GLOSSARY · VISITS
Asynchronous care, treatment without a live call.
Asynchronous care is a telehealth model that lets a patient and a provider exchange information at different times, so a treatment decision can be made without a live call.
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What it means
The patient completes an intake questionnaire, sometimes with photos, lab results, or ID, and submits it. A licensed provider reviews the file later, sends follow-up questions through secure messaging if needed, and then prescribes, declines, or asks for a live visit. The technical method underneath is usually store-and-forward.
Async works best for conditions a provider can assess from history and photos, such as hair loss, erectile dysfunction, many skin conditions, and birth control. It works poorly, or is not allowed, where the provider needs to see and hear the patient in real time.
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Why it matters to a brand operator
Async is the cheapest and fastest consult format. A provider can review many more files per hour than they can hold video visits, and the patient never waits for an appointment, which lifts the share of checkouts that turn into prescriptions.
The limits come from state law and the DEA. Some states do not let a provider start a new patient-provider relationship from a questionnaire alone and require a live audio or video visit first. Prescribing a controlled substance by telehealth requires a real-time visit under the DEA's rules. A brand's funnel has to branch by state and by drug, or it will promise a fast path that some patients cannot legally take.
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How Tessic Health handles it
On Tessic Health, every completed consult costs a flat $25, and providers licensed in all 50 states practice under the client's brand. Whether a consult is asynchronous or live is a clinical and legal decision made on the medical side of the clinic, state by state and treatment by treatment.
See the published termsRELATED TERMS
Words that come up next.
Store-and-forward
Store-and-forward is a telehealth method that captures a patient's information, such as photos, forms, or test results, and sends it to a provider to review later.
Synchronous visit
A synchronous visit is a telehealth appointment that happens in real time, with the patient and provider connected at the same moment by video or phone.
Intake questionnaire
An intake questionnaire is a structured medical form that collects a patient's history, symptoms, medications, and goals before a telehealth provider reviews the case.
Patient-provider relationship
The patient-provider relationship is a legal relationship that begins when a licensed provider evaluates a patient, and it gives the provider a duty to treat that patient to the standard of care.