Where can I look for care?

What can I compare?

Compare an in-person medical visit with telehealth. In telehealth, care takes place through phone, video or an online exchange. Ask each service how the assessment works.

For an in-person visit, note how questions, tests and follow-up would fit into your day. For remote care, ask how to speak with the doctor and how an examination would be arranged.

Does a remote visit remove the need for an examination?

Medical-board advice calls for care online to be just as thorough as care delivered in an office.

Under that advice, the doctor must ensure any necessary test or examination takes place. The doctor can provide it, make arrangements or refer you elsewhere for it.

The advice is a policy recommendation for state boards. Each state makes its own rules; the recommendation alone does not establish your state’s law.

Ask how the doctor will gather enough information about your concern and arrange any needed in-person step.

Can any online doctor treat me?

US guidance checked in September 2026 said an online doctor must have permission from the state you physically occupy during the appointment.

An accepted form of state permission may be a licence or another route recognised by that state.

A licence is permission to practise. Ask about your state before filling in a service’s forms.

Keep the names you are considering in your own notes. Compare their answers to the same questions.