You must read, understand, and agree to this Telehealth Informed Consent before receiving telehealth services through the Leader Health Platform. Your acceptance is recorded with the date, time, and IP address you used.
This page is your consent to receive care by telehealth (video, audio, or secure messaging) instead of in person. It explains what telehealth is, the risks, your rights, how to file a complaint with the medical board of the state in which you received care, and what happens in an emergency. You can withdraw consent at any time. Telehealth has limits — some conditions require an in-person exam, and your Provider will tell you when one is needed.
Telehealth is the delivery of health care services using interactive audio, video, and secure messaging technology when you and your clinician are not in the same physical location. Through the Leader Health Platform, telehealth may include initial consultations, follow-up visits, secure messaging, lab review, prescribing, and ongoing care management. Your clinician will determine, in their independent professional judgment, whether telehealth is an appropriate medium for your care.
Clinical services are provided by independent licensed clinicians (the "Providers") who practice through the Affiliated Provider Network under contract with Leader Health. The Affiliated Provider Network is the HIPAA Covered Entity for your medical record; your Provider exercises independent clinical judgment under the Affiliated Provider Network's own clinical governance. Each Provider is licensed in the state where you are physically located at the time of the encounter. The identity and licensure of the clinician treating you, and the current Affiliated Provider Network, are disclosed to you in the patient dashboard and at the visit. Leader Health (LH Ventures LLC dba Leader Health) is a technology and administrative-services company; it does not practice medicine and does not control your Provider's independent clinical judgment. Leader Health's Chief Medical Officer provides program-level medical oversight to Leader Health through a contracted physician entity (Ratcliff Health PLLC); that oversight is not treatment and does not direct your Provider's individual clinical decisions about you. Leader Health may add to, expand, or substitute the Affiliated Provider Network on notice to you.
Benefits include: convenience, reduced travel, faster access to a Provider, more frequent follow-up, integration of your lab results, and consistent ongoing care.
Limitations include:
The Provider cannot perform an in-person physical examination.
Some conditions cannot be safely diagnosed or treated by telehealth and may require an in-person visit, imaging, or procedures not available through the Platform.
Technology can fail (poor connection, dropped calls, platform outages).
Information you provide forms a substantial part of the clinical record; incomplete or inaccurate history can lead to incorrect clinical decisions.
Lab results have intrinsic limitations (false positives, false negatives, biological variability).
Telehealth is not emergency care. If you are experiencing an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Possible risks include, without limitation:
A delay in diagnosis or treatment because in-person assessment was not performed.
Adverse reactions to medications, including allergic reactions, side effects, and interactions with other medications, supplements, or conditions.
Failure of electronic equipment, software, or transmission resulting in incomplete information or interruption of care.
A security breach or unauthorized access to your health information despite reasonable safeguards.
Information you submit being incomplete or inaccurate, leading to an inappropriate clinical decision.
You agree to:
Provide complete, accurate, and current information about your health history, medications, allergies, symptoms, and circumstances.
Confirm your physical location (state) at the time of each telehealth encounter.
Use the medications prescribed only as directed; do not share, resell, transfer, or divert them.
Promptly follow Provider instructions regarding labs, monitoring, and follow-up.
Notify your care team promptly of side effects, adverse reactions, or new symptoms.
Maintain a relationship with a primary care physician for general, urgent, and preventive care.
The Platform uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including encryption in transit and at rest. No system is perfectly secure. Your health information is subject to the protections of HIPAA and applicable state law and is described in detail in the HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.
A telehealth encounter may be recorded for clinical documentation. Recordings are stored as part of your protected medical record under the same HIPAA safeguards as the rest of your record and are not shared outside your care.
8. Right to refuse or withdraw
You may refuse telehealth at any time, including in the middle of a consult, without affecting your right to care available elsewhere. If you withdraw consent, your Provider will discuss alternatives, which may include an in-person encounter or referral.
Filing a complaint with your state medical board
If you have a complaint about the conduct or competence of a clinician, you have the right to file a complaint with the medical board of the state in which you received care (the state in which you were physically located at the time of the encounter). Each state's medical board has its own complaint process, contact information, and forms; a directory of U.S. state medical boards is maintained by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) at www.fsmb.org/contact-a-state-medical-board.
As one example, for care provided in Texas, you may file a complaint with the Texas Medical Board:
Phone: 1-800-201-9353
Mail: Texas Medical Board, Investigations, P.O. Box 2018, Austin, TX 78768-2018
For care provided in a state other than Texas, use the FSMB directory above or search for your state's medical board directly. Filing a complaint with a state medical board does not require notice to Leader Health or to the Affiliated Provider Network. You may also raise concerns directly with our care team or with the Affiliated Provider Network at the contact information below; doing so does not waive your right to file a complaint with your state medical board.
Acknowledgment
By accepting this Telehealth Informed Consent you confirm that you have read and understood it, have had an opportunity to ask questions, and consent to receive telehealth services through the Leader Health Platform. Your consent will be re-confirmed periodically and at the start of certain encounters where required by law.
Contact: care@myleaderhealth.com
