California
Occupational Therapy	Physical Therapy
Telehealth/Telemedicine/Telecommunications Definition
“Telehealth” means the mode of delivering health care services and public health via information and communication technologies to facilitate the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, and self-management of a patient’s health care while the patient is at the originating site and the health care provider is at a distant site. Telehealth facilitates patient self-management and caregiver support for patients and includes synchronous interactions and asynchronous store and forward transfers. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5	“Telehealth” means the mode of delivering health care services and public health via information and communication technologies to facilitate the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, and self-management of a patient’s health care while the patient is at the originating site and the health care provider is at a distant site. Telehealth facilitates patient self-management and caregiver support for patients and includes synchronous interactions and asynchronous store and forward transfers. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5
Modality
Occupational therapists are permitted to use synchronous and store-and-forward telehealth. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5 “Synchronous interaction” means a real-time interaction between a patient and a health care provider located at a distant site. “Asynchronous store and forward” means the transmission of a patient’s medical information from an originating site to the health care provider at a distant site without the presence of the patient. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5	Physical therapists are permitted to use synchronous and store-and-forward telehealth. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5 “Synchronous interaction” means a real-time interaction between a patient and a health care provider located at a distant site. “Asynchronous store and forward” means the transmission of a patient’s medical information from an originating site to the health care provider at a distant site without the presence of the patient. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5
Location- Type of site/Geography
“Distant site” means a site where a health care provider who provides health care services is located while providing these services via a telecommunications system. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5	“Distant site” means a site where a health care provider who provides health care services is located while providing these services via a telecommunications system. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5
Type of Service
Occupational therapists may provide services consistent with California regulations and that comply with the California Occupational Therapy Practice Act. Source:Cal. Code Regs., tit. 16, §4172	No reference found.
Supervision
No reference found.	No reference found.
Informed Consent
An occupational therapist shall inform the patient or client about occupational therapy services via telehealth and obtain verbal or written consent prior to delivering those services. Source:Cal. Code Regs., tit. 16, §4172	A physical therapist must inform the patient about the use of telehealth and obtain verbal or written consent from the patient prior to delivering services via telehealth. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5
Patient-Provider-Relationship/In-Person Exam Required
No reference found.	No reference found.
Licensing
An occupational therapist must be licensed in California to provide telehealth services to patients in the state. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5	A physical therapist must be licensed in California to provide telehealth services to patients in the state. Source:Cal. BPC §2290.5
Other
An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant providing therapy via telehealth must: Adhere to the same standard of care as when providing services via any other mode of delivery; Provide services consistent with California regulations; and Comply with all provisions of the California Occupational Therapy Practice Act, including ethical standards of practice. An occupational therapist shall determine whether an in-person evaluation or in-person interventions are necessary considering: the complexity of the patient’s/client’s condition; his or her own knowledge, skills, and abilities; the nature and complexity of the intervention; the requirements of the practice setting; and the patient’s/client’s context and environment. Source:Cal. Code Regs., tit. 16, §4172	No reference found.