IRVINE / GETTING CARE
Where does getting care begin?
Compare the way you would be assessed, not just the way an injection is advertised.
IN A ROOM
An in-person conversation.
An in-person clinic offers a way to talk in the same room. Ask what happens at the first visit and what happens later.
Ask who would assess your health and what they need to know. Also ask where to turn for help once the visit ends.
Keep the product question separate: what medicine is being proposed, and for what reason?
AT A DISTANCE
A conversation over a screen.
- Telehealth
- Care at a distance using video, telephone or an exchange online.
As of September 2026, California required a current state licence for a doctor treating a patient located here by telehealth.
The doctor could live elsewhere.
See how a screen visit worksChoosing from a treatment list is not a health check.
The Federation of State Medical Boards advised in May 2026 that a patient’s choice from a treatment list was not enough reason to prescribe.
This group brings together the medical boards of states. Its advice does not carry the force of state law by itself.
Ask how the doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant will review your health concern before choosing a medicine.
What can I check first?
Get the treating person’s full name and type of licence. Ask which pharmacy would supply a prescribed medicine.
Look up the person treating you Look up the pharmacy