Getting started
Which kind of visit fits the question?
Would you prefer to talk in a room, or from home? Ask how the visit handles an exam, tests and questions that come up later.
A room or a remote visit?
An in-person clinic or office
Ask who would assess you, what the visit includes, and how questions are handled afterward. Bring your goals and medicine list.
Care from home
Telehealth is care provided from a distance, for example by screen or phone. Ask who will assess you and how to check their authority to provide care in Arizona.
Choose the setting with the assessment in mind. Ask how each route would handle a needed exam or test.
What Arizona allows, and what it still asks
Under Arizona’s rules on October 3, 2026, an office exam was not required before each prescription issued after a remote visit. The person treating you still had to assess your health and follow the rules for that medicine.
At that date, Arizona required whoever provided your care to judge whether a visit from home could meet your care needs.
As of October 3, 2026, Arizona usually required consent before remote care, with spoken consent recorded and limited exceptions.
Consent means agreeing to that form of care after it has been explained. Ask what happens if you prefer a visit in person.
Ask whether your symptoms or the rules for the medicine mean you need an office exam before a prescription.
From an assessment to a care decision
Ask how the assessment leads to a decision. If a medicine is prescribed, ask which pharmacy fills it and who checks in after you begin.
What if the visit begins with a form?
Medical-board guidance checked on September 26, 2026 rejected treatment based only on fixed forms that cannot gather enough information or ask follow-up questions.
The guidance also said patients had to be able to ask follow-up questions of their own.
A form can be the start of a conversation. Ask who reads it, how they can ask more, and how you can reply.
Ask about tests before committing
Medical-board guidance checked on September 17, 2026 called for needed tests to be completed, arranged, or handled through a referral.
That guidance comes from the state medical boards’ group, rather than a separate Arizona law.
- If an exam or test is needed, who arranges it?
- What would I pay for it?
- Who explains the result and any change to the plan?
- Can the visit end without a prescription?