Telemedicine

Under Florida law, “telemedicine” means the practice of medicine by a licensed Florida physician or physician assistant where patient care, treatment, or services are provided through the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications. Telemedicine does not include health care services provided solely through an audio-only telephone, email messages, text messages, facsimile transmission, U.S. Mail, and/or another parcel service.

In accordance with House Bill 387, Medical Marijuana Telemedicine is exclusively available for patients who are recertifying with a physician they have previously met during an in-office appointment. All NEW patients are required to visit the office for their initial certification, which includes an in-person physical examination by the physician.  

However, additional medical cannabis treatment management may be needed in between certification consultations. For these non-certification appointments, we offer the convenience of telemedicine.

Florida telemedicine law requires visual interaction between the physician and the patient. Wholistic ReLeaf utilizes HIPAA-compliant video conferencing software similar to Skype, FaceTime, or Google Hangouts. The standard of care remains the same regardless of whether a Florida licensed physician provides health care services in-person or by telemedicine. For example, a physical examination can be performed by telemedicine if the information obtained by the medical provider allows the provider to properly assess or provide a treatment plan for the patient, or is not lessened or compromised by not laying hands on the patient.

Governing Florida Rule 64B8-9.0141, Standards for Telemedicine Practice can be found in its entirety at Florida Standards for Telemedicine Practice.