Skip to the briefing Turn a clinic search into questions QUESTION KIT / PREPARE FOR A VISIT Take the question at your own pace. What would a proper visit look like? You are choosing between a visit in a room and a visit from home. Ask what the doctor or other licensed person treating you will learn about you in either setting. Bring the problem you want help with, your health history and your questions. Take the question sheet CHECK / OPEN Your symptoms and goals An assessment of your health Questions and other options An agreed next step Leave space for a different plan. Choose the setting for the assessment An in-person clinic visit gives you time in the same room. A telehealth visit connects people in separate places through video, phone or information exchanged online. A video visit happens live. An online exchange may let you send information that the person providing your care reviews later. The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) gives advice to state licensing boards. Its advice is not a law for the whole country; the rules that apply come from your state. Its guidance, checked in September 2026, allows live visits or information reviewed later, if the patient can receive the assessment and care their condition needs. Each state sets its own rules for ordering medicine after a visit by phone, video or online form. Those rules differ, as checked in September 2026. Ask the licensing board in your visit location's state whether that kind of visit is allowed. Ask the person treating you whether your symptoms need an examination in the room or a test before a medicine is ordered. Ask during the conversation Will this be live, or will someone review what I send later? How can I ask my own questions and answer follow-up questions? Find the state licensing board A menu selection is not an assessment FSMB's guidance, adopted in May 2026, says a menu choice of medicine by itself does not provide proper care. It also requires that patients can return to the health professional with follow-up questions. Before the visit, note your symptoms, when they began and what you have already tried. List medicines and supplements you use. Ask how the person treating you will assess your symptoms, as well as whether they will agree to the medicine. Ask during the conversation What information do you need to understand my symptoms? Could the assessment lead to a different plan? Find out what happens if the screen is not enough FSMB says doctors must do or arrange tests needed for an assessment, or refer patients to someone who can carry out those tests. It also says follow-up must happen in person if a physical exam or another procedure is needed. Ask who arranges the next step and who reads the result. Get the follow-up plan in writing so you can return to it later. Ask during the conversation What might require a test or an examination? Who would arrange it and discuss the result with me? Who can answer questions after the visit? Source notes for this briefing FSMB's advice on visits by phone, video or online exchange FSMB's advice on choosing medicine from a menu HHS explains state licensing Start Prepare for a visit Previous: Check the product Next: Examine the evidence The guide helps you ask care questions; this site runs no clinic and supplies no product. Find a briefing Question sheet Read this briefing as text Take the next question when you are ready.