A telehealth visit runs about 10 to 15 minutes: you answer intake questions, a licensed clinician joins by video or text, asks follow-ups, gives you a plan, and sends any prescription they decide is appropriate straight to your pharmacy.
The flow on most platforms: pick a visit type, answer intake questions about symptoms and history, pay or enter insurance ($39 to $89 cash at published prices), then wait a few minutes to an hour for the clinician. The visit itself feels like a focused doctor conversation - shorter than an office visit because there is no waiting room or physical exam setup. What it cannot do: hands-on exams, stitches, X-rays, or IVs. Want to rehearse first? A free Pymander AI consult takes your history by text and produces a care note you can bring to the real visit.
What to do
Common questions
Do I need special equipment or an app?
A phone with a camera and a decent connection is enough for every major platform - most run in the browser or a lightweight app. Text-first options need even less: Pymander's free AI consult works over plain SMS, and platforms like K Health run text-based visits with clinicians.
What kinds of problems work well on telehealth?
Colds and flu, UTIs, sinus infections, rashes, pink eye, allergies, medication refills for stable conditions, birth control, mental health check-ins, and 'is this worth getting seen for?' questions. Anything needing a physical exam, test, or procedure still needs in-person care - good platforms say so upfront and tell you where to go instead.
Will my insurance cover it?
Often, yes - most plans cover telehealth at similar copays to office visits, and many employer plans include a telehealth benefit at $0 to $30. Without insurance, published cash prices run $33 to $89 depending on the platform, always shown before you are billed.
Is it private?
Legitimate US telehealth platforms run visits on encrypted systems with the same confidentiality rules as an office visit. Read the platform's privacy policy if privacy is the reason you are going online instead of in person - it should say plainly how your data is used.