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Is an exam required before a patient can be treated in South Dakota?

Intake · part of The Practice Perimeter

South Dakota's telehealth chapter states WHO may treat. Any health care professional treating a patient in the state through telehealth shall be FULLY LICENSED to practice in the state — or employed by one of the named licensed or accredited facilities — AND subject to any rule adopted by the applicable South Dakota licensing body. Telehealth itself is defined broadly: the use of secure electronic information, imaging and communication technologies by a health care professional to deliver health care services to a patient, INCLUDING interactive audio-video, interactive audio with store and forward, store-and-forward technology, and remote patient monitoring. Because the operative requirements are pushed to the licensing body's rules, these claims do not themselves fix an examination requirement; what they do fix is the standard the board measures against — professional incompetence is a DEVIATION FROM THE STATEWIDE STANDARD OF COMPETENCE, being the minimum degree of skill and knowledge necessary to perform the characteristic tasks of a physician in at least a reasonably effective way.

Drawn from 5 verified rules in this section · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice

The rest of what South Dakota says on this

Every other rule we have verified under good-faith examination, each linked to its primary source.

  • Any health care professional treating a patient in the state through telehealth shall be fully licensed to practice in the state or employed by a licensed health care facility, an accredited prevention or treatment facility, a community support provider, a nonprofit mental health center, or a licensed child welfare agency under §36-32-76; and subject to any rule adopted by the applicable South Dakota licensing body.

    S.D. Codified Laws §34-52-2 · verified Sep 3, 2026

  • "Telehealth," the use of secure electronic information, imaging, and communication technologies by a health care professional to deliver health care services to a patient, including interactive audio-video, interactive audio with store and forward, store-and-forward technology, and remote patient monitoring.

    S.D. Codified Laws §34-52-1(5) · verified Sep 3, 2026

  • "Originating site," a site where a patient is located at the time health care services are delivered to the patient via telehealth.

    S.D. Codified Laws §34-52-1(3) · verified Sep 3, 2026

  • For the purposes of this section, professional incompetence is a deviation from the statewide standard of competence, which is that minimum degree of skill and knowledge necessary for the performance of characteristic tasks of a physician or surgeon in at least a reasonably effective way.

    S.D. Codified Laws §36-4-29 · verified Sep 3, 2026

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← All South Dakota rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference, not legal, medical, or compliance advice. Verify against the linked primary source and consult qualified counsel before acting — rules change and turn on your specific facts. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).