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Colorado / care notes

Online care chapter · Think about the visit

# What an online visit needs to do

Telehealth means meeting a health professional from a distance, using tools such as video or online messages.

Picture the conversation you need. Bring your main concern, a list of your medicines and any questions you need to discuss.

The Colorado access rules here are dated September 26, 2026.

## A form can start the conversation

Assessment

The clinician’s review of your health and concerns before deciding on care.

For a first visit, the Colorado Medical Board permits online care in its guidance as of September 26, 2026. The care must meet accepted medical standards.

The board expects a review of your health history and an assessment of your health before treatment.

The board rejects using a web form alone as the basis for a prescription.

Ask how the clinician reviews your history and comes back with questions. Ask how you can ask questions too.

## Know who is on the other end

Follow-up

The conversation or care that happens after the first visit.

The Colorado board’s guidance calls for checking who you are and where you are. It also calls for the health professional to explain who they are and what state permission they hold, and to get informed consent.

Informed consent means agreeing after the care method and its limits have been explained.

As of September 26, 2026, Colorado law allows action against a doctor’s licence for online care that falls below accepted medical standards.

## Compare the visit settings

Keep the same care questions in view, wherever the visit happens.

Show both

Online visit

In-person visit

Both visit settings are shown.

### An online visit

If you are in Colorado, ask which state licence or registration covers your care.

As of September 26, 2026, health professionals using Colorado’s online-care registration must explain what to do after the visit and give you a written emergency plan.

Ask: Who arranges any examination or testing I may need?

National medical-board guidance puts responsibility for needed tests on the doctor: arrange them or refer the patient for testing elsewhere.

### An in-person visit

Ask where the assessment takes place and who you will speak with. Bring the same questions you would bring to an online visit.

As of September 26, 2026, Colorado’s online-care registration for someone licensed in another state does not by itself allow in-person care in Colorado.

Ask: Who answers questions after I leave, and how do I reach them?

## Leave with a clear next step

Write down what was discussed, what remains undecided and who will answer the next question. Ask for unfamiliar words to be explained.

The board policies do not say whether a phone call or messages alone are enough for a first visit. The care still has to meet accepted medical standards.

Ask the health professional how they will assess your health by the method they offer. Ask the Medical Board if you cannot confirm whether that method meets its rules.

Source information checked: September 26, 2026.

### Read the Colorado access guidance

Use the state guidance to check permission to give care. Take questions about how a particular visit will happen to the Medical Board.

[Colorado’s telehealth registration guidance](https://dpo.colorado.gov/CustomerService/TelehealthFAQ)

[Colorado Medical Board](https://dpo.colorado.gov/Medical)

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A little clarity for your next care conversation: these pages offer guidance; we neither operate a clinic nor sell any medicines.

[Official source guide](/source-guide/) [Read this chapter as text](/online-care-chapter/index.md)