Video visit do's and don'ts
Ask which state your patient is in at each video visit. You need a license in that state, unless its law makes an exception.
Frontend Engineer, JotPsych
Your patient has checked in to your video waiting room, and you're about to join the call. Check the consent to record, the telehealth consent, your patient's location, and everyone on the call before you discuss care.
Get consent to record before the visit
Ask which state your patient is in
Keep the telehealth consent in the chart
Take a typed name as proof of identity
Start without a crisis plan
Switch to audio-only by default
The six lines come from California Penal Code section 632, the Center for Connected Health Policy, and the Federation of State Medical Boards' 2022 telemedicine policy for physicians. Check your video visit routine against each line, including the lines from the physicians' policy if you're a nurse practitioner.
Do get consent to record before the visit
Ask for your patient's consent to record when the visit is booked. California's Penal Code section 632 bars recording a confidential conversation without the consent of all parties. Each violation can bring a fine of up to $2,500. Check your own state's law, too.
Do ask which state your patient is in
Patients travel. Ask at the start of every visit, because care by telehealth "is considered to be rendered at the physical location of the patient," per the Center for Connected Health Policy.
So you need a license in the state where your patient is, unless that state's law makes an exception. Look up that state's rules on the center's page.
Do keep the telehealth consent in the chart
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) discourages physicians from giving care by telemedicine without the patient's consent. The FSMB's 2022 policy says consents "should also be filed in the medical record."
The patient and the patient's location
The physician, credentials, and state of practice
The patient's primary care physician, if available
The security measures and the privacy risks that remain
The patient's consent before information goes to a third party
The Federation of State Medical Boards lists these five terms among the baseline terms of telemedicine consent in its 2022 policy for physicians. Check your practice's consent form against the five terms before your next video visit.
Don't take a typed name as proof of identity
Patients check in by typing a name. Confirm who joined before you discuss care. The FSMB asks physicians to identify the patient "to the extent possible."
Don't start without a crisis plan
Know the emergency services near your patient's location before the visit starts. The FSMB policy asks physicians for "a standing plan" to refer a patient to appropriate care. Under the policy, sending every patient to the emergency department isn't enough.
Don't switch to audio-only by default
Your video may drop partway through a visit. The FSMB policy says audio-only should substitute for video only when your patient can't or won't use video, or when it's the standard of care for the service. Ask your patient to rejoin by video first.
JotPsych's final review of a video visit's note lists the attestations Telehealth consent and Location confirmed.
Book 15 minutes- California Penal Code section 632: consent of all parties to a confidential communication.
- Center for Connected Health Policy, “Cross-State Licensing”, professional requirements, read October 2, 2026.
- Federation of State Medical Boards, “The Appropriate Use of Telemedicine Technologies in the Practice of Medicine”, adopted April 2022.