Telehealth Consultations
Skip the Waiting Room!
While we love it when you visit us in the office, we understand that it’s not always convenient. Secure video visits allow you to receive the same quality care as you do in the clinic.
Video visits are great for:
- New patient visits
- Follow-up visits
- Medication questions
- General questions
How It Works
Schedule Your Appointment
You will need to schedule your appointment directly with your provider's office. A list of participating providers with their corresponding phone numbers can be found below.
Your doctor's office will send you specific instructions related to your telehealth visit prior to your appointment.
Start Your Visit
Log in 15 minutes before your video visit and come prepared with questions for your doctor. Your doctor will log in to the session shortly after you access it.
Forms & Registration
Your medical health questionnaire is required prior to your appointment. You may complete the health questionnaire one of two ways:
(1) Complete Health Questionnaire Online
We encourage you to register and start using our Patient Portal to complete your health history and maintain communication with your provider. You will receive an email with a PIN for registration. Please follow the instructions within the email to register and complete your health summary prior to your appointment. If you did not receive a PIN via email, call our portal help desk at (866) 630-0612 and press 1.
(2) Fax Health Questionnaire to Office
If you would like to fax us the forms, you may do so by downloading our new patient packet and faxing it back to your doctor’s office. You can find their fax number in our office directory.
Please complete and return these forms to us prior to your online video visit so that you can maximize your time with the doctor.
Your doctor's office will provide you with instructions on accessing your telehealth session.
Note: you must first call the office to schedule an appointment
Telehealth FAQs
We have compiled a list of the most commonly asked questions about telemedicine for your convenience.
Telehealth and telemedicine are terms that are often used interchangeably. Although they are not exactly the same, the main concept is the delivery of healthcare services using electronic communications when healthcare providers and patients are geographically separated (not in the same place). During a typical telehealth encounter, you communicate directly (“face to face”) with your healthcare provider via a live audio/video meeting, so they can manage your care remotely when an in-person office visit is not possible. Telehealth allows you to access healthcare from the safety of your own home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Convenient access to your provider
- Less time away from work
- Improved work/life balance
- Privacy
- No exposure to other potentially contagious patients
Yes, your telehealth visit allows your provider to do almost everything they would do at an in-person office visit, including documentation in your electronic medical record, ordering tests, and prescribing medications. Some things, such as prescriptions for medications, can be sent electronically to your pharmacy. Your provider may need to send certain orders or paper prescriptions to you either via electronic means or by mail.
Yes, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth visits could only be offered to patients with an already established relationship with the provider. During the pandemic, however, new regulations allow healthcare providers to offer both initial and follow-up telehealth visits.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, your provider will be in the office or hospital during the telehealth visit with you.
No, patients can be seen anywhere, as long as they have a suitable device and access to the internet or a cellular network.
Perhaps the main downside is that your provider can only perform a visual physical exam. If you have a condition that requires a manual physical examination (such as to examine your abdomen), your provider may need to see you in person. Also, telehealth does not allow for certain treatments you may need, such as injections and infusions.
Of course not! Your doctor is in the business of providing the highest quality of care possible. In a lot of cases, for simple follow-ups, a telemedicine appointment is a better alternative, so you can see your doctor face-to-face, rather than a phone call.
Video visits are typically covered by your regular health insurance. You’ll provide credit card information before the appointment and will be charged the same co-pay as an in-person visit. In some cases, practice self-pay rates may apply.
Most insurance plans are currently covering telehealth visits with the same co-pay you would have had if you were seen for a face-to-face visit with the physician in the office. Some insurance companies allow flexibility in the collection of co-pays or co-insurance for these visits. Because you may have a co-pay, staff will ask you to verbally consent to have this service.
You will need a device with the capacity for real-time audio/video communication. These devices may include: 1) a desktop or laptop computer with speakers, a microphone, and a camera, 2) a smartphone, or 3) a tablet device. Make sure you have access to a strong internet connection or cellular signal. In some cases, you may need to download a software application (an “app”) on your device to allow for secure communication with your medical provider. Check with your provider for information and guidance about their telehealth opportunities.
Your provider’s office should contact you before your visit with instructions on what digital platform is needed to connect to your provider. They will also tell you how to download a software application (“app”), if one is required to establish telehealth with their practice. Some of these applications require you to ‘enable’ your microphone and camera within your device, while others do this automatically or give you an onscreen prompt you just click on.
You can use a computer, tablet, or smartphone (iPhone, iPad, and Android devices). Search for “Chiron Health” in the app store on your mobile device, or click here to log in on your computer.
At the time of your appointment, Wi-Fi or a wired connection is strongly preferred for a great video visit experience, just like FaceTime.
Please contact your doctors office and they can help you with logging into your session.
Yes! The video technology uses bank-grade encryption to protect all of your personal information. However, make sure you find a quiet, private place in your home or office for your appointment.
Your provider takes measures to ensure that your personal health information remains protected. In general, providers are required to use technologies and digital platforms that are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Digital platforms such as FaceTime or Skype are not HIPAA compliant, but these might be the only available option for real-time audio/video communications for some patients and providers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a nationwide public health emergency, the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, and many states, are allowing delivery of some telehealth encounters using platforms such as FaceTime and Skype.
No, a telehealth visit requires both audio and visual communication, as your provider cannot complete a visual physical exam without video. Your provider may be able to answer questions with an audio-only phone call, but this would not be a formal telehealth visit.
Yes, during the pandemic emergency, Medicare is allowing coverage for telephone services for new and established patients, and Medicare has covered a variety of simpler ‘virtual check-in’ and ‘e-visits’ conducted by brief telephone call, or portal discussions with your provider. These aren’t just simple phone-backs to get test results, asking staff for appointments, or getting answers to simple questions, which remain ‘free services,’ but are intended for you to give your provider an update on your conditions.
