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[Care guide](/)

Follow-up checklist

After the first visit

# Know who answers after the visit.

Before paying, ask what happens after the first visit. A follow-up plan needs a person, a way to reach them and a reason for the next review.

Question to carry

Identify the clinician responsible for review.

## Terms to start with

FDA means Food and Drug Administration, the US body that reviews medicines.

Follow-up means reviewing the treatment with a health professional after the first visit. Customer support handles business matters such as charges or delivery.

A clinician is a health professional who reviews your concern and talks through care with you.

MD and DO are two doctor qualifications, each with its own California licensing board. NP means nurse practitioner; PA means physician assistant.

## A closer look at the words

A treatment message concerns the medicine and how you feel. A billing message concerns a charge. Ask how each reaches the person who can answer it.

Read the offer

## Name the person who reviews the plan

Medical-board guidance adopted in May 2026 requires access to the treating health professional for patients’ follow-up questions. [Medical-board guidance on access to questions](https://www.fsmb.org/siteassets/advocacy/policies/guidance-on-recent-trends-in-prescribing-and-dispensing-adopted.pdf)

Ask who reads a message about your treatment or how you feel, and how you get a reply. Ask what happens outside the service’s usual reply times and if the clinician changes.

Find out when the plan would be reviewed, what information that review uses and what would lead to a new appointment or a different treatment.

Identify the clinician responsible for review.

Ask how to get an answer about treatment or feeling ill between visits.

Look more closely

## Keep records that make the next conversation easier

Save the treatment name, the pharmacy details, the care plan and the written price. Keep a short note of any change you want to discuss, in your own words.

As checked in September 2026, FDA’s free MedWatch program lets patients submit medicine-problem reports straight to the agency. [FDA’s MedWatch reporting program](https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program)

MedWatch is FDA’s system for reports about medical products. Reporting a problem there and getting care for it serve different purposes. Bring your question back to the treating clinician.

Ask how to obtain visit notes and the care plan.

Keep the label if you need to report a product problem.

Carry this forward

## Know where a complaint belongs

California’s Medical Board accepts complaints about MD care, but generally does not handle billing disputes or provide financial compensation, as checked in September 2026. [The Medical Board’s complaint guide](https://www.mbc.ca.gov/Consumers/file-a-complaint/)

As checked in September 2026, complaints about pharmacists or pharmacies go to California’s pharmacy board; drug-price and insurance-billing disputes generally fall outside its role. [The pharmacy board’s complaint guide](https://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/consumers/complaint_qa.pdf)

For a business complaint, California’s Attorney General accepts submissions but cannot represent you personally or provide legal advice, as checked in September 2026. [California’s business complaint guide](https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company)

For other license types, use the matching board: the Osteopathic Medical Board for DOs, the nursing board for nurses and NPs, or the Physician Assistant Board for PAs.

[DO complaint route](https://www.ombc.ca.gov/consumer_complaint/file_a_complaint.shtml) [Nurse or NP complaint route](https://www.rn.ca.gov/enforcement/filecomplaint.shtml) [PA complaint route](https://www.pab.ca.gov/consumers/complaints.shtml)

Keep in mind

## The chapter recap

Know who reviews the treatment and how to reach them. Keep the records needed for another conversation or a complaint.

[Bring the question list](/question-list/)

These pages help you weigh care; this guide runs no clinic and sells no medicine.

[Text version](/follow-up-checklist/index.md)