Florida Senate - 2022 SB 448
By Senator Brodeur
9-00429C-22 2022448__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to veterinary telehealth; providing a
3 short title; amending s. 474.202, F.S.; defining the
4 term “telemedicine”; creating s. 474.2021, F.S.;
5 authorizing veterinarians to practice telemedicine;
6 requiring veterinarians using telemedicine to
7 establish a veterinarian/client/patient relationship
8 and meet certain professional standards; prohibiting
9 such veterinarians from prescribing controlled
10 substances under certain circumstances; providing an
11 exception; providing licensure requirements to
12 practice telemedicine; providing jurisdiction of the
13 Florida Board of Veterinary Medicine; providing
14 construction; amending s. 828.30, F.S.; authorizing
15 employees, agents, or contractors of animal control
16 authorities to administer rabies vaccinations under
17 certain circumstances; providing that a supervising
18 veterinarian assumes responsibility for any person
19 vaccinating animals at the supervising veterinarian’s
20 discretion or under his or her supervision; defining
21 the term “indirect supervision”; authorizing a
22 veterinarian who indirectly supervises the
23 administration of the rabies vaccination to affix his
24 or her signature stamp on a rabies vaccination
25 certificate; amending ss. 474.203 and 474.214, F.S.;
26 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
27 providing an effective date.
28
29 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Providing Equity
32 in Telemedicine Services (PETS) Act.”
33 Section 2. Present subsections (11), (12), and (13) of
34 section 474.202, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
35 subsections (12), (13), and (14), respectively, and a new
36 subsection (11) is added to that section, to read:
37 474.202 Definitions.—As used in this chapter:
38 (11) “Telemedicine” means the practice of veterinary
39 medicine, including diagnosis, consultation, evaluation,
40 treatment, or transfer of medical data, by means of a two-way,
41 real-time interactive communication between a client and patient
42 and a veterinarian who has access to and the ability to review
43 the patient’s relevant information before the telemedicine
44 visit.
45 Section 3. Section 474.2021, Florida Statutes, is created
46 to read:
47 474.2021 Veterinary telemedicine.—
48 (1) A veterinarian may practice telemedicine.
49 (2) A veterinarian who uses telemedicine:
50 (a) Shall take appropriate steps to establish a
51 veterinarian/client/patient relationship and conduct all
52 appropriate evaluations and collect appropriate histories of the
53 patient, consistent with prevailing professional standards of
54 care for the specific patient presentation.
55 (b) May not prescribe controlled substances if he or she
56 has not previously performed an in-person physical examination
57 or made medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises
58 where the animal is kept. However, a consulting veterinarian
59 using telemedicine may prescribe controlled substances for a
60 terminal patient transferred to the consulting veterinarian for
61 hospice care from a veterinarian who performed an in-person
62 physical examination of the patient and provided medical records
63 to the consulting veterinarian.
64 (c) Must hold a current license to practice veterinary
65 medicine in this state. The practice of medicine occurs where
66 the veterinarian or the patient, or both, are located at the
67 time the veterinarian practices telemedicine.
68 (3) The board has jurisdiction over a veterinarian
69 practicing telemedicine in this state, regardless of where the
70 veterinarian’s physical offices are located. The practice of
71 telemedicine in accordance with this section is not a standard
72 of care violation, and a veterinarian may not be disciplined
73 solely for practicing telemedicine.
74 Section 4. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 828.30,
75 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
76 828.30 Rabies vaccination of dogs, cats, and ferrets.—
77 (1)(a) All dogs, cats, and ferrets 4 months of age or older
78 must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian or, in the case of
79 impounded animals, a person authorized under paragraph (b),
80 against rabies with a vaccine that is licensed by the United
81 States Department of Agriculture for use in those species.
82 (b) An employee, an agent, or a contractor of an animal
83 control authority acting under the indirect supervision of a
84 veterinarian may vaccinate impounded dogs, cats, and ferrets
85 that will be transferred, rescued, fostered, adopted, or
86 reclaimed by the owner. The supervising veterinarian assumes
87 responsibility for any person vaccinating animals at his or her
88 direction or under his or her supervision. As used in this
89 paragraph, the term “indirect supervision” means that the
90 supervising veterinarian is required to be available for
91 consultation through telecommunications but is not required to
92 be physically present during such consultation.
93 (c) The owner of every dog, cat, and ferret shall have the
94 animal revaccinated 12 months after the initial vaccination.
95 Thereafter, the interval between vaccinations shall conform to
96 the vaccine manufacturer’s directions. The cost of vaccination
97 must be borne by the animal’s owner. Evidence of circulating
98 rabies virus neutralizing antibodies may shall not be used as a
99 substitute for current vaccination in managing rabies exposure
100 or determining the need for booster vaccinations.
101 (3) Upon vaccination against rabies, the licensed
102 veterinarian shall provide the animal’s owner and the animal
103 control authority with a rabies vaccination certificate. Each
104 animal control authority and veterinarian shall use the “Rabies
105 Vaccination Certificate” of the National Association of State
106 Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) or an equivalent form
107 approved by the local government which that contains all the
108 information required by the NASPHV Rabies Vaccination
109 Certificate. The veterinarian who administers the rabies
110 vaccination, or who supervises the administration of the rabies
111 vaccination as provided in paragraph (1)(b), vaccine to an
112 animal as authorized required under this section may affix his
113 or her signature stamp in lieu of an actual signature.
114 Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
115 474.203, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
116 474.203 Exemptions.—This chapter does not apply to:
117 (5)(a) Any person, or the person’s regular employee,
118 administering to the ills or injuries of her or his own animals,
119 including, but not limited to, castration, spaying, and
120 dehorning of herd animals, unless title is transferred or
121 employment provided for the purpose of circumventing this law.
122 This exemption does not apply to any person licensed as a
123 veterinarian in another state or foreign jurisdiction and
124 practicing temporarily in this state. However, except as
125 provided in s. 828.30, only a veterinarian may immunize or treat
126 an animal for diseases that are communicable to humans and that
127 are of public health significance.
128
129 For the purposes of chapters 465 and 893, persons exempt
130 pursuant to subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (4)
131 are deemed to be duly licensed practitioners authorized by the
132 laws of this state to prescribe drugs or medicinal supplies.
133 Section 6. Paragraph (y) of subsection (1) of section
134 474.214, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
135 474.214 Disciplinary proceedings.—
136 (1) The following acts shall constitute grounds for which
137 the disciplinary actions in subsection (2) may be taken:
138 (y) Using the privilege of ordering, prescribing, or making
139 available medicinal drugs or drugs as defined in chapter 465, or
140 controlled substances as defined in chapter 893, for use other
141 than for the specific treatment of animal patients for which
142 there is a documented veterinarian/client/patient relationship.
143 Pursuant thereto, The veterinarian shall:
144 1. Have sufficient knowledge of the animal to initiate at
145 least a general or preliminary diagnosis of the medical
146 condition of the animal, which means that the veterinarian is
147 personally acquainted with the keeping and caring of the animal
148 and has recently performed an examination of the animal or group
149 of animals either physically in person or by the use of
150 instrumentation and diagnostic equipment through which images
151 and medical records may be transmitted electronically seen the
152 animal or has made medically appropriate and timely visits to
153 the premises where the animal is kept.
154 2. Be available or provide for follow-up followup care and
155 treatment in case of adverse reactions or failure of the regimen
156 of therapy.
157 3. Maintain records which document patient visits,
158 diagnosis, treatment, and other relevant information required
159 under this chapter.
160 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.