Authority and scope
Check the professional and concern
M.D. and D.O. physician complaints go to the Board of Registration in Medicine (BORIM), whose current agency release confirms that it licenses physicians and osteopaths. Physician assistants have a separate Board and use the Bureau of Health Professions Licensure (BHPL) route. Confirm the practitioner's license category before filing.
Supporting guidance: BORIM: agency information ↗Massachusetts: PA registration board ↗BHPL: complaint instructions ↗BORIM: September 10, 2026 agency release ↗
Choose the right licensing authority
M.D. and D.O. physician complaints — BORIM
M.D. and D.O. physicians; use the linked physician portal or paper form.
Open this official route ↗Physician-assistant complaints — BHPL
Physician assistants, regulated by their separate registration board.
Open this official route ↗How the official source says to file
- Physicians: use BORIM's linked online system or mail one signed complaint per physician to Consumer Protection Coordinator, 178 Albion Street, Suite 330, Wakefield, MA 01880. The form also supplies fax 781-876-8381. Do not email the complaint to BORIM's inquiry address.
- The physician form acknowledges record collection, possible regulatory or law-enforcement referral, and sharing the complaint and attachments with the physician. Send copies; originals and submitted materials are not returned.
- PAs: use BHPL's linked online portal, with a separate submission for each professional. Include dates, locations, witnesses, records and supporting documents; the portal includes electronic medical-record authorization. Paper forms are available at 617-973-0865 or bhplcomplaints@mass.gov.
Supporting guidance: BORIM: submit a physician complaint ↗BORIM: paper complaint form ↗BORIM: agency information ↗BHPL: complaint instructions ↗
What this route may not provide
Both processes review professional-law violations and can lead to license discipline. BORIM ordinarily does not investigate billing disputes; an unwanted outcome or rude behavior alone does not necessarily justify action. BHPL excludes ordinary fee and billing disputes and personality conflicts that do not reach unprofessional conduct.
Supporting guidance: BORIM: consumer complaint guide ↗BHPL: complaint instructions ↗
Do not guess about confidentiality
BORIM permits anonymous complaints but investigation and updates may be impossible. The physician receives the complaint and supporting documents. Open investigations are confidential, but some information becomes public after closure with personal identifiers withheld. BHPL may investigate anonymous complaints when evidence can be obtained without identifying or calling the complainant; the subject may receive a copy.
Supporting guidance: BORIM: consumer complaint guide ↗BHPL: complaint instructions ↗
Physicians: six-year good-cause review; PA deadline unverified
BORIM's consumer guide says allegations about conduct more than six years before filing require a good-cause decision to investigate. Do not apply this physician rule to PAs; a PA filing deadline was not established by this check. Physician investigations vary; BHPL describes one month for review to as much as three years for discipline. Processing estimates do not preserve court deadlines.
Supporting guidance: BORIM: consumer complaint guide ↗BHPL: complaint instructions ↗
What may happen after filing
BORIM screens complaints, seeks a physician response, and may assign an investigative team before committee review. Outcomes include closure, education, or recommended discipline through agreement or hearing. BHPL can close, investigate further, or pursue formal action.
Supporting guidance: BORIM: consumer complaint guide ↗BHPL: complaint instructions ↗
Prepare a reviewable submission
State the concern you want reviewed, then add a short chronology, best supporting records, factual consequences, and a specific request for review.
Sources and scope
BORIM: submit a physician complaint ↗
Current online and paper routes; read through public HTTP after web extraction failed.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
BORIM: consumer complaint guide ↗
2023 guide: six-year good-cause rule, privacy, response and outcomes; read downloaded PDF.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
BORIM: paper complaint form ↗
Signed acknowledgment, mail/fax, one physician per form and supporting materials; read downloaded PDF.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Massachusetts: PA registration board ↗
Separate PA authority and linked BHPL complaint route; read through public HTTP.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
BHPL: complaint instructions ↗
PA route, online authorization, anonymity, limits and review; read through public HTTP.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
BORIM: agency information ↗
Physician authority and instruction not to send complaints to inquiry email; read through public HTTP.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
BORIM: September 10, 2026 agency release ↗
Agency statement expressly confirms physician and osteopath licensing and complaint-investigation authority; read through public HTTP.
Source checked: September 19, 2026
Source check: September 19, 2026. This records a review of the linked material, not a decision about your case. No clinical or legal reviewer is identified for this guide. Confirm current instructions with the receiving authority.