American Board of Clinical Lipidology: Find a Diplomate Directory

When primary care management of lipid disorders reaches its limits — familial hypercholesterolemia with inadequate LDL reduction on maximum tolerated statin, severe hypertriglyceridemia, statin intolerance with complex alternative therapy needs, elevated Lp(a) requiring specialized management, or complex dyslipidemia in patients with multiple comorbidities — a board-certified lipid specialist is the appropriate next step. The ABCL Find a Diplomate directory is the primary tool for identifying one.

The directory is simple: search by geography (US or Canada, with zip code and radius) or by provider name, filtering by credential type — Lipid Specialist, Diplomate ABCL, or Diplomate ACCL. The certification process requires passing a comprehensive examination in clinical lipidology and maintaining continuing education requirements. Board certification is a reasonable proxy for demonstrated competency in managing the complex lipid cases that warrant specialist referral.

The practical limitation is access. Board-certified lipid specialists are not uniformly distributed. Academic medical centers in large metropolitan areas are overrepresented; rural and underserved areas are underrepresented. Telehealth has partially addressed geographic barriers — lipid consultations translate well to video visits — and the directory includes providers who offer telehealth services.

Lipid specialist referral is most important for the patients most likely to be undertreated by standard cardiovascular risk approaches: those with genetic disorders (FH, familial combined hyperlipidemia), severely elevated Lp(a), and statin-intolerant patients who need alternative lipid-lowering strategies including PCSK9 inhibitors, bempedoic acid, or inclisiran. For these patients, an ABCL Diplomate is the resource most likely to achieve aggressive lipid targets.

We rate the evidence limited for this directory as a source. The ABCL Find a Diplomate directory provides the primary mechanism for locating board-certified lipid specialists — a clinically important resource for the patients whose lipid complexity exceeds standard primary care management.