Where you sit matters
Telehealth is care given when you and the clinician are apart.
The health professional assessing and treating you is called a clinician.
If you are in Illinois during online care, the clinician needs Illinois permission to practise, as of September 2026.
That means an Illinois licence or, in certain cases, a temporary state permit under an agreement with an organisation backing the clinician.
If they use a temporary permit, ask for its number and the organisation backing it. Check those details with Illinois’s licence agency.
Let the service know the location you will join from, particularly when travelling.
Source AAsk whether a phone assessment is enough
Illinois’s telehealth definition includes video, live phone calls and records sent for later review, as of September 2026.
That definition does not settle whether a phone call is enough to prescribe a particular medicine, as of September 2026.
Ask the service how its first assessment works before paying.
Source BOnline care needs the same health checks
September 2026 Illinois law sets one standard of care for both remote appointments and visits in person.
Online care does not expand what the clinician’s licence lets them do, as of September 2026.
Find out how your health concern will be assessed and how an examination in person would be organised if needed.
Source CA fixed form is worth asking about
A set questionnaire is an inadequate basis for care if it leaves needed information uncollected, according to national board guidance from September 2026.
National board guidance allows an online health check if it gathers the information needed for proper care, as of September 2026.
The clinician must be able to ask more questions; the patient’s first set of answers may not be enough.
This need not always be a live video call under that guidance, but state rules still apply, as of September 2026.
If a service starts with a form, find out who reads it before you pay. Check how the reviewer can seek more information and how you can raise your questions.
Do not assume a form guarantees a prescription. This guide cannot confirm that a form alone meets Illinois’s rules for a first prescription.
Source DNotes behind the answers
- Source A — Illinois law: Permission to practiseIllinois telehealth permission ruleBack to answer A
- Source B — Illinois law: The meaning of telehealthIllinois telehealth definitionsBack to answer B
- Source C — Illinois law: The same care online and in personIllinois rule for care online and in personBack to answer C
- Source D — Medical boards: Forms and further questions
This national policy is advice to state medical boards; Illinois’s own laws are the rules clinicians must follow.
Medical boards’ telehealth policyBack to answer D