Care briefing
Online or in a room?
Start with what needs to happen during care. Ask how the clinician will check your health and how you can ask questions afterward.
What each setting can do
Read sourcesConversation
Licensed telehealth
Video or written exchanges can give you a way to describe your goal and health history.
In-person care
A room gives you a place to talk face to face. Ask how much time there is for your questions.
An exam or a test
Licensed telehealth
The doctor-licensing boards’ group says an online clinician must arrange tests that are needed or an exam in person when they cannot happen online.
In-person care
Ask whether any exam or test can happen there, or whether it needs a separate visit.
Between visits
Licensed telehealth
Ask who reads your messages and how a question reaches the clinician.
In-person care
Ask how follow-up works when you are back at home, rather than in the room.
Compare whether each service can check your health, arrange needed tests and give you someone to contact afterward.
Check where care can be given
As of September 2026, the clinician needs a licence or another state permission to treat you where you sit during an online visit.
As of September 2026, some states allow a doctor licensed elsewhere to register for online care instead of getting a full state licence.
Say where you will sit during the visit, including when travelling. Ask for the licence or registration number and the state office that issued it. Ask that office to help you check it if you cannot find or understand the record.
Remote prescribing rules vary by state as of September 2026.
If a service says it covers the whole country, ask how it handles care where you are.
Ask before choosing a route
What needs to be assessed?
Ask which parts can happen remotely and which may need another setting.
Who stays involved?
Ask who reviews new information and what happens if the plan needs to change.
What if no medicine is prescribed?
Find out what the visit fee covers and whether other ways to address your goal will be discussed.
Sources for this briefing
Choose the source for your question. For a doctor’s licence, use the state licence search. For a medicine’s approval, ask to see the FDA approval and approved label for that exact product.
Group of doctor-licensing offices · Remote care
Read the guidance on remote assessments and arrangements for care.
Read the sourceUS health department · Location and licences
Federal guidance explains how the patient’s location affects professional licensing.
Read the source