Online Prescribing

A documented patient evaluation, including history and physical evaluation adequate to establish diagnoses and identify underlying conditions or contraindications to the treatment recommended or provided, must be obtained prior to providing treatment, including issuing prescriptions, electronically or otherwise.

SOURCE: IN Admin. Code, “Article 5” Title 844, 5-3-2 (Accessed May 2025). 

Telehealth may not be used to provide any abortion, including the writing or filling of a prescription for any purpose that is intended to result in an abortion.

SOURCE: IN code, 16-34-1-11 & 25-1-9.5-8(a)(4) & 25-1-9.5-0.5. (Accessed May 2025).

A practitioner who:

• Provides health care services through telehealth; or
• Directs an employee of the practitioner to perform a health care service listed in the chapter;

shall be held to the same standards of appropriate practice as those standards for health care services provided at an in-person setting.

A practitioner who uses telehealth shall, if such action would otherwise be required in the provision of the same health care services in a manner other than telehealth, ensure that a proper provider-patient relationship is established. The provider-patient relationship by a  practitioner who uses telehealth must at a minimum include the following:

1. Obtain the patient’s name and contact information (see regulation for other related requirements);
2. Disclose the practitioner’s name and practitioner’s licensure, certification or registration;
3. Obtain informed consent from the patient;
4. Obtain the patient’s medical history and information necessary to establish a diagnosis;
5. Discuss with the patient the diagnosis, evidence for the diagnosis and risks and benefits of the various treatment options;
6. Create and maintain a medical record for the patient. If a prescription is issued for the patient, and subject to the consent of the patient, the prescriber shall notify the patient’s primary care provider of any prescriptions the provider has issued (see regulation for other related requirements);
7. Issue proper instructions for appropriate follow-up care
8. Provide a telehealth visit summary to the patient, including information that indicates any prescriptions that is being prescribed.

SOURCE: IN Code, 25-1-9.5-7. (Accessed May 2025)

A prescription for a controlled substance can be issued for a patient the prescriber has not previously examined if the following conditions are met:

1. The prescriber has satisfied the applicable standard of care in the treatment of the patient.
2. The issuance of the prescription is within the prescriber’s scope of practice and certification
3. The prescription meets the requirements outline in the following section and it is not an opioid.  However, opioids may be prescribed if the opioid has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid addiction and is used to treat or manage opioid dependence.
4. The prescription is not for an abortion inducing drug

If the prescription is for a medical device, including an ophthalmic device, the prescriber must use telehealth technology that is sufficient to allow the provider to make an informed diagnosis and treatment plan that includes the medical device being prescribed. However, a prescription for an ophthalmic device is also subject to the conditions in section 13 of this chapter.

Additionally, the following conditions must be met for a prescription for a controlled substance:

• The prescriber maintains a valid controlled substance registration under IC 35-48-3.
• The prescriber meets the conditions set forth in 21 U.S.C. 829 et seq. 21 CFR 1300, 1304, and 1306, and any other regulation enforced by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
• A practitioner acting in the usual course of the practitioner’s professional practices issues the prescription for a legitimate medical purpose.
• The telehealth communication is conducted using an audiovisual, real time, two-way interactive communication system.
• The prescriber complies with the requirements of the INSPECT program (IC 35-48-7).
• All other applicable federal and state laws are followed.

SOURCE: IN Code 25-1-9.5-8. As Amended by SB 473 (Bolded portions to go into effect July 1, 2025). (Accessed May 2025).

A pharmacy does not violate this chapter if the pharmacy fills a prescription for an opioid and the pharmacy is unaware that the prescription was written or electronically transmitted by a prescriber providing telehealth services under this chapter.

SOURCE: IN Code 25-1-9.5-11. (Accessed May 2025)

A prescriber may not issue a prescription for an ophthalmic device unless the following conditions are met:

• If the prescription is for contact lenses or eyeglasses, the patient must be at least eighteen (18) years of age but not more than fifty-five (55) years of age.
• The patient must have completed a medical eye history that includes information concerning the following:
  • Chronic health conditions.
  • Current medications.
  • Eye discomfort.
  • Blurry vision.
  • Any prior ocular medical procedures.
• The patient must have had a prior prescription from a qualified eye care professional that included a comprehensive in person exam that occurred within two (2) years before the initial use of telehealth for a refraction under subdivision (5)(A).
• If the patient desires a contact lens prescription, at the discretion of the eye care professional, that patient must have had a prior contact lens fitting or evaluation by a qualified eye care professional that occurred within two (2) years before the initial use of telehealth for a refraction under subdivision (5)(A).
• The patient:
  • May not use telehealth more than two (2) consecutive times within two (2) years from the date of the examination that occurred under subdivision (3) for a refraction without a subsequent in person comprehensive eye exam; and
  • Must acknowledge that the patient has had a comprehensive eye exam as required under clause (A) before receiving an online prescription.
• The patient may allow the prescriber to access the patient’s medical records using an appropriate HIPAA compliant process.
• The prescriber must ensure that the transfer of all information, including the vision test and prescription, comply with HIPAA requirements.
• The prescriber must use technology to allow the patient to have continuing twenty-four (24) hour a day online access to the patient’s prescription as soon as the prescription is signed by the prescriber.

SOURCE: IN Code 25-1-9.5-13. (Accessed May 2025)

If a veterinarian is required to establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship to perform a health care service, the veterinarian shall ensure that a proper veterinarian-client-patient relationship is established, when providing the service using telehealth.

SOURCE: IN Code 25-1-9.5-15. (Accessed May 2025)

Telehealth Services Pilot Program

Prescriptions may not be issued for a controlled substance or an abortifacient.

Telehealth shall not include any encounter in which the patient is assured that any outcome, including the issuance of a prescription, will be issued as a quid pro quo for the payment of the provider’s consultation fee or solely on the basis of an online questionnaire.

SOURCE: IN Code, 844-Article 5-8-3. (Accessed May 2025).

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