A second opinion is a visit to a physician other than the one a patient has previously been seeing in order to get a differing point-of-view. Second opinions may be sought by a patient under the following circumstances:

Some patients will seek a second opinion online. This is a service offered by some clinics. Doing so enables patients to take advantage of the wealth of medical information found on the internet, and to avoid traveling to visit the clinic in person. But the face-to-face visit with the physician is lost, and not all medical insurance plans will cover the cost.[3]