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Committee passes veterinary telemedicine bill allowing emergency remote care with follow-up visit
Summary
Senate Bill 61 would permit licensed Arkansas veterinarians to provide telemedicine in urgent or emergency situations and require establishment of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) within seven days for small animals and 21 days for large animals; sponsors said the measure is a compromise developed with veterinary associations.
Senate Bill 61, a measure to authorize veterinary telemedicine in Arkansas, cleared the Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee after sponsors described it as a compromise developed with veterinary stakeholders.
Senator Ricky Hill, who presented SB 61, said the bill allows a licensed veterinarian to provide telemedicine — including by telephone or audiovisual technology — in emergency or urgent situations without having first established a veterinarian-client-patient relationship, so long as the veterinarian establishes that relationship within seven days for small animals and 21 days for large animals. "The main thing this is going to do is in an emergency or an urgent situation, a licensed veterinarian may provide veterinary telemedicine without previously establishing a veterinary client patient relationship," Hill said.
Hill and other presenters said the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association and the Arkansas agriculture department supported the bill and that the longer 21-day period for large animals reflects scarcity of large-animal veterinarians in parts of the state. The sponsor emphasized that only a veterinarian licensed to practice in Arkansas may provide telemedicine under the bill.
Committee members questioned language in the draft that refers to "health information, opinion, guidance, or recommendation that is not specific to a particular animal." Senators and staff clarified that telemedicine could be used for herd-level advice (for example, a flock or herd with a contagious condition) and also for specific individual-animal assessments; the bill text also refers separately to a "timely assessment" of an animal patient.
Senator Missy Irvin later voiced a broader concern about future policy direction, saying she feared some telemedicine changes nationally have favored corporate veterinary providers over local practitioners and urged the committee to keep in mind the needs of young veterinarians entering practice.
No members of the public signed up to speak for or against SB 61. The committee adopted a motion to pass SB 61 and approved the bill by voice vote.
