Tessic Health

IN · STATE RULES

Telehealth rules in Indiana

Indiana keeps its telehealth law in one chapter of the professions code, and that chapter is unusually specific about who decides what. An opioid cannot be written through a remote encounter at all, outside medication approved to treat opioid dependence. Where the patient hands over the details and agrees, the prescriber tells the patient's regular doctor what was prescribed. No employer may push a clinician into a remote visit the clinician believes would leave the patient worse off.

Book a DemoAll states
First visit
Async with conditions
Physician license
Compact member; own license
Controlled drugs
No opioids by telehealth
Nurse practitioners
Reduced practice

Rules checked September 2026 · 26 sources cited

ONLY IN INDIANA

What is different about Indiana

Each rule here is true of Indiana and of none of the states that border it. Beside each one: what the neighbours do instead.

  1. 01 · Prescribing

    Opioids are off the remote menu

    IC 25-1-9.5-8 removes a whole drug class from remote practice rather than adding conditions to it. A prescriber working by telehealth may not issue an opioid, and the single way back in is a medication approved by the federal regulator for treating opioid dependence. Consent, records, live video and a spotless monitoring report do not reopen the door.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-8

    Across the border

    • Michigan

      A prescriber there can reach any schedule once a bona fide relationship exists, which MCL 333.7303a assembles from a records review plus an evaluation carried out either in person or remotely.

      Source: MCL 333.7303a

    • Ohio

      Ohio singles out no drug class and instead holds back a new patient's first Schedule II prescription until an in-person physical examination has been performed.

      Source: OAC 4731-11-09

    • Kentucky

      Kentucky closes off nothing by class and conditions every controlled substance on a history, an examination and a monitoring report covering the prior twelve months, repeated each quarter.

      Source: 201 KAR 9:260

    • Illinois

      Illinois puts its gate on the prescriber rather than the molecule, requiring a state controlled substance license under 720 ILCS 570/302 before any schedule may be written.

      Source: 720 ILCS 570/302

  2. 02 · Practice

    The patient's regular doctor is told

    IC 25-1-9.5-7 asks the remote prescriber to pass word along. Where the patient supplies contact details for a primary care provider and agrees to the disclosure, that clinician is notified of the prescription issued. The duty lifts where both practitioners work inside one shared electronic record, or where the telehealth relationship is already running.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-7

    Across the border

    • Michigan

      Continuity is the prescriber's own obligation there, with the professional expected to offer or arrange follow-up care rather than route a notice to an outside clinician.

      Source: Center for Connected Health Policy: Michigan

    • Ohio

      Ohio aims its disclosure at the person being treated instead of at a colleague, listing in ORC 4743.09 what the professional has to tell the patient about the service.

      Source: ORC 4743.09

    • Kentucky

      Kentucky gives the patient a route back rather than sending a notice out, letting someone offered an asynchronous or audio-only visit ask for a live or in-person encounter within three weeks.

      Source: 907 KAR 3:170

    • Illinois

      Illinois sends its after-the-fact reporting to the state, with every controlled substance dispensed filed to the monitoring program under 720 ILCS 570/314.5.

      Source: 720 ILCS 570/314.5

  3. 03 · Practice

    No extra consent form for a remote visit

    The paperwork stays flat here. A health care provider cannot be made to collect a separate additional written consent merely because the service arrives by telehealth, and a verbal or electronic record of the patient's agreement stands in its place. Ordinary informed consent still applies, together with the practitioner's duty to give a name, a licensure status and the risks attached to each treatment option.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-7

    Across the border

    • Michigan

      Consent works as a precondition there, since MCL 333.16284 bars a health professional from delivering the service until it has been obtained and written into the record.

      Source: MCL 333.16284

    • Ohio

      Ohio keeps the opening formalities inside the medical board's rule, where OAC 4731-37-01 sets out the identity checks, records and consent expected at a first remote visit.

      Source: OAC 4731-37-01

    • Kentucky

      Kentucky states the duty plainly instead, requiring the treating provider under KRS 311.5975 to secure informed consent before any telehealth service begins.

      Source: Center for Connected Health Policy: Kentucky

    • Illinois

      Illinois attaches written permission to the technology rather than the modality, demanding notice and consent before a session is recorded or run through an artificial intelligence tool.

      Source: 225 ILCS 155/15

  4. 04 · Practice

    A clinician may refuse a remote visit

    The same section takes the modality decision away from the operator. Where a practitioner concludes that delivering the service by telehealth would damage the patient's health or produce a lower standard of care than an in-person visit, the employing entity may not require it. The judgment belongs to whoever signs the chart.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-7

    Across the border

    • Michigan

      Michigan puts its protective rule on the payer side, stopping the medical assistance program from capping remote services more tightly than comparable ones delivered face to face.

