A sheet from the Boston reading path
Choose the visit format around your needs.
An in-person clinic and licensed telehealth are categories to compare. Ask how each would handle your actual concern.
Compare the practical fit
- For a clinic visit, request an outline of the assessment and the assessor’s role.
- For licensed telehealth, ask how questions go back and forth with the clinician.
- For either route, ask where any needed tests or examination would happen.
- Ask how follow-up works after the first discussion, including if no medicine is prescribed.
- Visit in a room
- Visit at a distance
Ask about the hand-off
Remote care may use video, a telephone or written exchanges online. Tell the service if you lack a private place to talk or cannot count on a clear video call.
If your health review calls for a test, the clinician is responsible for arranging it or referring you elsewhere for it. This is national medical-board guidance, checked September 17, 2026.
A referral means being sent to another professional for part of the care. Ask who makes the arrangement, where the result goes and who discusses it with you.
Keep your questions in the conversation
Patients need a chance to put further questions to the clinician, says the medical-board federation’s guidance checked September 26, 2026.
The group behind this guidance, the Federation of State Medical Boards, suggests policies to state medical boards. The rules that can be enforced are each state’s own.
An in-person clinic and an online service can both be asked the same practical question: “Who helps me understand what happens next?”
Use the person-and-licence sheet
Open the source drawer
The federation publishes guidance for state boards. These documents describe standards for care; they do not recommend a service.