How to Choose an Online Doctor Visit in Florida — Licensing, Availability and Privacy

A search for an online doctor visit brings up dozens of telehealth services. Five questions sort them: who is on the other end of the call, whether you can be seen today, how your health information is protected, what reviews can and cannot tell you, and what happens when a video visit is not enough. This guide gives the checks you can make yourself, and what UrgentMed’s virtual visits offer on each.

UrgentMed’s virtual visits are run by the same clinical team that staffs its Davie and Plantation clinics — see telehealth in Florida for what a visit can treat.

Who is on the other end of the call?

Florida law (section 456.47, Florida Statutes) allows care by telehealth from a provider licensed in Florida, or registered with the state to provide telehealth, and holds that provider to the same standard of care as an in-person visit. The Florida Department of Health publishes the list of registered out-of-state telehealth providers, and you can look up any Florida practitioner’s license on the department’s Verify a License search.

Ask, too, whether you will talk to a provider at all. At UrgentMed the visit is with a Florida-licensed physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner — not a chatbot, a questionnaire or a symptom checker.

Can you be seen today?

• How the service books. Look for a scheduled time you choose, so you know when the provider will call.
• Video and phone. Video lets the provider see a rash, an eye or a swelling; phone works when there is nothing to show.
• Where you are during the visit. A provider licensed in Florida treats you by telehealth while you are physically in Florida — where you live does not matter, where you are during the call does.

At UrgentMed you book through the online telehealth check-in and pick the next available time; same-day appointments are the norm during clinic hours. New patients book the same way — you do not need to have been seen at a clinic first.

How is your health information protected?

Under section 456.47, medical records created through telehealth — including video, audio and electronic records — are confidential. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests a few steps on your side:

• Take the call in a private place — a quiet room at home, or a quiet parked car.
• Avoid free or public Wi-Fi when you share health information, and turn off nearby devices that may overhear or record.
• Use strong, unique passwords and turn on two-step sign-in where it is offered.
• If you are not sure you are speaking with your provider, call the office on the number you usually use.

UrgentMed’s visits are held by secure video or by phone, and a video visit and a clinic visit share one record.

What reviews can and cannot tell you

Reviews describe booking, waiting and how the visit felt. They cannot tell you whether the provider is licensed in Florida, whether the service can prescribe what you may need, or what happens when the problem needs an examination or a test. Check those three things directly before you book.

What happens when a video visit is not enough?

At UrgentMed, if the provider decides you need to be seen, you are directed to the Davie or Plantation clinic the same day, with your telehealth notes already in the chart and X-ray and laboratory testing on site. Some things always need an in-person visit:

• Injuries that may need an X-ray, wounds that may need stitches, and ear or throat exams that need instruments.
• Physicals, drug testing, vaccines and IV fluids.
• Controlled-substance prescriptions, which are not written at a virtual visit.

Chest pain, shortness of breath, severe abdominal pain, a head injury, heavy bleeding or possible stroke symptoms — call 911 or go to the emergency room. Do not start with a video visit.

Coverage and cost — what to ask before the visit

Ask whether your plan covers telehealth and, if you are paying yourself, what the visit will cost before it starts. Most major plans cover telehealth visits; at UrgentMed the self-pay price is quoted before the visit starts, and if the provider sends you to a clinic the same day, that visit is billed like any walk-in visit.

Book a same-day virtual visit

Book through the online telehealth check-in, from anywhere in Florida. Have your photo ID, insurance card, a list of your medications and the name of your pharmacy ready. Prefer to be seen in person? Walk in at Davie or Plantation — check hours, maps and parking before you go.