Telehealth Informed Consent

What telehealth is

Telehealth means receiving health care remotely, using secure technology, rather than at a physical location. ElevateMD is a telehealth-only practice — all of your care is delivered electronically by board-certified, U.S.-licensed physicians (the ElevateMD Clinical Team). There are no facilities you visit and no in-person appointments.

Care may be delivered both in real time (such as a secure message exchange) and asynchronously (described below). The technology we use is designed to protect the privacy and security of your health information.

Asynchronous review and the Good Faith Exam

Much of our care uses an asynchronous, or “store-and-forward,” model. You complete a detailed health questionnaire and submit relevant health information through our patient platform. A physician on the ElevateMD Clinical Team then reviews that information — your history, intake responses, and any documentation you provide — to evaluate whether treatment is clinically appropriate for you.

This documented physician review of your submitted health information constitutes the Good Faith Examination that establishes the clinical basis for any treatment decision. A live video or audio visit is not always required; when a physician determines that additional information or a live consultation is needed, they may request it before making a decision.

The physician may approve treatment, request more information, recommend an alternative, or determine that treatment is not appropriate for you.

When a physician-patient relationship forms

Submitting an intake form, completing a quiz, creating an account, or making a payment does not, by itself, create a physician-patient relationship or guarantee that you will be prescribed any treatment.

A physician-patient relationship forms only after you complete the required health screening and a physician on the ElevateMD Clinical Team reviews your information and accepts you for care. Until that review is complete, no clinical relationship exists and no treatment is authorized.

What telehealth care can and cannot cover

ElevateMD focuses on longevity and wellness-oriented care that is well suited to remote evaluation and management. Telehealth is not appropriate for every condition. It cannot replace emergency care, hands-on physical examination, in-person diagnostic testing, or treatment that requires direct physical contact.

If your needs fall outside what can be safely managed through telehealth, the ElevateMD Clinical Team will tell you and may recommend that you seek care elsewhere.

Benefits of telehealth

• Access to board-certified, U.S.-licensed physicians without travel.
• Care on a schedule that fits your life, from a private location of your choosing.
• A documented, physician-led review of your health information before any treatment is authorized.
• Secure, written records of your care that you can reference.

Risks and limitations of telehealth

As with any medical care, telehealth has risks and limitations. By consenting, you acknowledge that you understand them.

• Information you provide may be incomplete or inaccurate, which can affect clinical judgment. You agree to provide complete, truthful, and current information.
• Without an in-person physical examination or certain diagnostic tests, a physician's evaluation is based on the information you submit; some conditions cannot be fully assessed remotely.
• Technical problems (connectivity, hardware, or software failures) may delay or interrupt care.
• Although we use secure systems, no method of electronic transmission or storage is perfectly secure; rare security or privacy risks exist.
• Treatment may not produce the results you hope for. Individual results vary, and no specific outcome is guaranteed.

Alternatives to telehealth

You are free to decline telehealth and to seek care through an in-person provider or another telehealth practice at any time. Choosing telehealth with ElevateMD is voluntary, and declining it will not affect your ability to obtain care elsewhere.

Medications and compounded products

If a physician prescribes medication, some products may be compounded by a licensed U.S. compounding pharmacy. Compounded medications are not FDA-approved, which means they have not undergone FDA review for safety, effectiveness, or manufacturing quality. You will receive information about any prescribed product, and you should ask questions before starting it. See How We Source Your Medications for more detail.

Privacy and your health information

Your health information is maintained on a HIPAA-aware patient record platform, with safeguards designed to protect it and vendor agreements that require service providers to protect your information. It is handled as described in our Notice of Privacy Practices. That Notice governs your protected health information within the clinical relationship and is separate from the website Privacy Policy that covers general website data such as analytics and cookies. Please review both.

Emergencies

ElevateMD does not provide emergency or urgent care and cannot respond to emergencies. Telehealth is not for emergencies. If you are experiencing a medical emergency — including, but not limited to, chest pain, difficulty breathing, severe bleeding, thoughts of harming yourself or others, or any life-threatening condition — call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department immediately.

Consent to treat and to electronic communications

By providing your consent, you agree to receive evaluation and, where clinically appropriate, treatment through ElevateMD’s telehealth model, including asynchronous physician review.

You also consent to receive communications related to your care electronically — such as secure messages, email, and text messages — to the contact information you provide. Standard message and data rates may apply. You may adjust or withdraw communication preferences as described in those messages or by contacting us.

Your right to withdraw consent

Your participation is voluntary. You may withdraw this consent and stop telehealth care at any time, for any reason, by contacting us at [email protected]. Withdrawing consent will not affect care already provided and does not change our obligation to protect health information we have already collected. Withdrawing consent may end the clinical relationship and any active treatment plan.

Where we can provide care

ElevateMD physicians are licensed in specific U.S. states, and care is available only to residents physically located in a state where we are licensed at the time of service. If you relocate or are temporarily outside our licensed states, we may be unable to provide or continue care. See States We Serve for the current list.

State-specific terms

Telehealth and informed-consent requirements vary by state. Where the state in which you are located requires specific disclosures, consent elements, or procedures beyond those described here, those state requirements apply to your care, and you may be asked to acknowledge additional state-specific consent terms before treatment begins.

How to ask questions or give consent

If you have questions about this consent before agreeing, contact us at [email protected] or (786) 574-2428. You will be asked to affirmatively acknowledge this consent (for example, by checking a box or signing electronically) before care begins, and a copy will be available to you. By acknowledging, you confirm that you have read and understood this consent, that you have had the opportunity to ask questions, and that you are voluntarily consenting to telehealth care.