LSBME OT advisory committee reviews proposed telehealth rules, seeks OT-specific clarifications

The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners Occupational Therapy Advisory Committee reviewed proposed statewide telehealth rules and related advisory guidance at a Dec. 13, 2024, virtual meeting, urging changes to make the language more applicable to occupational therapists and to clarify how out‑of‑state practitioners could lawfully deliver telehealth to Louisiana residents.

Committee members focused on three practical points: replacing physician‑specific wording with a broader "health care provider" term where appropriate; standardizing the committee's advisory opinion language (for example, using the term "patient presenter"); and whether a telehealth permitting pathway should be added or clarified for out‑of‑state occupational therapists.

The rules the committee reviewed add a detailed definition of telehealth, require documentation that an encounter occurred via telehealth, and list minimum disclosures (provider name and license number, specialty, follow‑up/emergency procedures, how to obtain records and how to proceed if technology fails). The draft also cross‑references federal privacy standards: "Only secure communication technology shall be used for telehealth," the draft states, and it excludes non‑HIPAA‑compliant email or text…