Public Records are those documents compiled by various public offices and agencies which are made available to the general public. Examples of public records include current and historical addresses, educational institutions attended, current licenses and status, bankruptcy, lien and judgement filings, sanctions and death records - all of which is available on QPF. Private or non-public information is not generally available from public records or commercial sources.

How are the public records collected?

Public Records are those documents compiled by various public offices and agencies which are made available to the general public. Examples of public records include current and historical addresses, educational institutions attended, current licenses and status, bankruptcy, lien and judgement filings, sanctions and death records - all of which is available on QPF. Private or non-public information is not generally available from public records or commercial sources.

Non-public information includes data, which is protected from disclosure by law or by custom, such as medical records, employment records, tax returns and financial records. Non-public information is not available on QPF.

Many individuals are curious to know how public record databases, such as QPF, obtain literally millions of public record filings and if the databases are complete and accurate. It is important to note that QPF does not key any of the public record filings.

After filings are recorded at the official public office or agency, in most cases, the records are compiled by data entry specialists in an automated format at the various public filing locations. The public record information that is compiled for QPF is "indexed" information. "Indexed" means the full document will not be retrieved online, instead a key piece of information about the filing information is provided.

The process of keying or scanning millions of records as you can imagine is a rather cumbersome one. Once records are keyed, they are distributed to companies, such as QPF then refined and formatted to fit into the custom-designed QPF application.

However, the process does not stop here. Every day, additional filings are recorded at official public record offices or agencies in jurisdictions throughout the U.S., so the compilation process is a never-ending cycle.

Depending on the QPF database, most public record material is updated daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Updates include new filing information, changes to existing records, deletions, etc.

QPF does its best to put the most recent information in each of the databases online as soon as it is received by the source, but with the long process of keying records, there is some lag time or delay.

Since data entry specialists key public record material, there are processes in place to check for accuracy; however, mistakes will happen due to human error. If a mistake is found on a QPF database, contact QPF via e-mail with any incorrect information so that the source may correct the data entry specialist's mistake.

Why use QPF for Health Care Provider public record information?

A frequently asked question of public records is "Why should I use a service like QPF for public record material when any individual can run down to the local courthouse and obtain the document for the designated fee?"

Many individuals and companies are willing to pay for the convenience of gaining information online rather than spending time driving to a local courthouse or a Secretary of State Office. Plus, QPF offers these specialized types of records across various jurisdictions and makes them available at your fingertips in one concise database.

Coverage

Most of the public record material available on QPF is collected from largely populated jurisdictions. Various types of public record databases on QPF are nationwide, covering the entire U.S., while others may only contain selected jurisdictions throughout the U.S. Collection of public record material from remote counties is often impossible since many of them are not yet fully-automated. QPF is continually adding new types of public records, and enhancing its coverage in existing databases.