Frequently asked questions

Certicare is open to licensed U.S. healthcare providers: physicians (MD and DO), nurse practitioners, physician associates, mental health clinicians, and other licensed clinicians, each practicing under their own state license. Every application goes through identity and credential review. Provider type does not change which documents you can create; every account has the same document tools.

You apply with your name, credential, license state(s), and NPI. We confirm your license and NPI against public registries, such as your state's license lookup and the NPI registry, and reply by email, usually within 2 business days.

No. You practice under your own license, and staying within its scope and jurisdiction remains your responsibility. Certicare is a documentation and verification layer. It does not change what your license allows.

No. Each credentialed provider gets their own private portal link, and that link is what issues the document. Staff drafting on a provider's behalf is not supported, and logins may not be shared with unlicensed staff. On Practice and Group plans, every provider who needs to issue documents goes through credential review and gets their own link.

The application itself takes a few minutes and costs nothing. We reply by email, usually within 2 business days. Once approved, you choose a plan and your account is opened.

Certicare is a monthly subscription: Solo is $29/month (1 provider, up to 25 documents a month), Practice is $79/month (up to 3 providers, 100 documents a month), and Group is $199/month (up to 10 providers, 400 documents a month). Letters and registered forms both count toward the monthly allowance. Every new account starts with a 14-day free trial. Cancel anytime; your plan ends at the close of the billing month, and you keep access until then.

You can upgrade to the next plan at any time to keep issuing. Allowances reset at the start of each billing month and unused documents do not roll over.

Yes. Upgrades take effect right away so you can keep issuing; downgrades take effect at your next billing month.

Yes. Every new account starts with a 14-day free trial of the plan you choose, and no payment card is needed to start. Billing begins only if you subscribe when the trial ends. Details are on the pricing page.

There are two ways to get a document with a record ID behind it.

Certicare writes the letter. A PDF letter on your own letterhead, with a reference line, your signature block, the record ID, and a written-verification route in the footer:

• Work and school absence notes
• Return-to-work and return-to-school letters
• Workplace accommodation and ADA letters
• Letters supporting a medical leave or FMLA request
• Work-restriction and modified-duty letters
• Fitness-for-duty statements
• Disability and short-term disability letters
• Treatment and appointment verification letters
• Custom letters you write yourself

You register a form you completed. Upload an employer or insurer form you have already filled in and signed, and it gets the same record ID, the same issuance log, and the same written verification. See the next answer.

Yes, by registering them. You complete and sign the form the way you do now, whether that is an FMLA WH-380, an Attending Physician's Statement, or a carrier's own packet. Then you upload the signed PDF to the portal.

Certicare records the issuance, keeps the file as the copy of record, and draws one footer line in the bottom margin of each page carrying the record ID and the verification route. Your content is not changed. The stamped copy is emailed back to you, so you can check it before you send it on.

From that point the form behaves like any other Certicare document: the employer or insurer writes in, and a clinician confirms it was issued and that their copy matches the record.

Filling forms in for you is a different problem, and not something Certicare does today.

Use the custom letter option. You write the body in your own words, and Certicare adds the letterhead, date line, reference line, signature block, record ID, and verification route. A custom letter is logged and verifiable exactly like a preset one.

Letters carry a typed electronic signature with your name and credentials, marked as electronically signed. Nothing needs to be printed or hand-signed. A form you register is already signed by you before it is uploaded; Certicare does not add or alter a signature on it.

Yours. During setup you establish your practice identity (name, credentials, practice name, and contact details), and every letter you issue carries that letterhead automatically.

The finished PDF is emailed to you, not to the patient. You deliver it however you normally share documents with your patients, or send it directly to the employer or insurer. Certicare does not contact your patients.

Each document is logged at the moment it is issued or registered, with its record ID, the issuing provider, the date, and the document itself. Verification requests are checked against this record, and you retain access to your own issuance records.

Issuance records for documents you already created are retained, so previously issued documents remain verifiable even after your subscription ends.

Written verification confirms two things: that the document was issued, and that the copy submitted matches the issuance record. It does not guarantee acceptance by any employer, school, or insurer. Recipients make their own decisions.

No medical information is released automatically. Disclosure beyond issuance and record match may require the patient's signed authorization or another lawful basis. Every request is reviewed individually by a clinician and answered in writing only.

The documents you create are your own clinical records, and verification responses are limited to the defined scope above. Patient information is handled under HIPAA's rules; the Security & HIPAA page names every service that touches it, including forms you upload. Details on how Certicare handles other information are in our privacy policy and terms of service.

No. Certicare is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any employer, government agency, union, or insurer, and verification answers are provided without favor in either direction.