Tessic Health

GA · STATE RULES

Telehealth rules in Georgia

Georgia runs remote medicine through one Composite Medical Board rule, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07, and the Board reads it narrowly: asynchronous telehealth cannot open a patient relationship, even for a non-controlled drug. A new patient's first visit is live, every remote patient is steered toward a yearly in-person exam, and nurse practitioners prescribe under a Board-filed protocol with two emergency-only Schedule II drugs. Each rule below carries its citation and the way Tessic Health's providers meet it.

Book a DemoAll states
First visit
Live visit first
Physician license
Compact or telemedicine license
Controlled drugs
No controlled drugs for pain
Nurse practitioners
Restricted practice

Rules checked September 2026 · 29 sources cited

ONLY IN GEORGIA

What is different about Georgia

Each rule here is true of Georgia and of none of the states that border it. Beside each one: what the neighbours do instead.

  1. 01 · First visit

    First visits must be live

    The Composite Medical Board has answered that asynchronous telehealth does not meet Rule 360-3-.07 for starting a patient relationship, even to prescribe a non-controlled PDE5 inhibitor. Synchronous telehealth may be permitted, so a new Georgia patient needs a real-time visit before a first prescription.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board minutes, September meeting

    Across the border

    • Florida

      Fla. Stat. 456.47 defines telehealth as synchronous or asynchronous technology and lets a provider treat after any evaluation sufficient to diagnose, with no physical exam or live-video step required.

      Source: Fla. Stat. 456.47

    • Alabama

      Ala. Code 34-24-701 counts asynchronous communication as telemedicine and 34-24-703 lets a relationship form without an in-person exam; live audio or video is demanded only for controlled-substance prescriptions under 34-24-704.

      Source: Ala. Code 34-24-701 to 704 (CCHP summary)

    • Tennessee

      Board rule 0880-02-.16 lets a Tennessee telemedicine encounter run on store-and-forward technology; if the transmitted data is inadequate, the physician must ask for more or refer the patient for an exam.

      Source: Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.16

    • North Carolina

      The North Carolina Medical Board lets a relationship start through synchronous or asynchronous telemedicine with no prior in-person meeting, ruling out only static online questionnaires that miss the standard of care.

      Source: N.C. Medical Board telemedicine position statement

    • South Carolina

      S.C. Code 40-47-37 requires a medical history interview by the prescribing licensee and an evaluation that need not be in person, but the statute itself names no live-video requirement.

      Source: S.C. Code 40-47-37

  2. 02 · Practice

    A yearly push for an in-person exam

    Rule 360-3-.07(a)(8) requires any physician, PA or nurse practitioner treating a patient by electronic means to make diligent efforts to have that patient seen and examined in person by a Georgia-licensed physician, PA or nurse practitioner at least once a year, whatever the condition or drug.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07 (Secretary of State text)

    Across the border

    • Florida

      Fla. Stat. 456.47 sets no periodic in-person visit for telehealth patients, and a registered out-of-state provider may not see Florida patients in person at all.

      Source: Fla. Stat. 456.47

    • Alabama

      Alabama requires an in-person visit only after more than four telehealth visits in 12 months for the same unresolved condition, or within 12 months before a telehealth controlled-substance prescription (Ala. Code 34-24-703 and 704).

      Source: Ala. Code 34-24-701 to 704 (CCHP summary)

    • Tennessee

      Tennessee's Board rule 0880-02-.16 sets no recurring in-person visit, and the prior in-person encounter in Tenn. Code 56-7-1003 is a condition of insurer coverage, not a duty owed for every telemedicine patient.

      Source: Tenn. Code 56-7-1003

    • North Carolina

      The North Carolina Medical Board's telemedicine statement sets no annual visit; it notes only that some cases, such as controlled prescribing for pain, call for an initial in-person evaluation.

      Source: N.C. Medical Board telemedicine position statement

    • South Carolina

      S.C. Code 40-47-37 asks the licensee to ensure appropriate follow-up care is available and sets no interval for seeing a telemedicine patient in person.

