u/Fine_Conference_7912

Has anyone dealt with the rise of “online doctor note” or AI-assisted telehealth websites for attendance call-outs?

I’m referring to platforms where employees can:

• enter symptoms online,
• select the dates they want excused,
• pay a fee,
• and receive a doctor note, sometimes with little or no live interaction with a provider.

Some notes are signed by legitimate licensed physicians, which makes this a gray area.

The concern is not telehealth itself. Legitimate telemedicine is obviously common now. The concern is whether employers can require:

• an actual in-person evaluation, OR
• live phone/video interaction with a provider, instead of accepting automated or questionnaire-only documentation.

Questions:

1. Have other employers updated attendance/documentation policies because of these services?
2. Is it legally defensible to reject documentation that appears generated without meaningful provider interaction?
3. From a Texas unemployment/TWC standpoint, has anyone successfully defended terminations tied to repeated absenteeism where employees relied heavily on these kinds of notes?
4. Is it safer to treat these as “insufficient/unverified documentation” instead of labeling them fraudulent?
5. Any ADA/FMLA concerns with requiring more substantial medical documentation in certain situations?

We are seeing situations where employees have very high call-out frequencies but repeatedly submit these notes as “excused absences,” and I’m curious how other HR teams are navigating this.