Who do you use?Now there's an answer.
HandshakeMD is a free directory of clinicians who are actually taking new patients. Every listing is confirmed by a real person within the last six months, or it comes down.
The problem
You call five people. Four aren't taking patients.
Every directory you've used has the same flaw. The listing is the product they sell, so a stale profile is revenue and taking it down costs them money. Nobody gets removed. You find out by making the calls.
HandshakeMD is free, so removing a listing costs us nothing. That's the whole difference, and it changes what we're able to promise you.
How the listing stays true
Every profile has a clock on it.
Availability expires after 90 days. The whole profile expires after 180. Drag the slider and watch what happens to a listing nobody confirms.
LCSW · Therapist
Dana Whitmore
Jacksonville, Florida · In person and video
Taking new patients
Confirmed 11 days ago
The listing is live
It shows in search with the date it was last confirmed, in plain sight, so you can judge it yourself.
One email, three buttons
Still taking patients, waitlist, or not right now. One click and it's done. Replying to the email with the word "open" works too, so nobody has to remember a password.
It goes dormant, not deleted
Hidden from search, out of the index, and recoverable in one click for a year. We'd rather show you nothing than show you something that isn't true.
Try it
Ask for what you actually need.
Type it the way you'd say it out loud. Cash pay psychiatrist in Nebraska by video, taking new patients.
What you can filter on
The questions everyone actually asks.
Most directories let you filter by specialty and zip code, then leave you to phone around for the rest. These are the fields that decide whether a referral works.
Taking patients, with a date
Open, waitlist, or closed, and the day the clinician last said so. Nothing is displayed as open unless it was confirmed inside the window.
What it costs, in dollars
First visit and follow up, posted as real numbers. Whether they take insurance, which plans, whether they offer a sliding scale, and whether they'll give you a superbill for out of network benefits.
Licensed in which states
Telehealth doesn't care where the office is, it cares about licensure. A psychiatrist in Florida licensed in Maine shows up when you search Maine.
Good referrals for me
Not a marketing bio. The actual list of what a clinician likes seeing, in their words. Migraine and neuropathy. PMDD and perimenopausal mood changes. Adults with ADHD.
Not a fit for my practice
Just as useful, and nowhere else on the internet. Saying "please don't send me workers compensation cases" saves everyone a wasted appointment.
Before you refer, send
The labs, notes, and imaging a specialist needs in hand. This list lives in a front desk person's head today, which is why so many referrals bounce.
For clinicians
Free, and worth the eight minutes.
If you don't have a website, this becomes one. A fast page that Google can actually find, with your rates, your availability, and a working way to reach you.
- A real page at your own address, indexed and fast
- A printable referral card you can fax or hand to a colleague
- One tap to say you have openings this week
- A front desk login so your office manager can update everyone at once
- Free practice tools, including a good faith estimate generator
- No fees, no upsell, no sponsored tier, no data sold to recruiters
Also free
Good faith estimate generator
The No Surprises Act requires a written estimate for self pay and uninsured patients. Build a printable one from the rates already on your profile.
Supervision and mentorship
Associates need supervised hours. New nurse practitioners need mentors. There has never been a good place to find either, so we built one.
Patient handouts and referral guides
Plain language one pagers you can print and hand a patient, reviewed by a board certified psychiatrist.
Our promise
What we will never do.
Writing it down keeps us honest later, when the money shows up and the temptation is real.
- No paid placement, sponsored listings, or bidding for position
- No patient reviews, star ratings, or popularity scores
- No referral fees from any clinician, practice, or platform
- No selling clinician contact data to recruiters, pharma, or anyone else
- No social feed, follower counts, or engagement games
- No badge that implies quality, endorsement, or board certification
Common questions
Before you sign up.
Is HandshakeMD really free for clinicians?
Yes, and it stays free. There's no subscription, no listing fee, no paid placement, and no way to buy a higher position in results. We also take no referral fees from any clinician or practice, which is a compliance posture as much as a promise.
Why do listings expire after six months?
Because a directory full of clinicians who closed their panel two years ago is worse than no directory. Availability expires after 90 days and the profile expires after 180. If nobody confirms it, the listing goes dormant and disappears from search until it's brought back with one click.
Who can list on HandshakeMD?
Any licensed clinician in the United States. Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, therapists, counselors, social workers, dietitians, and other licensed clinicians are all first class members here. The MD in the name is the brand, not the membership requirement.
What does verified mean here?
Specific, checkable things and nothing more. NPI matched means the name, credential, and taxonomy match the national registry. Practice email means we confirmed a working address at the practice domain. No badge on this site implies board certification, endorsement, or any judgment about clinical quality. The full standard is here.
Are there patient reviews or star ratings?
No, and there won't be. This site carries facts a clinician can confirm about their own practice. Ranking clinical quality with stars is a different product, and a worse one.
Can patients use it, or is it only for clinicians?
Anyone can search it. Patients, families, referral coordinators, and clinicians all see the same listings. Clinicians who make a free account get the extra tools, including saved referral lists.
Who's behind this
Built by a psychiatrist who got tired of the phone calls.
HandshakeMD was built by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, a board certified psychiatrist and the founder of shrinkMD. shrinkMD is listed here on exactly the same terms as every other practice, with no boost and no fee. We think you should know that before you trust anything else on the page.