      Source: S.C. Code 40-47-37

  3. 03 · Prescribing

    Nurse practitioners: two Schedule II drugs only

    Under O.C.G.A. 43-34-25(d.1) and 43-34-103, a delegating physician may authorize an APRN or PA to prescribe only hydrocodone or oxycodone in Schedule II, in emergencies, as an initial five-day supply for adults, after one year of practice. Schedule II stimulants stay physician-only.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board APRN law summary

    Across the border

    • Florida

      Fla. Stat. 464.012 lets an APRN prescribe any Schedule II drug for up to a seven-day supply, and lifts that cap for psychiatric nurses prescribing psychiatric medication.

      Source: Fla. Stat. 464.012

    • Alabama

      An Alabama CRNP or PA with a QACSC prescribes Schedules III–V; a separate Limited Purpose Schedule II Permit covers Board-approved Schedule II drugs in 30-day supplies with two reissues.

      Source: Ala. Board of Medical Examiners LPSP protocol

    • Tennessee

      Tenn. Code 63-7-123 lets a nurse practitioner prescribe Schedules II–V as the collaborating physician authorizes, with Schedule II or III opioids capped at a non-refillable 30-day course unless the physician approves more.

      Source: Tenn. Code 63-7-123

    • North Carolina

      21 NCAC 36 .0809 lets a North Carolina nurse practitioner prescribe Schedules II, IIN, III, IIIN, IV and V under the collaborative practice agreement, with no emergency-only condition in that rule.

      Source: 21 NCAC 36 .0809

    • South Carolina

      S.C. Code 40-33-34 allows Schedule II narcotics for a five-day supply and Schedule II non-narcotics for 30 days when listed in the practice agreement, with no emergency-only condition or two-drug list.

      Source: S.C. Code 40-33-34

  4. 04 · Licenses

    Telehealth teams need a Board filing

    Rule 360-3-.07(a)(5) says a physician who delegates telemedicine to a nurse practitioner, or supervises a PA doing it, must first document to the Board that telemedicine is within the physician's own scope and that the NP or PA has shown competence in it.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07

    Across the border

    • Florida

      Fla. Stat. 456.47 regulates each telehealth provider directly, through Florida licensure or out-of-state registration, and asks no supervising physician to certify a nurse practitioner's telehealth competence to a board.

      Source: Fla. Stat. 456.47

    • Alabama

      Alabama's telehealth article, Ala. Code 34-24-700 onward, sets physician duties, the four-visit in-person trigger and controlled-drug limits, with no telehealth delegation filing for CRNPs or PAs.

      Source: Ala. Board of Medical Examiners telemedicine guidance

    • Tennessee

      Tennessee's telemedicine rule 0880-02-.16 governs physicians and says nothing about nurse practitioners or PAs, so no telemedicine-specific notice goes to the Board before delegating remote work.

      Source: Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.16

    • North Carolina

      The North Carolina Medical Board's telemedicine position statement contains no step requiring a supervising physician to document or notify the Board before a PA or nurse practitioner provides telehealth.

      Source: N.C. Medical Board telemedicine position statement

    • South Carolina

      S.C. Code 40-47-37 lists each licensee's telemedicine duties, such as verifying patient identity and location, and contains no supervising-physician documentation step for delegated telemedicine.

      Source: S.C. Code 40-47-37

PRACTICE RULES

How telehealth works in Georgia

Georgia keeps its telemedicine standards in Board Rule 360-3-.07, adopted under the Composite Medical Board's power to discipline unprofessional conduct in O.C.G.A. 43-34-8 and 43-1-19, not in a stand-alone telehealth statute. A breach is treated as unprofessional conduct against the Georgia license.

  1. 01

    Only Georgia licensees may treat

    O.C.G.A. 43-34-31 treats anyone outside Georgia who performs an act affecting a Georgia patient's diagnosis or treatment by electronic means as practicing medicine in Georgia, requiring a Georgia license or a telemedicine license. Rule 360-3-.07(a)(1) and (a)(2) add that treatment comes only from Georgia licensees with the patient's history available to them.

