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Telehealth checklist

Care at a distance

# Check the online visit.

Online care can begin with a conversation or information you send. Ask how the clinician reviews that information and how you can ask questions back.

Know how to ask questions

Your concern

Clinician’s assessment

Written next step

Ask how the next step is arranged.

## Terms to start with

A live visit happens while you and the clinician are both present. An asynchronous exchange means you send information and receive a reply later.

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

A prescription is an order for a medicine from the health professional prescribing it.

## A closer look at the words

Before prescribing, the doctor needs to understand your health problem. Ask: “What did you learn from my answers, what is still missing and are tests or an exam in person needed?”

Read the offer

## Confirm where the visit takes place

As of September 2026, a doctor seeing you remotely while you are in California needs a current license from California. [Medical Board telehealth guidance](https://www.mbc.ca.gov/Resources/Medical-Resources/telehealth.aspx)

Tell the service where you plan to be during the visit, and update it if travel changes your location. Ask which clinician will see you at that location.

Give the location where you will actually have the visit.

Check the assigned clinician’s California license.

Look more closely

## Know what consent means

As of September 2026, California requires the clinician to explain the use of telehealth, get spoken or written consent and record that consent. [California’s telehealth consent rule](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=2290.5)

That consent does not prevent a later in-person visit during the course of care, under the rule checked in September 2026. [Read the consent rule](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=2290.5)

Ask what the visit includes, how replies arrive and how records are shared. Consent to the visit format is a useful point to pause and ask.

Ask how to speak directly with the clinician.

Ask how to get a copy of the care plan.

Carry this forward

## A form is not the whole answer

As of September 2026, California allows a doctor to assess you before prescribing through questions you answer online, even without a live conversation. The doctor still has to review your health problem properly before choosing treatment. [California’s examination rule](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=2242)

The format alone cannot tell you whether your concern was assessed well. Ask how the clinician resolves missing information and what would lead to a live conversation.

Under medical-board guidance checked in September 2026, needed tests and assessments in person must be arranged by the clinician, either directly or through referral. [The medical boards’ telehealth guidance](https://www.fsmb.org/siteassets/advocacy/policies/fsmb-workgroup-on-telemedicineapril-2022-final.pdf)

Ask what would require an exam in a room.

Find out who would arrange any needed test.

Keep in mind

## The chapter recap

Check the person, the consent and the plan for missing information. The visit format is only part of the assessment.

[Prepare for the visit](/visit-checklist/)

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

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