      Source: MCL 400.105h

    • Ohio

      Ohio works the same ground through discipline rather than employment law, letting the medical board act under ORC 4731.22 where care falls below minimal standards.

      Source: ORC 4731.22

    • Kentucky

      Kentucky guards a different piece of independence, barring under KRS 205.5591 any requirement that a provider be employed by another provider or agency before delivering a service remotely.

      Source: Center for Connected Health Policy: Kentucky

    • Illinois

      Illinois polices the operator through money instead, forbidding a physician from paying anyone a share of professional fees for marketing or managing the practice.

      Source: 225 ILCS 60/22.2

PRACTICE RULES

How telehealth works in Indiana

Chapter 9.5 of the professions code carries the definitions, the relationship checklist and the record duties. It reads as a list of things a practitioner does, not as a standard to be argued about afterward.

  1. 01

    A form is not a visit

    IC 25-1-9.5-6 pulls email, instant messaging, facsimile, internet questionnaires and internet consultations out of the definition of telehealth unless the practitioner already has an established relationship with the patient. Secure videoconferencing, store and forward technology and remote monitoring stay inside it.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-6

  2. 02

    The opening checklist

    Before care proceeds the practitioner takes the patient's name and contact information, obtains a verbal statement or other data fixing where the patient is, confirms identity so far as is reasonably possible, gives their own name and licensure, and talks through the treatment options including when in-person care is the better choice.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-7

  3. 03

    A summary goes to the patient

    A telehealth visit summary is created for the patient and handed over, naming any prescription that was issued, and the medical record itself is kept to the standard that would apply to someone seen in an examination room.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-7

  4. 04

    The clinician picks the modality

    An employing entity may not require a practitioner to deliver a service by telehealth where the practitioner believes it would hurt the patient or drop the care below what an in-person visit would provide. That places the choice with the person carrying the clinical risk.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-7

FIRST VISIT

Can a first visit happen without a live call in Indiana?

Yes, with conditions

Yes for most non-controlled treatment, but not from a form. A static internet questionnaire or an email exchange falls outside the definition of telehealth for a patient the practitioner has not treated before, so the first contact has to be an interactive clinical exchange, and anything scheduled moves the bar up to live two-way audio and video.

The first-visit question splits along the drug involved. Ordinary treatment can begin with no prior physical examination at all; controlled treatment cannot begin without a live audiovisual encounter; and an opioid cannot begin at all.

  1. 01

    No prior examination for ordinary drugs

    A prescriber may write for a patient who has never been examined in person, provided the standard of care is satisfied, the practitioner stays inside their own scope of practice and the drug is not one the section carves out of remote prescribing.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-8

  2. 02

    Intake forms inform, they do not decide

    Because the statutory definition excludes an internet questionnaire for a patient with no established relationship, a form can feed the encounter but cannot be the encounter, and the chart should show the interactive exchange that followed it.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-6

  3. 03

    Live video once a schedule is involved

    Any controlled substance calls for audiovisual, real time, two way interactive communication, so a single asynchronous pathway will not carry both halves of a catalog that mixes scheduled and unscheduled products.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-8

  4. 04

    Where the patient sits is recorded

    The relationship checklist asks for a verbal statement or other data identifying the patient's location. That one field decides which state's law governs the encounter, so it belongs in the record rather than in an assumption.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-7

PRESCRIBING

Prescriptions and controlled drugs in Indiana

Three separate provisions shape a remote prescription: the class rule inside the telehealth chapter, the electronic transmission duty for scheduled drugs, and a criminal code section that governs weight-loss prescribing.

  1. 01

    The opioid line

    Outside medication approved by the federal regulator to treat opioid dependence, an opioid is simply unavailable through a remote encounter. No combination of consent, records or live video restores it, which makes pain a category a remote-only brand cannot serve here.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-8

  2. 02

    Four conditions for other schedules

    For the rest, the prescriber holds a current controlled substance registration, meets the federal conditions in the controlled substances act and its regulations, uses real time two-way audiovisual contact, and complies with the state monitoring program known as INSPECT.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-8

  3. 03

    Scheduled drugs travel electronically

    A controlled substance prescription is issued electronically, and a written, faxed or oral alternative is available only through the exceptions and board waivers the code sets out for it.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.3-8

  4. 04

    Weight-loss prescribing has its own test

    A controlled anorectic is tied to a documented course of diet and exercise that failed, a thorough examination, and discontinuation once weight loss stops. The section names no body mass index number, so the file has to carry the history rather than a threshold.

    Source: IC 35-48-3-11

Federal rules apply on top of every state's. Prescribing controlled substances by telehealth without an in-person visit runs on DEA flexibilities currently extended through December 31, 2026, with a permanent rule still pending.

LICENSES

Who can treat patients in Indiana

Licensing runs through the Professional Licensing Agency and the boards it staffs. The state issues physician licenses through the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and takes part in the nursing, psychology, occupational therapy and physical therapy compacts.

