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Remote care Plain answers

Orientation / clinician check

Check the person behind the screen.

Ask for a name you can look up, rather than relying on a photograph or a job title. Begin with your physical location for the appointment and identify the state it is in.

Which state matters?

For remote care, identify your physical location at appointment time: that state must permit the doctor to practise. This may be a licence or another legal route, under the September 2026 rules.

If the doctor relies on an exception to the licence rule, ask them to name it. Ask the state medical board to confirm that it applies to your visit.

Your physical location for the visit counts. Tell the service if you will be away from your home state.

HHS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, explains this location rule. The details of permission come from each state.

Evidence A

How do I look up a doctor?

The Federation of State Medical Boards connects readers to state doctor-licensing boards through directory links. Its medical boards cover doctors with MD after their names; its osteopathic boards cover those with DO.

Use that directory to reach the state’s own licence search. Match the name and check the current status. Read any public disciplinary entries.

Some states keep MD and DO records in separate boards. Ask which letters follow your doctor’s name so you can choose the right search.

Evidence B

What can the record tell me?

An absence of public action does not grade the quality of a doctor’s care.

Ask how the clinician handles questions, test results and care that needs an exam. The public record cannot answer those questions for the service.

Ask a non-doctor clinician to identify the state body responsible for their licence. Ask for the licence details needed to find the right record.

Evidence C

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