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Senate committee holds first hearing on bill to expand telehealth to veterinary medicine
Summary
Sponsors told the Ohio Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that Senate Bill 60 would allow licensed Ohio veterinarians to use telehealth for diagnosis and short-term prescriptions while preserving veterinarian–client–patient relationships; the committee held a first hearing and took no vote.
The Ohio Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee held its first hearing on Senate Bill 60, which would extend telehealth practices to veterinary medicine and limit tele-prescribed medications, during the committee's opening meeting.
Senator Shane Wilkin, a sponsor, said the bill would expand access to veterinary care "across the state," particularly for rural or underserved areas and for owners with transportation challenges. He described the measure as building on existing telehealth used in human medicine and stressed business and animal-welfare benefits of avoiding stressful travel for animals.
Senator Dr. Huffman, the bill's joint sponsor, outlined patient-safety checks the bill would impose. He said the measure would require veterinarians to be licensed in Ohio and maintain standards of care "equally" across in-person and telehealth visits. He also described limits on prescriptions, saying the bill "prohibits prescribing controlled substances without without in person physical examination of the patient" and that prescriptions issued via telehealth would be limited to 14 days with no more than one refill before an in-person visit is required.
The sponsors told the committee that the veterinarian may require an in-person or farm visit if a diagnosis cannot be made from a photo or short video; that decision would be at the veterinarian's discretion. Wilkin said the bill aims in part to help address a national shortage of veterinarians and make Ohio a more attractive place to practice.
Sponsors cited other states that have enacted telehealth allowances for veterinarians: Arizona in 2023 and measures in California and Florida last year.
No vote was taken. Chair Tim Schafer closed the first hearing on Senate Bill 60 and did not request further action at this meeting.