  1. 01

    Practice reaches to the patient

    A practitioner sitting outside the state is treated as practicing here the moment they establish a relationship with a person located here, or decide whether to issue that person a prescription.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-9

  2. 02

    Jurisdiction travels with the patient

    By treating someone here from elsewhere, the practitioner submits to this state's courts and to its substantive and procedural law for any claim arising out of the care. That is a litigation exposure rather than a licensing one.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-9

  3. 03

    Nurse practitioners work with a physician

    The nurse practitioner association classes this as a reduced practice state, so an advanced practice registered nurse needs a collaborative arrangement with a physician for at least one element of practice, prescribing included.

    Source: AANP: full practice authority brief

  4. 04

    Renewal without an hour count

    The physician renewal rule sets out timing, the renewal oath, fees and inactive status without naming a continuing education total, so the compliance work sits in registration and prescribing rather than in the renewal cycle.

    Source: 844 IAC 4-6

How Tessic Health's providers are licensed in Indiana

ADVERTISING

Marketing to patients in Indiana

No telehealth-specific advertising rule exists, so promotion answers to the deceptive consumer sales act, the licensing board's discipline grounds, and a consumer data protection act that took effect at the start of 2026.

  1. 01

    Deceptive sales claims

    The deceptive consumer sales act reaches representations about a service that the supplier knows or should reasonably know to be untrue, covering sponsorship, characteristics, quality and price advantage, with defenses for a bona fide error.

    Source: IC 24-5-0.5-3

  2. 02

    Claims reach the license

    Advertising services in a false or misleading manner is one of the listed grounds on which a board may sanction a practitioner, so campaign copy exposes the treating clinician's credential and not only the company behind it.

    Source: IC 25-1-9-4

  3. 03

    Do not promise an opioid

    Any marketing that implies pain medication can be started through a remote visit describes something the statute forbids, and it should not appear in a funnel, a comparison table or a paid search headline.

    Source: IC 25-1-9.5-8

  4. 04

    Identifying data is sensitive

    The consumer data protection act treats biometric data processed to identify a person as sensitive data, enforced by the attorney general with civil penalties of up to $7,500 for each violation and no private lawsuit.

    Source: IC 24-15-2-28

TESSIC HEALTH IN INDIANA

How Tessic Health's providers cover Indiana

The product changes in three places here: the pain catalog closes, a notice leaves the visit for the patient's own doctor, and the consent screen stays short because the statute forbids demanding a second one.

  1. 01

    Pain products are not offered

    Patients in this state are not offered opioid treatment through the platform at all, because the telehealth chapter withholds the class rather than conditioning it, and buprenorphine for opioid dependence is the only route the statute leaves open.

  2. 02

    The referral notice is part of the visit

    Intake asks for the patient's primary care provider and for permission to write to them, and where both are given the prescription notice goes out as part of closing the encounter rather than as a later task.

  3. 03

    One consent, captured either way

    Consent for patients in this state is taken verbally or electronically inside the ordinary intake, with no second telehealth form, because the statute bars anyone from requiring a separate additional written consent.

  4. 04

    Scheduled products route to video

    Any product that carries a schedule is routed to a live two-way audiovisual appointment with a monitoring program check, and the asynchronous path is reserved for the unscheduled half of the catalog.

  5. 05

    The visit summary names the drug

    Every patient here receives a written summary of the encounter that names what was prescribed, and medication ships at 0% markup with cold-chain handling for anything that requires it.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Questions about telehealth in Indiana

  • No, apart from medication approved by the federal regulator to treat opioid dependence. The telehealth chapter withholds the class outright, so a live video appointment and a clean monitoring report do not change the answer.

  • No. A provider cannot be required to collect a separate additional written consent just because the service is delivered remotely, and agreement recorded verbally or electronically is enough. Ordinary informed consent duties still apply in full.

  • Where the patient provides the contact details and agrees to the disclosure, yes. The prescriber notifies that clinician of the prescription. The step is not needed when both share one electronic record or the telehealth relationship is already established.

  • For non-controlled treatment, yes, provided it is a real clinical exchange. A static questionnaire or an email thread is excluded from the definition of telehealth for a patient with no prior relationship, so a form alone cannot carry the visit.

  • Real time two-way audiovisual contact, a current controlled substance registration, compliance with the federal conditions, and a check of the state monitoring program. Those apply on top of whatever the standard of care demands for the specific drug.

  • No. Where the practitioner judges that telehealth would harm the patient or deliver less than an in-person visit would, the employing entity cannot require it. The decision rests with the clinician responsible for the care.

SOURCES

Rules checked September 2026 · 26 sources cited. A planning summary, not legal advice. Statutes, board rules and enforcement priorities change; a brand's own counsel should review its model and marketing before launch.

OTHER STATES

Rules in other states

Each state page is researched from that state's own statutes and board rules.

All state pages →