Before the remote visit
Give the service your actual location
In the US, HHS stands for Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS guidance, as of September 2026, bases telehealth permission on the patient’s state location at the time of care. HHS licensure guidance
Tell the service where you will be during the visit, and ask it to confirm permission to provide care in that location.
Ask and note
Does the doctor or other health professional have the required permission for this visit’s location?
Ask what kind of remote visit it is
An asynchronous visit means you and the doctor or other health professional exchange information at different times, rather than joining a live call.
As of September 2026, state prescribing rules differ on forms, phone calls and other remote formats. Telehealth guidance and state-rule context
As of September 2026, the group’s advice rejects treatment based only on a form with a fixed set of answers. The person treating you needs enough information and a way to ask more questions.
Ask what happens if the first answers are incomplete. A useful reply describes who reviews them and how the conversation continues.
Ask how your health is reviewed
The Federation of State Medical Boards considers choosing a drug from an online list without a proper health review below the standard of care, as of September 2026. Medical-board prescribing guidance
The group also says patients need the chance to ask follow-up questions of the doctor or other health professional, as of September 2026.
Advice comes from this national association of state medical boards. Your state sets the rules that the service must follow.
Ask and note
Can the person treating me ask more questions, and can I ask questions too?
Ask how a remote visit becomes further care
The medical-board group’s guidance calls for arranged testing or referral when the assessment requires it. Guidance on tests and referrals
Ask where any test happens, who explains it and what the extra visit or test would cost. Put those amounts alongside the remote-care fee.