In person
You speak in a room with a clinician, the health professional assessing your concern.
- Can the concern be discussed and examined during this visit?
- What records can I bring?
- How will I get the plan afterwards?
MOTS-c guidebook
How will the visit work?
Choose a format that lets you explain your concern and ask questions. Keep the assessment at the centre.
A room, a screen, or a written exchange
Use the same questions for each format. A useful comparison starts with how the conversation happens.
Live video
You speak at the same time, from different places.
- Can I ask questions during the call?
- What happens if the call cannot fully assess my concern?
- How do later questions reach the clinician?
Written review
You send information for a clinician to read later; the exchange need not happen live.
- Can the clinician ask me for missing details?
- Can I ask my own follow-up question?
- How is an in-person assessment arranged if needed?
What a format still needs to do
Your state sets the rules for online appointments. State boards that oversee doctors are members of the Federation of State Medical Boards. It gives advice; that advice is not itself law.
- Its advice, checked September 26, 2026, says choosing a medicine cannot depend only on an online form with the same questions for everyone. It calls for a way for the doctor to ask more questions and get enough detail about your health.
- The guidance checked September 26, 2026 also calls for a way for patients to bring follow-up questions to their clinician.
- The group’s advice calls for the doctor to set up tests or an in-person visit if assessing your health requires them.
- As of September 26, 2026, states had different rules for visits by writing or phone alone. A type of visit allowed in one state may not be allowed in another.
- Ask: “Which rules apply where I will be during the appointment?”
Prepare for the conversation
Write down the parts you do not want to forget. Short notes are enough.
- What prompted the visit?
- Which medicines and supplements are on your list?
- What have you already tried?
- What answer would help you decide on a next step?