Getting ready for a telehealth visit

Telehealth visits work best when the technology stays out of the way and you and your provider can focus on your health. Here's a short pre-visit checklist that gets you most of the way there.

The day before

• Make sure you're set up in the portal. Test logging in from the device you plan to use. If you'll be on a phone, install the patient app and confirm camera and microphone permissions are enabled.
• Write down your top questions. Two or three is usually the right number for a 20-minute visit. Bring the most important one first — sometimes a single concern fills the whole appointment.
• Have your medication list ready. Even better, take a photo of each bottle, or open your medication list in the portal so you can read it back to your provider.
• If you have a home blood pressure cuff, scale, or glucose meter, have recent readings nearby.

Right before the call

• Find a quiet, well-lit spot. Daylight or a lamp in front of you, not behind. Your provider needs to see your face clearly.
• Plug in your device or make sure it's well-charged.
• Close other apps that use your camera or microphone — video meeting apps especially.
• If you'll be showing a rash, swelling, or wound, have it ready and easy to point the camera at.

During the visit

Telehealth visits are real medical appointments — your provider is documenting in your chart, can order prescriptions and labs, and can schedule follow-ups, just like an in-person visit. If they decide the visit needs to become in-person, our team will help you transition to the next available slot.

What telehealth isn't great for

Some things really do need a physical exam — significant abdominal pain, new neurologic symptoms, ear infections in young children, anything requiring labs or imaging that day. If you book a telehealth visit and we discover during it that you need to be seen in person, we'll convert the appointment and waive the fee for the virtual visit.