Can the pre-treatment exam be done by telehealth in Florida?
Intake · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Yes — a telehealth evaluation is allowed if it meets the same standard of care as an in-person visit and is sufficient to diagnose and treat; no prior in-person exam is required, and the prescribing must still sit inside the physician's course of practice.
A remote (telehealth) evaluation must meet the same standard of care as an in-person visit; a telehealth provider who conducts a patient evaluation sufficient to diagnose and treat is not separately required to perform a prior in-person exam.
Fla. Stat. §456.47(2) · verified Jul 26, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Florida rules
Prescribing, dispensing, administering, mixing or otherwise preparing a legend drug, including any controlled substance, other than in the course of the physician’s professional practice is a ground for discipline. This is the hook Florida hangs the pre-treatment evaluation on: the requirement is not that an exam happened, it is that the prescribing sat inside a genuine course of practice — and the Board decides that after the fact.
Fla. Stat. §458.331(1)(q) · verified Sep 1, 2026
An advanced practice registered nurse must perform their authorized functions within the framework of an established protocol, which has to be maintained ON SITE at every location where they practice — unless registered under §464.0123 — and a physician licensed under chapter 458, 459 or 466 must maintain supervision for directing the specific course of medical treatment. Within that framework the nurse may prescribe, dispense, administer or order any drug, and may manage selected medical problems and initiate, monitor or alter therapies.
Fla. Stat. §464.012(3) and (4)(a) · verified Sep 1, 2026
How other states answer this
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Related Florida questions
- Is an exam required before a patient can be treated in Florida?
- Who may perform the pre-treatment exam in Florida?
- Must someone be on site while a patient is treated in Florida?
- Can a med spa in Florida offer compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide?
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← All Florida rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).