Can I do telemedicine for patients in another state? — Telemedicine in another state

Before you commit

1. Map the patient states the organization expects you to serve, including travel scenarios.
2. Ask each board about the specific license, authorization or exception applicable to your encounter.
3. Confirm issued licenses through the board when using a compact route.
4. Agree on how visits are reassigned when location or prescribing requirements are not met.

Locate the patient before deciding where you practice

The FSMB policy, The Appropriate Use of Telemedicine Technologies in the Practice of Medicine, places the practice of medicine at the patient's location during the encounter. That makes patient location a clinical-readiness question rather than a detail to address after a visit begins. Ask the organization how location is confirmed and what happens when a patient travels or joins from an unexpected state. A physician's office address and the company's headquarters do not answer where the patient encounter occurs. If the organization serves patients across jurisdictions, request a clear assignment process that restricts your work to places where your authorization has been confirmed.

Check the route and any exception directly

The same FSMB policy says a physician must be licensed or appropriately authorized by the medical board where the patient is located. It recognizes that exceptions can exist, including physician-to-physician consultation, but an exception should not be assumed for routine patient visits. Describe the actual arrangement to the receiving board. Eligible physicians may consider the IMLC as a pathway to additional licenses, with the relevant board still issuing a license. Neither a compact application nor another physician's experience establishes your authority. NPs and PAs must check their own professional boards; the physician policy is not a substitute for their role-specific requirements.

Finish the operational checks separately

State authority does not finish the telehealth organization's onboarding. Ask about credential review, clinical scope, documentation, escalation and arranging in-person follow-up when remote care is unsuitable. Confirm liability coverage for the states and services involved. If you will prescribe, review state controlled-substance rules and current federal requirements with the responsible authorities rather than inferring permission from a medical license alone. Identify who can stop or reassign an encounter when the patient's location is outside your approved coverage. A practical interstate plan connects board authorization to the organization's actual scheduling and patient-location controls, not simply to a folder of license copies.

Applying this to your situation

An existing patient relationship can create a practical question when the patient travels, but it should not be used as an assumed exception. Ask the board how the proposed encounter is treated and ask the organization how it handles a patient outside your approved states. Establish that process before the situation occurs, including a route to an appropriately authorized clinician or local care when needed. The answer may depend on the facts and applicable rules. This page uses the FSMB policy to identify the patient-location principle, not to declare that every remote encounter is legally identical.

Sources and scope

• FSMB: The Appropriate Use of Telemedicine Technologies in the Practice of Medicine (April 2022)
• FSMB: contact a state medical board
• IMLCC: information for physicians

Figures are from the cited source as published; check it for the latest.

General information, not legal, tax or insurance advice.