(a) For the purposes of this section:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 63-1-155

  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(1) “Healthcare provider” means:

(A) An individual acting within the scope of a valid license issued pursuant to this title;
(B) A state-contracted crisis service provider that is employed by a facility licensed under title 33;
(C) An alcohol and drug abuse counselor licensed under title 68, chapter 24, part 6; or
(D) A graduate who has completed, or a student actively enrolled in, a professional training program the educational standards of which meet the training requirements for a license under this title or title 68, chapter 24, part 6, as long as the graduate or student:

(i) Is providing telehealth services for the purpose of obtaining hours required for licensure or of otherwise fulfilling the educational requirements to apply for licensure; and
(ii) Is, at all times, supervised by an individual who is licensed under this title or title 68, chapter 24, part 6, with an unencumbered license;
(2) “Store-and-forward telemedicine services” means the use of asynchronous computer-based communications, which may include the transfer of medical data in an image captured or created by a camera or similar device, between a healthcare provider and patient for the purpose of diagnosis, consultation, or treatment of the patient at a distant site where there may be no in-person exchange between the healthcare provider and the patient; and
(3) “Telehealth,” “telemedicine,” and “provider-based telemedicine” mean:

(A) The use of real time audio, video, or other electronic media and telecommunication technology that enables interaction between a healthcare provider and a patient for the purpose of diagnosis, consultation, or treatment of a patient at a distant site where there may be no in-person exchange between a healthcare provider and a patient; or
(B) Store-and-forward telemedicine services.
(b) For the purposes of this section, a healthcare provider-patient relationship with respect to telemedicine or telehealth is created by mutual consent and mutual communication, except in an emergency, between the patient and the provider. The consent by the patient may be expressed or implied consent; however, the provider-patient relationship is not created simply by the receipt of patient health information by a provider unless a prior provider-patient relationship exists. The duties and obligations created by the relationship do not arise until the healthcare provider:

(1) Affirmatively undertakes to diagnose or treat the patient; or
(2) Affirmatively participates in the diagnosis or treatment.
(c)

(1)

(A) A healthcare provider who delivers services through the use of telehealth is held to the same standard of professional practice as a similar licensee of the same practice area or specialty that is providing the same healthcare services through in-person encounters, and nothing in this section is intended to create any new standards of care.
(B) Notwithstanding subdivision (c)(1)(A), telehealth services must be provided in compliance with the guidelines created pursuant to part 4 of this chapter.
(2) The board or licensing entity governing any healthcare provider covered by this section shall not establish a more restrictive standard of professional practice for the practice of telehealth than that specifically authorized by the provider’s practice act or other specifically applicable statute, including this chapter or title 53, chapter 10 or 11.
(3) This section does not apply to pain management clinics, as defined in § 63-1-301, chronic nonmalignant pain treatment, or those individuals licensed pursuant to chapter 12 of this title.
(d) Sections 63-6-231 and 63-6-214(b)(21) do not apply to the practice of telemedicine under this section.
(e) This section does not apply to or restrict the requirements of the Tennessee Abortion-Inducing Drug Risk Protocol Act, compiled in chapter 6, part 11 of this title.
(f) Section 63-6-204(a) also applies to telemedicine.
(g)

(1) Except as provided in subdivisions (g)(2) and (3), to practice under this section a healthcare provider must be licensed to practice in this state or be a graduate or student meeting the requirements of subdivision (a)(1)(D).
(2) A physician must be licensed to practice under chapter 6 or 9 of this title in order to practice telemedicine pursuant to § 63-6-209(b), except as otherwise authorized by law or rule.
(3) An individual licensed in another state who would, if licensed in this state, qualify as a healthcare provider under subsection (a) may practice telehealth under this section while providing healthcare services on a volunteer basis through a free clinic pursuant to title 63, chapter 6, part 7.
(h) [Deleted by its own terms effective April 1, 2022.]
(i) Subdivision (a)(1)(A) does not prohibit a healthcare provider otherwise acting within the scope of practice of a valid license issued pursuant to this title from delivering services through the use of telehealth.
(j) A healthcare provider who is authorized to prescribe buprenorphine under federal law shall not prescribe via telehealth a buprenorphine product, as approved by the federal food and drug administration for use in recovery or medication-assisted treatment, unless:

(1) The healthcare provider is employed by or contracted with:

(A) A licensed nonresidential office-based opiate treatment facility or licensed nonresidential opioid treatment program, as defined in § 33-2-402;
(B) A community mental health center, as defined in § 33-1-101;
(C) A federally qualified health center, as defined in § 63-10-601;
(D) A hospital licensed under title 68 or 33; or
(E) The bureau of TennCare’s comprehensive enhanced buprenorphine treatment network; and
(2) The delivery of telehealth is being provided on behalf of the entity that employs or contracts with the provider.
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