Can the pre-treatment exam be done by telehealth in Minnesota?
Intake · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Only for ED drugs and opioid use disorder medications — for the other drugs on the examination list, the exam must have happened in person: by the prescriber, at a prior visit, or by another practitioner in the same group or clinic, or a consultant.
What satisfies the examination is broader than “see the patient today”: it is met where the prescribing practitioner examines the patient at the time the prescription is issued, where “the prescribing practitioner has performed a prior examination of the patient”, where “another prescribing practitioner practicing within the same group or clinic as the prescribing practitioner has examined the patient”, or where a consulting practitioner the patient was referred to has examined them. ⚠️ telehealth alone satisfies it for only two things — ED drugs and medications for opioid use disorder. For every other listed drug the examination must have happened in person, by someone.
Minn. Stat. § 151.37, subd. 2(e) · verified Sep 2, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Minnesota rules
Telehealth lowers nothing. a physician-patient relationship MAY be established through telehealth, and a physician providing health care services by telehealth in this state shall be held to the same standards of practice and conduct as provided for in-person services. Minnesota permits the remote consult and then declines to discount it.
Minn. Stat. § 147.033, subds. 2–3 · verified Sep 2, 2026
⚠️ the rule, and it voids the prescription rather than merely exposing the prescriber. “a prescription drug order for the following drugs IS NOT VALID, unless it can be established that the prescription drug order was based on a documented patient evaluation, including an examination, adequate to establish a diagnosis and identify underlying conditions and contraindications to treatment.” The list is closed: controlled substances under § 152.02, board-defined controlled substances, muscle relaxants, centrally acting analgesics with opioid activity, drugs containing butalbital, and PDE5 inhibitors used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Minn. Stat. § 151.37, subd. 2(d) · verified Sep 2, 2026
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Related Minnesota questions
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