Telehealth and Telemedicine Malpractice Claims

Yes, you can generally bring a malpractice claim over a telehealth visit — a doctor who treats you by video or phone is held to the same standard of care as one who sees you in person, and if a remote provider missed something an exam would have caught, failed to send you in for in-person care when the situation called for it, or wasn't properly licensed to treat you, that can support a negligence claim. Telehealth is still medicine, and the legal rules that apply to a hospital exam room apply to a video call too. What changes is the evidence: instead of arguing about what a doctor saw and felt in the room, these cases often turn on what the doctor couldn't see or feel over a screen, and whether the doctor recognized those limits and acted on them.

The standard of care doesn't lower just because the visit is remote

Medical malpractice is a form of negligence, and negligence claims everywhere rest on the same four elements: the provider owed you a duty of care, the provider breached that duty by failing to act as a reasonably competent provider would have under the same circumstances, that breach caused your injury, and you suffered real damages (medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and so on). None of that changes because the visit happened over a phone or laptop instead of in an exam room.

What telehealth changes is the "same circumstances" part of the analysis. A reasonably careful telehealth provider is expected to recognize the limits of a remote visit and adjust accordingly — for example, by ordering in-person labs or imaging, asking a caregiver on the other end of the call to help with a physical check, or simply telling the patient "this needs to be seen in person." A provider who barrels ahead with a diagnosis or treatment plan without accounting for what a screen can't show them may be found to have breached the standard of care, even if an in-person doctor facing the identical symptoms would not have been at fault.

Common ways telehealth visits go wrong

• Missed or delayed diagnosis because a physical exam was skipped. Conditions like appendicitis, blood clots, skin infections, or internal injuries often depend on a hands-on exam — palpating the abdomen, checking for swelling or warmth, listening to specific areas. A video call can miss these findings entirely.
• Failure to refer the patient to in-person or emergency care. One of the most important duties of a telehealth provider is knowing when a remote visit isn't enough and telling the patient to go to urgent care, an ER, or a specialist. A provider who tries to manage a serious condition entirely by phone instead of directing the patient to be seen can be liable for that decision.
• Prescribing based on incomplete information. Medication decisions made without vital signs, lab work, or a physical exam carry extra risk, especially for controlled substances, drug interactions, or conditions that mimic something more benign.
• Technology and communication breakdowns. Dropped calls, poor video quality, a patient who couldn't properly show a symptom on camera, or a rushed visit that didn't leave time for a full history can all contribute to a missed finding.
• Licensing and jurisdiction problems. Physicians must generally be licensed in the state where the patient is located at the time of the visit, not just where the provider is based. Multi-state licensing compacts have made it easier for providers to practice across state lines, but gaps still exist. A provider who wasn't properly licensed to treat you in your state was practicing outside the bounds of their license — which doesn't automatically prove malpractice, but it can be relevant to your case and may raise separate regulatory issues worth reporting to your state's medical board.

How a telehealth malpractice claim is built

These cases are generally proven the same way any medical malpractice case is: through expert testimony. An independent physician in the same specialty reviews the records and testifies about what a reasonably careful telehealth provider should have done in your situation, and whether the provider you saw fell short of that. Because telehealth is relatively new, courts and experts are still working out exactly how the standard of care applies to remote visits — but the core question is consistent: given what the provider could and couldn't observe remotely, did they act reasonably, including in deciding whether the visit needed to happen in person at all?

Documentation matters even more in telehealth cases because there's no physical chart from an exam room to fall back on. Useful evidence often includes:

• The appointment platform's records, including whether video or audio was used and any technical issues during the visit
• Messages, portal notes, or after-visit summaries from the provider
• Whether the provider asked you to show or describe a symptom and how you responded
• Any point where you or a family member suggested going to a doctor in person, and how the provider responded
• Records from the in-person provider who eventually diagnosed the problem, showing what should have been caught earlier

What to do if you think a telehealth visit hurt you

1. Get evaluated and treated first. Your health comes before your legal options. See an in-person provider to address the actual medical problem.
2. Request your full telehealth records. Ask for the visit notes, any recorded video (some platforms retain it), chat logs, prescriptions, and billing records. Do this in writing and keep a copy of your request.
3. Write down what happened while it's fresh. Note the date and time of the visit, what platform was used, what you described to the provider, what the provider said, and any technical problems (frozen video, dropped calls, being unable to show a symptom clearly).
4. Keep records of the harm. Save the in-person diagnosis that followed, medical bills, time missed from work, and anything documenting how the delay or error affected your condition.
5. Check the provider's licensing. Your state's medical board website can usually confirm whether a provider was licensed to practice in your state at the time of the visit.
6. Talk to a medical malpractice attorney soon. Most work on a contingency fee, meaning you pay nothing upfront and typically owe a fee (commonly around one-third of any recovery) only if you win or settle. They can arrange for a qualified expert to review whether the standard of care was met.
7. Don't wait to figure out the deadline. See the time-sensitive note below.

Time-sensitive: don't sit on this

Every state sets its own deadline (called a statute of limitations) for filing a medical malpractice claim, and many states also require special pre-suit steps for malpractice cases specifically — such as a notice to the provider, a certificate of merit from a medical expert, or a review panel — that can have their own separate deadlines. These rules vary significantly from state to state and can be shorter than typical injury deadlines, so don't assume you have a standard amount of time. Confirm the deadline and any pre-suit requirements that apply in your state as soon as possible, ideally by speaking with an attorney, because missing these steps can end a valid claim before it's ever heard.

What compensation may cover

If a telehealth malpractice claim succeeds, damages generally fall into the same categories as any medical malpractice case: past and future medical bills related to the missed or delayed diagnosis, lost income, and pain and suffering. Many states also cap certain damages (often non-economic damages like pain and suffering) in medical malpractice cases specifically, and those caps vary widely by state — some states have none. Confirm what applies where you live rather than assuming a number. Settlement compensation for physical injuries is generally not taxed as income under federal law (26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2)), though portions allocated to things like lost wages or punitive damages can be treated differently, so it's worth discussing the tax treatment of any settlement with your attorney or a tax professional.

Most malpractice claims, telehealth or otherwise, settle before trial. That doesn't mean the process is quick — these cases usually require expert review, negotiation, and sometimes over a year or more to resolve — but it does mean a lawsuit is often a starting point for negotiation rather than the end goal.

This article is general information about how the law typically works and is not legal advice for your specific situation.