The short answer
This page explains how video visits fit into cancer care, what they can and cannot replace, and how to prepare for one. It is general education, not individual medical advice.
Telehealth uses video or phone technology so you can meet your cancer team without traveling to the clinic.
Video works well for follow-ups, reviewing results, and visits built on talking, but it cannot replace a hands-on physical exam.
In one NCI-reported study, telehealth saved cancer patients an average of 2.9 hours of driving and roughly 147 to 186 dollars per visit.
A little preparation, such as testing your camera and writing questions down, makes a video visit far more useful.
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The full explanation.
Telehealth in cancer care means meeting your oncology team by video or phone instead of driving to the clinic. For the right kind of visit, it works well, and it can return hours of travel time to people who are already tired. It also has a hard limit: no one can examine you by hand through a screen. This page covers what video visits do well, what they cannot do, and how to prepare so the time counts.
What telehealth is
The National Cancer Institute describes telehealth as care delivered through telecommunications technology. The most common form is a live video visit between doctor and patient. The Department of Health and Human Services adds that telehealth is used for a wide range of conditions, cancer among them. To take part, you need internet and a device such as a smartphone, computer, or tablet.
What works well by video
More of an oncology visit translates to video than many people expect. NCI notes that doctors can:
- Look. Rashes, infections, surgical scars, and visible swelling can be assessed on camera.
- Test thinking and speech. Memory, attention, concentration, and language can be checked through verbal tests.
- Watch movement. Eye movements, facial weakness, strength, walking, and coordination can be observed.
- Share results. With screen sharing, your doctor can walk you through imaging, pathology reports, and lab findings while you both look at them.
That makes video a good fit for follow-up visits, results discussions, symptom check-ins, and conversations about treatment options. It also opens doors. NCI points out that telehealth removes barriers of distance, so patients can reach specialists at major cancer centers without moving. A remote second opinion is one common use.
What still needs an in-person visit
NCI is blunt about the limit: a conventional physical exam cannot be done remotely. Reflexes, hearing, and vision cannot be checked. A doctor cannot feel lymph nodes or areas of swelling. Changes in sensation and strength cannot be judged by touch.
Anything that involves equipment or hands stays in person too: blood draws, scans, infusions, radiation, and procedures. Most people in active treatment end up with a mix, some visits by video and some in the building. Which visit belongs in which category is a good scheduling question for your team.
The time and money case
NCI reported a study of nearly 25,500 telehealth visits at one Florida cancer center between April 2020 and June 2021. The visits came from more than 11,600 cancer patients. The savings were concrete. Telehealth was linked with average savings between 147 and 186 dollars per visit. It also spared patients an average of 2.9 hours of round-trip driving, plus 1.2 hours of in-clinic time per visit.
The vast majority of those visits — nearly 21,000 of them — were for follow-up care. That fits the pattern above: routine check-ins are where video shines. The study had limits. The center draws patients from across a large state, which may inflate the travel figures. Even so, for anyone juggling treatment with work, caregiving, or a long drive, the direction of the numbers is clear. If getting to the clinic is the hard part, our page on transportation to cancer treatment lists other kinds of help.
How to prepare for a video visit
NCI's preparation advice is practical:
- Test your equipment ahead of time so video and audio work. Use a wired internet connection if you can.
- Pick your spot. A quiet space with adjustable lighting and room to move, in case the doctor asks to watch you walk.
- Stage your information. Have your medication list with doses, and the bottles themselves, within reach. Check what vitals you can at home, such as temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and weight.
- Write your questions down before the visit, including symptom changes and anything new.
- Invite your person. Make sure a caregiver or family member can join.
During the visit, treat it like a real appointment, because it is one. Ask whether you can record it or get a summary. Say so if the connection drops words or if something was not clear. Before signing off, confirm the next steps: what happens next, and how your next appointment will reach you.
If technology is the barrier, say that too. HHS keeps patient guidance at telehealth.hhs.gov. It covers preparing for visits and what to do when you have trouble using telehealth. Some resources are aimed at older adults and rural communities.
Sources
Words to know
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Common questions
What can a doctor actually check over video?
NCI notes doctors can look at rashes, infections, surgical scars, and swelling on camera, test memory, attention, and language verbally, and watch eye movements, facial strength, walking, and coordination. They can also share the screen to walk through imaging, pathology, and lab results.
What cannot be done by telehealth?
A conventional physical exam. NCI is direct that doctors cannot check reflexes, hearing, or vision, feel lymph nodes, or assess sensation and strength by touch through a screen. Blood draws, imaging, infusions, and procedures still require a visit in person.
Does telehealth really save time and money?
An NCI-reported study of about 25,500 telehealth visits at one cancer center found an average savings of 147 to 186 dollars per visit, plus 2.9 hours of round-trip driving and 1.2 hours of in-clinic time. Most of the visits studied were follow-up appointments.
What do I need for a video visit?
HHS says you need internet and a device such as a smartphone, computer, or tablet. NCI suggests testing your video and audio beforehand, using a wired connection if possible, and finding a quiet space with decent lighting and room to move.
Can a family member or caregiver join?
Yes, and NCI recommends it. Make sure your caregiver or a family member can join the visit, whether from beside you or from another location. A second set of ears helps with complicated treatment discussions.
Questions to ask your doctor
Being prepared helps you get the most out of your appointments. Save or print these questions.
Tap a question to save it to your list (kept on this device).
Your next step
Your care team's answer depends on your treatment — ask them directly.
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Where to get help with this, by name
A hospital social worker or financial navigator is the best first call if you have one. If you do not, these organisations help at no cost to you.
- Patient Advocate Foundation — (800) 532-5274. Case managers take on insurance appeals, denials and medical debt with you. Free.
- TotalAssist (Patient Advocate Foundation's copay programme, merged with the PAN Foundation in 2026) — 866-512-3861. Help with medication copays, coinsurance and deductibles, insurance premiums, and office-visit and administration charges on the day of treatment, across nearly 150 conditions.
- CancerCare — 800-813-HOPE (4673). Oncology social workers, free counselling and support groups. Limited financial help with transport, home care, child care and lodging for people in active treatment who meet their income guidelines — funding is first-come, first-served, so call to ask what is open.
- Triage Cancer — 424-258-4628. Free legal and financial navigation: insurance, employment rights, disability.
- Blood Cancer United (formerly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) — (800) 955-4572. Information Specialists answer questions on treatment, insurance and financial problems.
- HealthCare.gov — 1-800-318-2596. For questions about the external review process — the independent review your insurer is required by law to accept.
Your state Department of Insurance regulates insurers and takes consumer complaints. On Medicare, your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) gives free one-to-one counselling. If a specific drug is the problem, ask the manufacturer about its patient assistance programme.
Phone numbers checked 31 July 2026. Programmes and eligibility change — if a number has moved, please tell us.
Plain-language explanation of the published sources cited on this page. AI-assisted, source-checked, not clinician-reviewed.
Sources last checked: 2026-08-21 what this meansLast updated: 2026-08-21Next planned review: 2028-08-21
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes. We do not employ clinicians and do not intend to — our work is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
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Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
How this page was created
Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes. We do not employ clinicians and do not intend to — our work is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and checked line by line against the sources listed on it. That confirms the sources support what the page says. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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