Keep the answers on a care sheet.

The person treating me

Write down the health professional’s full name and license type. Match them to the Florida state record.

Florida’s free health license search also shows discipline, meaning public action taken against a license.

The assessment

Ask what the clinician (a doctor or other health professional) needs to understand before deciding on treatment. Ask what opportunity you have to bring up questions of your own.

Choosing from a menu alone does not amount to a real assessment, advises the national group of state medical boards. Its advice requires a chance for patients to raise follow-up questions of their own.

The medicine

Keep the ingredient name, brand if there is one, and product form together. Ask the clinician to explain its status.

A made-to-order compounded preparation lacks approval by the US drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The supplying pharmacy

Get the names of the pharmacy making the medicine and the pharmacy handling its shipment. Get the names before checking their records.

In Florida’s health license search, choose ‘establishments’ for pharmacies. That word is the search label for businesses, rather than individual people.

The full cost

Write down the medicine, visit, tests, shipping, and any ongoing charge. Ask for the later price if an offer has a time limit.

The next conversation

Ask who answers medicine questions, how to reach them, and what happens when an in-person visit is needed.

The FDA flags services without a licensed doctor available for questions after medicine delivery.

Anything that gives me pause

Supplying prescription medicine without a licensed practitioner’s prescription breaks federal law.

Write down any unexplained claim or pressured payment request. An empty box is a question to bring back, not a task to rush through.