Patient Guide

Telehealth vs. In-Person — Our Honest Take

At Burds Family Practice, we are an in-person practice first. Telehealth has its place — for weight loss follow-ups and certain mental health medication check-ins for established patients — but the vast majority of what we do requires being in the room together. Primary care is a hands-on discipline. We'd rather see you properly than risk missing something because a video call was more convenient.

The Honest Comparison

What Telehealth Can and Can't Do

Telehealth is a useful tool for the right situations. The problem is that it gets used for too many situations where an in-person exam would catch things a video call simply cannot. Here's how we think about it.

Limited Use at Burds
Telehealth
What it allows Conversation and visual observation. Your provider can see you, hear your symptoms, and review your record.
What it cannot do Listen to your heart and lungs. Palpate your abdomen. Look in your ears. Feel a lump. Run a rapid test. Perform any procedure. These things require being in the room.
Where it works When the provider already has a complete clinical picture and the visit is purely about monitoring something stable — not evaluating something new.
Where it falls short Anywhere a physical finding could change the clinical picture. Research shows 6.2% of telehealth visits require an in-person follow-up within 7 days — because something was missed remotely.
At Burds Used only for weight loss follow-ups and select mental health medication check-ins for established patients with a stable, well-documented condition.
VS
✦ Our Standard
In-Person Visit
What it allows A full clinical assessment — physical exam, point-of-care testing, lab draws, procedures, and the kind of observation that only happens when you're in the same room.
What it adds Things your provider can hear, feel, see up close, and measure in real time. Often it's a physical finding — not what you say — that changes the diagnosis.
Where it excels Everywhere. There is no clinical situation where an in-person exam provides less information than a telehealth visit.
The tradeoff Requires travel. We know that. But we offer same-day appointments and try to make getting here as easy as possible — because getting it right matters more than getting it fast.
At Burds Our default for essentially all care. Sick visits, physicals, chronic condition management, mental health, new concerns, follow-ups — we want to see you in person.
Our Telehealth Policy

Where We Use Telehealth — and Where We Don't

We offer telehealth for a small number of visit types where it genuinely serves the patient — not as a default convenience option. Here's exactly where we draw the line.

Telehealth — Available at Burds

Where virtual visits make sense for us

  • Weight loss medication follow-ups — monitoring progress and adjusting dosing for established patients
  • Mental health medication check-ins — for stable, established patients whose condition is well-documented and not in flux

In both of these cases, the provider already has a complete clinical picture, no physical exam findings are expected to change the plan, and the visit is purely about monitoring and adjusting something already in motion.

In-Person — Our Standard for Everything Else

Where we want to see you in the office

  • Sick visits — colds, flu, infections, any acute illness
  • Annual physicals and wellness exams
  • New symptoms or concerns being evaluated for the first time
  • Ear infections, sore throats, sinus concerns
  • Chronic condition management — diabetes, blood pressure, thyroid
  • Any concern requiring lab work, testing, or procedures
  • Injuries or wounds
  • New mental health concerns
  • Anything where a physical finding could matter
Our Philosophy

Why We Default to In-Person Care

The telehealth boom that came out of the pandemic was born from necessity — and it demonstrated that some visit types genuinely work well virtually. But it also normalized a convenience-first approach to care that we think has gone too far.

Primary care is a physical discipline. The stethoscope, the otoscope, the hands on your abdomen — these aren't formalities. They're the exam. And the exam is where findings get made that change what happens next.

We'd rather see you and get it right than guess from a screen.

If you come in with an ear that hurts and we look inside and see a normal ear drum, we know you don't have an ear infection and we look for something else. If we do that visit by video, we prescribe based on what you're telling us — which may or may not match what we'd actually find. That gap matters. We're not willing to trade clinical accuracy for convenience.

6.2%

of telehealth visits require an in-person follow-up within 7 days

Compared to 1.3% of in-person visits. That gap exists because some conditions cannot be fully assessed without physical examination — and when they're managed remotely, patients often end up needing to come in anyway. We'd rather skip the extra step and just see you.

What In-Person Makes Possible

Things That Require Being in the Room

This is the list that matters most when you're deciding whether a telehealth visit is appropriate. If any of these are potentially relevant to your concern, you need to come in.

Auscultation — listening to heart and lung sounds
Otoscope exam — looking inside the ear canal
Abdominal palpation — feeling for tenderness, masses, or organ changes
Rapid testing — strep, flu, COVID, urinalysis
Blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen measurement
Lab draws — blood work, cultures
Skin examination up close — rashes, lesions, wounds
Lymph node assessment — palpating for swelling
Throat and tonsil examination
Wound care, suturing, and procedures
Injections and immunizations
EKG and other diagnostic testing
Quick Reference

Telehealth or In-Person at Burds?

Most things land in the in-person column. Here's a clear reference.

Situation → What we recommend at Burds
Weight loss medication follow-up — established patient, stable
Telehealth OK
Mental health medication check-in — stable, established patient
Telehealth OK
Cold, flu, sore throat, ear pain, sinus concerns
Come In
UTI symptoms
Come In
Annual physical or wellness exam
Come In
New symptom you haven't had evaluated before
Come In
Chronic condition management — diabetes, blood pressure, thyroid
Come In
Skin rash or skin concern
Come In
Lab work needed
Come In
New mental health concern
Come In
Any injury or wound
Come In
Chest pain, difficulty breathing, or stroke symptoms
ER / 911
Not sure — should I come in?
Call Us First
Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Burds Family Practice offer telehealth visits?
Burds Family Practice offers telehealth for a limited and deliberate set of visit types — primarily weight loss medication follow-ups and certain mental health medication check-ins for established patients with stable, well-documented conditions. The vast majority of care at Burds is delivered in person. We believe most clinical concerns are better served by a hands-on exam, and we'd rather see you than guess.
Why does Burds Family Practice prefer in-person visits?
Primary care is a hands-on discipline. Listening to heart and lungs, palpating an abdomen, examining a rash up close, looking in an ear — these things cannot be done over a video call. A telehealth visit can miss findings that an in-person exam would catch. Research shows that 6.2% of telehealth visits require a follow-up in-person appointment within 7 days. At Burds, we'd rather see you properly than risk missing something important because it was more convenient to do it virtually.
When is telehealth appropriate at Burds Family Practice?
At Burds, telehealth is used for weight loss follow-up appointments and select mental health medication check-ins for established patients whose condition is stable and well-documented. These are situations where the provider already has a complete clinical picture and the visit is about monitoring and adjusting — not evaluating something new.
Can I do a sick visit by telehealth at Burds?
No. Sick visits at Burds Family Practice are in-person. When you're ill, your provider needs to examine you — listen to your lungs, look in your ears and throat, assess your lymph nodes, and potentially run rapid tests. None of those things are possible over video. We offer same-day appointments for sick patients, so getting in quickly is rarely a barrier.

Need to be seen?
Come in. We mean it.

Same-day appointments available. Burds Family Practice — Peosta, Iowa.

Schedule an Appointment Call Us: (563) 588-6659