How LimbAtlas verifies provider information

Every published profile cites at least one primary source: the provider's own official website, an official hospital website, a government registry, a medical publication, a device manufacturer's documentation for device facts, or an official social account linked from the provider's website. Third-party directories and aggregators can point LimbAtlas to a provider worth researching, but are never used as the evidence for a fact.

Each source on a profile carries the date it was last checked, and the profile carries the date it was last reviewed as a whole. Treatment links and care and support facts also record when they were reviewed. The Sources & review history section of every profile lists which source supports which facts.

Providers publish very different amounts of detail. In a 2025 study, researchers posing as a prospective patient contacted 27 orthopaedic practices offering elective stature lengthening; only 3 answered all of their scripted questions, and information about eligibility and potential complications was frequently missing. A profile can only be as complete as the sources behind it, which is why LimbAtlas shows gaps rather than filling them.

Verification describes how much of a profile LimbAtlas has been able to confirm against primary sources. It says nothing about the quality, safety or outcomes of a provider's care, and is never a recommendation. The verification methodology sets out the full rules.

Techniques, devices, facilities and support services are each recorded with a status. A fact is current when the provider's current official material presents it as offered and no newer official source contradicts it. It is uncertain when current availability cannot be substantiated — the evidence is old, indirect or contradictory — and historical when the provider describes it as past practice or newer material has replaced it.

No single date decides the status. Explicit statements that something is offered or discontinued, page dates, newer contradictory sources, whether it is still actively presented, and whether the only evidence is an old case report, patient story or archived page are all weighed. Older or conflicting evidence receives additional scrutiny; recent evidence is not automatically treated as current.

Only current facts are shown as how a provider works today, counted on method and device pages, or matched by filters. Uncertain items are named on the profile as not confirmed; historical ones stay in the data for the review trail. LimbAtlas never upgrades an uncertain or historical fact to current by inference.

Many facts — whether rehabilitation or accommodation is offered, whether patients operated on elsewhere are accepted — are often simply absent from a provider's materials. Where the reviewed sources do not address a point, the profile shows 'Not publicly stated'. That means only that the sources do not say; it is never treated as a no.

Directory filters such as 'Rehabilitation available' match only an explicit yes. A provider shown as not publicly stated is left out of the filtered list without being marked as not offering the service.

A current fact records what a provider publicly states at the date shown. It does not confirm that the provider would treat you, that a particular device or service is available on a given date, or anything about suitability for your case. Providers change what they offer, and the provider's own team is the only source that can confirm it.

LimbAtlas does not contact providers on your behalf or collect enquiries. Each profile links to the provider's own official website.

A Sponsored label marks a paid placement. Sponsorship and verification are recorded independently: a sponsored provider is not treated as verified, and an unverified provider is not treated as less eligible for sponsorship. The two always appear as separate labels, never as one score.

Neither label affects the default directory order, and LimbAtlas publishes no quality ranking. How we rank describes the ordering, and the advertising disclosure explains what sponsorship does and does not mean.