Johns Hopkins Medicine is committed to continuing our virtual care offerings for patients through MyChart and telemedicine. We are reviewing our providers’ medical licenses to identify states where our providers can see patients virtually.
As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, states are reverting back to rules that require providers to be licensed in the state where they practice medicine. For telemedicine visits, this means the provider must be licensed in the state where a patient is physically located at the time of the visit.
To ensure our telemedicine services meet state rules, Johns Hopkins Medicine will be making some important changes:
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You will be asked where you will be during your telemedicine visit.
When you schedule your appointment, you’ll be asked which state you will be in during the time of your telemedicine visit. This will allow us to confirm that the scheduled care provider is licensed to practice medicine in the state where you will be located. If you will be in a different state than the one you provided at the time of scheduling, your provider may not be able to see you virtually.
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To best serve you, we are identifying providers that can offer telemedicine services in other states.
We are reviewing our providers’ medical licenses so that we can more easily identify providers that can see you virtually.
Patient FAQs
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With these rules, our providers must be licensed in the state where a patient is physically located at the time of the visit. That means we will need to confirm where you will physically be during the time of your telemedicine visit to make sure our provider is licensed and approved by the state to see you.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, states across the nation paused licensing rules to ensure patients had access to healthcare wherever they were located. This short-term pause allowed providers to offer telemedicine services across some state lines.
With the vaccine rollout underway, many states, including states where our providers practice and where our patients live, are beginning to fully reinstate normal licensing requirements.
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If needed, our staff will contact patients with existing telemedicine appointments if they need to confirm their location prior to the visit and will advise if your virtual visit appointment needs to be rescheduled as an in-person visit, or as a virtual visit with a different provider who is licensed to offer care in their state.
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It depends on where your provider is licensed.
If your provider is licensed to practice medicine in the state where you are vacationing and currently located, your provider can schedule a telemedicine appointment with you. If your provider is not licensed in that state, your provider will not be able to see you by telemedicine at that time. You would need to wait and see your provider when you return to the state where your provider is licensed.
Learn More Advocating for Telemedicine
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Telemedicine is a godsend during a pandemic. But state licensing rules get in the way.
Opinion by CEO Paul Rothman (2012 - 2022) and President Kevin Sowers
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A national crisis requires a national response
Opinion by Brian Hasselfeld and Baligh Yehia
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Statement for the Record: US House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommitte on Health
Submitted by Brian Hassefeld
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Access to telehealth preserved through new law
WMAR Baltimore