Plan a visit
What happens before a prescription?
Decide what you need answered before you commit to an online or in-person visit.
Ask how the visit works before paying.
What online care can mean
Telehealth can use a live conversation or health information that a clinician reviews later.
As of September 26, 2026, the medical boards’ guidance says care can begin either live or after a clinician reviews your answers.
That review must meet the same medical requirements as care in person.
The clinician needs a way to ask further questions. They must also arrange any test or examination needed to decide on treatment.
States set their own rules, so that policy does not settle every state’s requirements.
Ask which kind of visit you are paying for and how questions get answered.
Ask it plainly
Will we speak live, or will someone review my answers later?
Bring the details that matter
The label is the medicine’s official product information.
The semaglutide label makes thyroid cancer history, serious stomach trouble and pregnancy plans relevant to the assessment.
Medicines for diabetes, an illness that affects blood sugar, also matter.
The label also makes diabetes-related eye damage and planned surgery relevant.
Gather your medicine names and the concerns you want to discuss. Leave room to describe things in your own words.
Ask it plainly
Which parts of my health history could change the plan?
Know what happens if remote care is not enough
The boards’ guidance says the clinician must send you for care in person if a needed examination or test cannot be done remotely.
Ask how that would be arranged. Ask whether another visit has a separate cost.
Before the visit ends, ask for a plain explanation of the next step, including a decision not to prescribe.
Ask it plainly
Who arranges the next step if I need care in person?