Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1600 By Senator Ingoglia 11-00463B-23 20231600__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the medical treatment of animals; 3 providing a short title; amending s. 474.202, F.S.; 4 defining the term veterinary telemedicine; creating 5 s. 474.2021, F.S.; authorizing veterinarians to 6 practice veterinary telemedicine; providing licensure 7 requirements to practice veterinary telemedicine; 8 providing jurisdiction of the Board of Veterinary 9 Medicine; requiring a veterinarian practicing 10 telemedicine to establish a 11 veterinarian/client/patient relationship, provide the 12 client with specified information, and employ certain 13 professional judgments regarding the use of veterinary 14 telemedicine; authorizing a veterinarian practicing 15 telemedicine to order, prescribe, or make available 16 specified medicinal drugs; prohibiting such 17 veterinarian from ordering, prescribing, or making 18 available controlled substances unless certain 19 conditions are met; authorizing veterinarians to 20 practice veterinary telemedicine for animals on 21 certain animal operations if the veterinarian meets 22 certain conditions; amending s. 474.203, F.S.; 23 conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 24 amending s. 474.214, F.S.; revising grounds for 25 disciplinary action against a veterinarian; amending 26 s. 474.2165, F.S.; revising the definition of the term 27 records owner to conform to changes made by the act; 28 amending s. 828.30, F.S.; authorizing certain 29 employees, agents, or contractors to administer rabies 30 vaccinations under certain circumstances; providing 31 that a supervising veterinarian assumes responsibility 32 for any person working under the veterinarians 33 supervision or at his or her direction; defining the 34 term indirect supervision; authorizing a 35 veterinarian who indirectly supervises the 36 administration of the rabies vaccination to affix his 37 or her signature stamp in lieu of an actual signature 38 on the rabies vaccination certificate; providing an 39 effective date. 40 41 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 42 43 Section 1.This act may be cited as the Providing Equity 44 in Telemedicine Services (PETS) Act. 45 Section 2.Subsection (14) is added to section 474.202, 46 Florida Statutes, to read: 47 474.202Definitions.As used in this chapter: 48 (14)Veterinary telemedicine means the practice of 49 veterinary medicine using synchronous, audiovisual, interactive 50 telecommunications technology. 51 Section 3.Section 474.2021, Florida Statutes, is created 52 to read: 53 474.2021Veterinary telemedicine. 54 (1)A veterinarian may practice veterinary telemedicine. 55 (2)A veterinarian must hold a current license to practice 56 veterinary medicine in this state in order to practice 57 veterinary telemedicine. The practice of veterinary medicine is 58 deemed to occur at the premises where the patient is located at 59 the time the veterinarian practices veterinary telemedicine. 60 (3)The board has jurisdiction over a veterinarian 61 practicing veterinary telemedicine in this state, regardless of 62 where the veterinarians physical office is located. 63 (4)A veterinarian practicing telemedicine shall do all of 64 the following: 65 (a)Establish the veterinarian/client/patient relationship. 66 (b)Provide the client with a statement containing the 67 veterinarians identity, license number, and contact information 68 and the contact information for at least one physical veterinary 69 clinic in the vicinity of the pets location and instructions 70 for how to receive patient follow-up care or assistance if the 71 veterinarian and client are unable to communicate because of a 72 technological or equipment failure or if there is an adverse 73 reaction to treatment. The veterinarian shall obtain from the 74 client a signed and dated statement indicating the client has 75 received the required information. 76 (c)Employ sound, professional judgment to determine 77 whether using veterinary telemedicine is an appropriate method 78 for delivering medical advice or treatment to the patient and 79 providing quality of care consistent with prevailing veterinary 80 medical practice. The practice of veterinary telemedicine in 81 compliance with this section is not a quality-of-care violation, 82 and a veterinarian may not be disciplined solely for practicing 83 veterinary telemedicine. 84 (5)A veterinarian practicing veterinary telemedicine may 85 order, prescribe, or make available medicinal drugs or drugs as 86 defined in chapter 465. 87 (6)A veterinarian practicing veterinary telemedicine may 88 not order, prescribe, or make available controlled substances as 89 defined in chapter 893 unless the veterinarian has performed an 90 in-person physical examination of the patient or made medically 91 appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the patient 92 is kept. 93 (7)A veterinarian personally acquainted with the caring 94 and keeping of an animal or group of animals on food-producing 95 animal operations on land classified as agricultural pursuant to 96 s. 193.461 who has recently seen the animal or group of animals 97 or has made medically appropriate and timely visits to the 98 premises where the animal or group of animals is kept may 99 practice veterinary telemedicine for animals on such operations 100 in compliance with this section and applicable federal law. 101 Section 4.Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 102 474.203, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 103 474.203Exemptions.This chapter does not apply to: 104 (5)(a)Any person, or the persons regular employee, 105 administering to the ills or injuries of her or his own animals, 106 including, but not limited to, castration, spaying, and 107 dehorning of herd animals, unless title is transferred or 108 employment provided for the purpose of circumventing this law. 109 This exemption does not apply to any person licensed as a 110 veterinarian in another state or foreign jurisdiction and 111 practicing temporarily in this state. However, except as 112 provided in s. 828.30, only a veterinarian may immunize or treat 113 an animal for diseases that are communicable to humans and that 114 are of public health significance. 115 116 For the purposes of chapters 465 and 893, persons exempt 117 pursuant to subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (4) 118 are deemed to be duly licensed practitioners authorized by the 119 laws of this state to prescribe drugs or medicinal supplies. 120 Section 5.Paragraph (y) of subsection (1) of section 121 474.214, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 122 474.214Disciplinary proceedings. 123 (1)The following acts shall constitute grounds for which 124 the disciplinary actions in subsection (2) may be taken: 125 (y)Using the privilege of ordering, prescribing, or making 126 available medicinal drugs or drugs as defined in chapter 465, or 127 controlled substances as defined in chapter 893, for use other 128 than for the specific treatment of animal patients for which 129 there is a documented veterinarian/client/patient relationship. 130 Pursuant thereto, The veterinarian shall: 131 1.Have sufficient knowledge of the animal to initiate at 132 least a general or preliminary diagnosis of the medical 133 condition of the animal, which means that the veterinarian is 134 personally acquainted with the keeping and caring of the animal 135 and has recently performed an examination of the patient either 136 in person or by the use of veterinary telemedicine in compliance 137 with s. 474.2021 seen the animal or has made medically 138 appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animal 139 is kept. 140 2.Be available or provide for follow-up followup care and 141 treatment in case of adverse reactions or failure of the regimen 142 of therapy. 143 3.Maintain records which document patient visits, 144 diagnosis, treatment, and other relevant information required 145 under this chapter. 146 Section 6.Subsection (1) of section 474.2165, Florida 147 Statutes, is amended to read: 148 474.2165Ownership and control of veterinary medical 149 patient records; report or copies of records to be furnished. 150 (1)As used in this section, the term records owner means 151 any veterinarian who generates a medical record after making an 152 a physical examination of a patient, either in person or by the 153 use of veterinary telemedicine in compliance with s. 474.2021, 154 or administering treatment or dispensing legend drugs to, any 155 patient; any veterinarian to whom records are transferred by a 156 previous records owner; or any veterinarians employer, provided 157 the employment contract or agreement between the employer and 158 the veterinarian designates the employer as the records owner. 159 Section 7.Subsections (1) and (3) of section 828.30, 160 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 161 828.30Rabies vaccination of dogs, cats, and ferrets. 162 (1)(a)All dogs, cats, and ferrets 4 months of age or older 163 must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian or, in the case of 164 impounded animals, a person authorized under paragraph (b) 165 against rabies with a vaccine that is licensed by the United 166 States Department of Agriculture for use in those species. 167 (b)An employee, an agent, or a contractor of a county or 168 municipal animal control authority acting under the indirect 169 supervision of a veterinarian may vaccinate impounded dogs, 170 cats, and ferrets that will be transferred, rescued, fostered, 171 adopted, or reclaimed by the owner. The supervising veterinarian 172 assumes responsibility for any person vaccinating animals at the 173 veterinarians direction or under his or her supervision. As 174 used in this paragraph, the term indirect supervision means 175 that the supervising veterinarian is required to be available 176 for consultation through telecommunications but is not required 177 to be physically present during such consultation. 178 (c)The owner of every dog, cat, and ferret shall have the 179 animal revaccinated 12 months after the initial vaccination. 180 Thereafter, the interval between vaccinations shall conform to 181 the vaccine manufacturers directions. The cost of vaccination 182 must be borne by the animals owner. Evidence of circulating 183 rabies virus neutralizing antibodies may shall not be used as a 184 substitute for current vaccination in managing rabies exposure 185 or determining the need for booster vaccinations. 186 (3)Upon vaccination against rabies, the licensed 187 veterinarian shall provide the animals owner and the animal 188 control authority with a rabies vaccination certificate. Each 189 animal control authority and veterinarian shall use the Rabies 190 Vaccination Certificate of the National Association of State 191 Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) or an equivalent form 192 approved by the local government which that contains all the 193 information required by the NASPHV Rabies Vaccination 194 Certificate. The veterinarian who administers the rabies 195 vaccination, or who supervises the administration of the rabies 196 vaccination as provided in paragraph (1)(b), vaccine to an 197 animal as authorized required under this section may affix his 198 or her signature stamp in lieu of an actual signature. 199 Section 8.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.