In today’s video we will look at some basic legal questions that our telemedicine clients need to know.

Often our physician, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner clients ask us telemedicine questions involving practices across multiple states.

For example, Dave, an MD, recently asked: I’ve just joined a new telemedicine practice and they are telling me to do my own legal due diligence.

Can I practice virtually across state lines and ensure that I am protected against licensing and malpractice risks?

Hi, I’m Michael H. Cohen, founding attorney of Cohen Healthcare Law Group. We help healthcare industry clients like you, navigate the complex and challenging terrain of healthcare and FDA law so you can grow, launch, scale, your healthcare business.

So, here was our advice to Dr Dave.

In telemedicine the general rule is that you can see patients from wherever you are, digitally or virtually, as long as you are licensed in the state where the patients are located at the time of the visit as well as in your own state. Now, there are tons of exceptions, but that’s the basic, overarching rule.

Florida has a very liberal view in that Florida only requires you to register as an out-of-state provider but it does not require you to get a Florida clinical license, so that’s unusual.

Note that you still have to abide by the standard of care and it will vary depending on the malpractice standards in the patient’s state.

Another issue is prescribing controlled substances. The federal Ryan Haight Act requires a provider to see a patient in person first before prescribing controlled substances. This might perhaps be accomplished by having the patient seen in person by a local clinical provider who then refers to or co-manages the patient with the out of state clinician.

Thanks for watching. Please contact us with any questions. We helped healthcare clients just like you every day build their dream. We look forward to talking to you and we wish you well on your journey to success!