Use the route that fits the conversation
If you already see a clinician, bring the concern to that conversation. Ask whether the next visit can cover it or whether a referral would help.
For a visit in a room, ask what the service assesses and who would see you. For an online visit, ask how the clinician can gather more information if needed.
With telehealth, the patient and clinician use video, a phone call, or messages online instead of meeting in one room.
Medical board guidance calls for the online clinician to organise any tests needed for the assessment or send the patient for an examination when one is needed.
Check the people before the package
As of September 2026, HHS guidance said the clinician’s licence or another form of permission had to cover practice in the patient’s location during the visit.
HHS stands for the US Department of Health and Human Services.
- Who carries out my assessment, and which professional title do they hold?
- How do I look up their permission to practise here?
- What happens if a physical examination is needed?
- Who answers questions after the visit?
- If there is a prescription, which pharmacy fills it?
Keep each answer with the service’s name in your own notes. Compare answers before comparing a package label.
Notes behind the answers
- Medical board guidance · tests and referrals
The basis for asking what happens when remote care needs an examination or a test.
- HHS · permission to practise
Guidance on the state where the patient receives the visit.