - he hands me a list of all his continuing education diplomas, signs a check (if they don’t take credit cards), and I either mail them in or scan them in and send via an online form. For local hospital re-credentialing I usually fax, unless I’m running close to the deadline in which case I drive the documents across town. Also our legitimate certifying boards send renewal notices by fax. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/9 "2019-04-17T15:38:05Z")
God, that is some antiquated and time consuming shit, being described. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/10 "2019-04-17T17:16:03Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > God, that is some antiquated and time consuming shit, being described. It’s because faxes are secure point to point transmission. Email is not secure at all. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/11 "2019-04-18T12:16:31Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > It’s because faxes are secure point to point transmission. > > Email is not secure at all. Bingo. I work in a health service which employs doctors, and we still have a fax for prescriptions, etc. Using e-mail and SMS is, I think not legal for us, unless we are on certain networks with much higher security standards. And then only in-network, we can’t send any thing to a pharmacy etc that way. Its all a bit obsolete now anyway, with all the prescriptions on a central register, but the regulations persist. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/12 "2019-04-18T13:14:36Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > Bingo. I work in a health service which employs doctors, and we still have a fax for prescriptions, etc. Using e-mail and SMS is, I think not legal for us, unless we are on certain networks with much higher security standards. And then only in-network, we can’t send any thing to a pharmacy etc that way. > > Its all a bit obsolete now anyway, with all the prescriptions on a central register, but the regulations persist. It’s less of regulations and more with the law. End-to-end encryption is available for emails, but in order to use email we need to have our email provider sign a business associate agreement. The agreement usually includes a guarantee that if we get hit with a HIPAA fine due to the email provider’s screw up, the email provider pays the million dollar fine. Most email providers don’t want to sign that agreement. To my knowledge, the only mainstream email provider that does this is Google G-Suite for enterprise customers ($$$). Large hospitals and provider groups can afford that, but they might as well save money and provide their own email services in-house. Solo practices don’t have many options. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/13 "2019-04-18T13:23:14Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > We get most of our medical record requests via fax machine at my office. The rest come by snail mail. Rarely do we get a CD or other medium. No email? ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/14 "2019-04-18T13:29:46Z")
FAX is somehow HIPPA or is it HIPAA compliant. The only secure email I’ve seen is with my insurance company and it’s just for communication and it’s not even email. It’s like a message board email between you and them. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/15 "2019-04-18T13:30:10Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No email? It’s not secure enough for HIPAA, unless you have some very specific hardware and software and protocol agreements with sending/receiving agencies. And of course every different place has different hardware/software/EMR systems that aren’t compatible without spending a ton of money. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/board-certified/832095/16 "2019-04-18T13:32:12Z")
> [@SOJA](#): > > is it HIPAA Yes, it’s HIPAA. Never trust anyone giving HIPAA advice if they call it HIPPA.