Telehealth Informed Consent
This Telehealth Informed Consent (“Consent”) provides information about telehealth and asks for your informed consent to receive care through the StartCare platform from independent licensed healthcare providers (“Providers”). By clicking “I agree” or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to this Consent.
Emergencies
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Telehealth is not appropriate for emergencies, and Providers may not respond immediately to messages.
1. What Is Telehealth
Telehealth is the delivery of healthcare using electronic communications between a Provider and a patient who are not in the same location. It may include the electronic exchange of your health information, symptoms, photos, and messages, and interaction with a Provider by messaging or other means. Alternatives, such as in-person care, may be available to you, and you may seek in-person care at any time.
2. Where the Service Is Available
Care through the Service is available only to patients physically located in a state where our Providers hold an active, unexpired license to practice. The Service currently serves patients in Florida, Ohio, and Texas. Before your visit is submitted for Provider review, we verify the state you are in, and a visit is routed only to a Provider licensed in that state. If you are located in a state where the Service is not yet available, you will not be able to complete a paid visit; you may choose to join a waitlist to be notified if the Service becomes available in your state.
3. Potential Benefits
Telehealth may make care more convenient and accessible, allow you to receive care without an in-person visit, and let you interact with a Provider at times that work for you.
4. Potential Risks
Telehealth also has potential risks. Because a Provider cannot examine you in person or perform certain tests, a Provider may be unable to make a diagnosis, may make an incorrect assessment, or may not identify a condition that an in-person exam would reveal. Technology, including AI-assisted tools, may fail or produce errors. Electronic communications carry some risk of unauthorized disclosure. In some cases, a Provider may determine that telehealth is not appropriate for your condition and that you should seek in-person care.
5. Artificial Intelligence in Your Care
StartCare uses AI to guide intake and to prepare a draft assessment for a Provider to review. AI does not make clinical decisions and is not a Provider; a licensed Provider is responsible for your care. AI-generated content may contain errors.
6. Prescriptions & Pharmacy Choice
Whether to prescribe is at the Provider's sole professional discretion, and a prescription is not guaranteed. If a prescription is issued, it is sent electronically to the pharmacy you choose. You may use any licensed pharmacy and are responsible for obtaining and paying for your medication.
7. Financial Responsibility
Care through the Service is provided on a cash-pay basis and is not billed to Medicare, Medicaid, or insurance. You are responsible for the cost of the Service and any medication.
8. Privacy & Security of Communications
The systems used to deliver the Service include safeguards designed to protect the privacy and security of your information. Your information will not be disclosed except as authorized by you or permitted or required by law (for example, for treatment, payment, healthcare operations, or mandatory reporting). StartCare cannot guarantee the security of communication services you use to receive messages, such as your email provider. Communications sessions will not be recorded by you or the Provider.
9. No Guarantee of Outcome; Your Duty to Provide Accurate Information
No specific result can be guaranteed, and your condition may not improve. You agree to provide truthful, accurate, and complete information, including relevant medical history and any other care you are receiving, so the Provider can care for you appropriately.
10. Your Right to Withdraw Consent
You may withhold or withdraw your consent to telehealth at any time without affecting your right to future care or treatment, by written notice to your Provider. Withdrawal does not affect actions taken in reliance on this Consent before it was received. You understand that the Providers who use the Service do not offer in-person visits.
11. Your Acknowledgments
By agreeing to this Consent, you acknowledge that: your care will be provided by telehealth; your Provider may be a physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or other licensed professional, and you agree to be treated by them as applicable; you have had the opportunity to consider the benefits, risks, and alternatives of telehealth; and you consent to receive care via telehealth through the Service.
12. Concerns & Contact
If you have a concern about a licensed professional, you may contact the medical or professional licensing board in your state. Questions about this Consent can be sent to info@startcare.ai.