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Related Topic: Health

Three Things to Know:

  1. Standards of care for telehealth services are generally the same as those for in-person care, and several states took steps to enact them into legislation.

  2. During COVID-19, all 50 states allowed patient-provider relationships to be established remotely for prescribing medications, although most states still required an in-person examination for prescribing controlled substances. Post-pandemic, states are reassessing their requirements, resulting in a varied regulatory landscape.

  3. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia require providers to inform patients of the potential risks and benefits of telehealth usage.

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Related Resources

NCSL Prescription Drug Policy Resource Center

The NCSL Prescription Drug Policy Resource Center is a collection of information—including articles, webpages, podcasts, briefs, and a bill-tracking database—developed specifically for legislators and staff.

State Public Health Legislation Database

This database covers topics related to public health including infectious disease prevention and treatment, public health reporting and workforce and vaccines. It includes all introduced legislation from 2021 to the present and is updated at least twice per month as legislation is identified by NCSL staff.
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