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[Care, explained.](/)

Plain-language guide

Visit desk

# What happens during online care?

The screen is the setting. Your health is the starting point.

Have your health history and medicine list beside you. Put your main goal on paper, along with any questions you want to remember. There is room to ask for an explanation.

Question to keep

Who is making the decision, and how will care continue?

Telehealth

## A visit without sharing a room

An online health review can use a live call. It can also use messages read and answered later. Either way, it must gather enough health information and meet the rules in your state.

Doctors get permission to practise from a state medical board, which also publishes records of action over their conduct.

As of September 2026, the national group representing state medical boards rejected prescribing from a set questionnaire alone. This means a form with fixed questions and answer choices. The clinician must be able to ask you more and get missing health information.

The same group's May 2026 guidance said patients must be able to reach the clinician with questions after the visit.

These are national suggestions for state medical boards. They are not a single law for all states. The requirements where you are come from your state's own rules.

Ask it plainly

Will the clinician be able to ask me more, and can I ask them more?

[Source note A](#c-note-a)

Licence

## Permission to practise where you are

As of September 2026, the patient's location during the visit determined which state's licence or other proper permission a physician needed.

The board's public record shows the doctor's licence and any published disciplinary action. That means action the board took over the doctor's conduct.

The absence of public action in a record is no proof of the quality of care.

Ask it plainly

What is the clinician's full name, profession, and licence number?

[Find your state medical board](https://www.fsmb.org/contact-a-state-medical-board/)

[Source note B](#c-note-b)

Assessment

## Your health shapes the decision

Before a care decision, your health is reviewed; that review is called an assessment.

Tell the clinician about thyroid cancer in your family. The small body part in your neck is called the thyroid.

Mention past problems with the pancreas, a body part inside the belly.

Mention gallbladder problems too. The gallbladder is a small body part inside the belly; problems can include gallstones.

Bring up pregnancy plans, other diabetes medicines, and any planned surgery.

Discuss severe problems with food leaving the stomach. Mention eye damage from diabetes too.

The guidance says the clinician must arrange any tests or examination needed to make the care decision. They can also refer you to another person for those tests or that examination.

The guidance says online care must be as thorough as care in person.

Ask it plainly

Do you need tests or an examination before making this decision?

[Source note A](#c-note-a)

[Source note C](#c-note-c)

Pharmacy

## The place that supplies your medicine

The service arranging a visit may not make the medicine. People getting care online may not know who prepared their made-to-order drug, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A state board of pharmacy holds the pharmacy licence record, and FDA links to those state searches.

A licence record is a check on permission, not proof that every product is appropriate.

Ask it plainly

Which pharmacy will supply this, and how will I reach someone about the medicine?

[Open FDA's state pharmacy searches](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/besaferx-your-source-online-pharmacy-information/locate-state-licensed-online-pharmacy)

[Source note D](#c-note-d)

Words at this desk

[Telehealth](#c-telehealth)

[Licence](#c-licence)

[Assessment](#c-assessment)

[Pharmacy](#c-pharmacy)

Keep this thought

Look for a named clinician, an assessment you can discuss, and a clear plan for questions afterward. Write down the pharmacy name too.

[Next desk: the full cost](/money-desk/)

## Notes behind this chapter

A

### How remote care is assessed

[State medical boards' group: online care guidance](https://www.fsmb.org/siteassets/advocacy/policies/fsmb-workgroup-on-telemedicineapril-2022-final.pdf)

[State medical boards' group: prescribing guidance](https://www.fsmb.org/siteassets/advocacy/policies/guidance-on-recent-trends-in-prescribing-and-dispensing-adopted.pdf)

B

### Checking permission to practise

[HHS explains telehealth licensing](https://telehealth.hhs.gov/licensure/getting-started-licensure)

[Medical boards' public records](https://www.fsmb.org/u.s.-medical-regulatory-trends-and-actions/guide-to-medical-regulation-in-the-united-states/information-for-consumers/)

C

### History that matters for semaglutide

[Semaglutide (Wegovy) label cautions](https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=ee06186f-2aa3-4990-a760-757579d8f77b)

D

### Finding the pharmacy record

[FDA's compounding questions and answers](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/compounding-and-fda-questions-and-answers)

[FDA's state pharmacy licence links](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/besaferx-your-source-online-pharmacy-information/locate-state-licensed-online-pharmacy)

These pages help you understand care; this is a guide, not a place that treats people or sells medicine.

[Text version](/welcome-desk/index.md)

[Guide text index](/llms.txt)

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[Studies](/research-notes/)

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