    Source: O.C.G.A. 43-34-31

  2. 02

    Patients must know who treats them

    Rule 360-3-.07(a)(6) requires a patient treated remotely, or the patient's agent, to receive the practitioner's name, credentials and emergency contact information. Subsection (a)(7) adds clear follow-up instructions for emergent problems tied to the treatment, and (a)(4) makes the Georgia-licensed practitioner keep records of the remote encounter.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07

  3. 03

    Phone care is for existing patients

    Rule 360-3-.07(b) protects telephone care, call coverage and clinician-to-clinician consults inside an established physician-patient relationship, and offers no telephone path for opening a new one. Subsection (d) still requires any lab or diagnostic test the minimum standard calls for, and (f) holds remote practice to the in-person standard.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07

  4. 04

    Who may own a practice

    Georgia's former corporate-practice statute, O.C.G.A. 43-34-37, was repealed, and Georgia health-law counsel report the Composite Medical Board has never disciplined a licensee on corporate-practice grounds. The Professional Corporation Act, O.C.G.A. 14-7-4, still requires a licensed president and at least one licensed director in a medical professional corporation.

    Source: Little Health Law on Georgia corporate practice (law firm)

FIRST VISIT

Can a first visit happen without a live call in Georgia?

No, a live visit comes first

No. The Composite Medical Board has answered that asynchronous telehealth does not satisfy Rule 360-3-.07, even for a non-controlled drug, so a new Georgia patient needs a real-time visit before the first prescription.

Rule 360-3-.07(a)(3) lets a practitioner treat a patient not seen in person only when the exam uses technology or peripherals equal or superior to an examination done in person within that practitioner's standard of care. The Board has read that test as ruling out asynchronous intake for new Georgia patients.

  1. 01

    The Board said no to async

    In its September meeting minutes, the Board took a telehealth company's question on whether asynchronous methods can establish a relationship for prescribing PDE5 inhibitors, a non-controlled erectile-dysfunction class. The recorded response was that asynchronous telehealth does not meet requirements, that synchronous telehealth may be permitted, and a pointer to Rule 360-3-.07.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board minutes, September meeting

  2. 02

    The exam must match an office visit

    Under the (a)(3) test as the Georgia Board reads it, a first visit needs real-time technology that lets the practitioner see the patient, ask follow-up questions and direct parts of the exam. A static intake form or uploaded photos reviewed hours later fall short of that reading.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07

  3. 03

    Later visits can be lighter

    The Board's answer concerned opening the relationship. Once it exists, Rule 360-3-.07(b) protects telephone care and call coverage for established Georgia patients, so check-ins and refills may use lighter contact where the standard of care allows, while the (a)(8) duty to seek a yearly in-person exam continues.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07

  4. 04

    The rule rests on Board minutes

    The live-visit requirement comes from the Georgia Board's written answer in its minutes, not from words in Rule 360-3-.07, and the Board can restate or change it without rulemaking. A brand planning async-first intake for Georgia patients should have counsel confirm the Board's current position before launch.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board minutes, September meeting

PRESCRIBING

Prescriptions and controlled drugs in Georgia

Georgia's remote controlled-drug limits come from Board Rules 360-3-.02(5) and 360-3-.07(c) and from O.C.G.A. 16-13-63, which governs the PDMP (Georgia's prescription-monitoring database). The Board has also voted to track the federal DEA telemedicine flexibilities through December 31, 2026.

  1. 01

    No controlled drugs from an online consult

    Rule 360-3-.02(5) makes it unprofessional conduct in Georgia to prescribe controlled substances or dangerous drugs based solely on an electronic consultation. The exceptions include on-call coverage with up to a 30-day supply, documented emergencies, and telemedicine that fits the federal definitions in 21 U.S.C. 802(54) and 829(e).

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.02

  2. 02

    Federal flexibilities run to year end

    At its January meeting the Georgia Board voted to extend telemedicine flexibilities until the end of 2026 in alignment with the DEA and HHS, as it has done at earlier federal extensions. Controlled prescribing by telemedicine for Georgia patients follows the federal rules through December 31, 2026, unless the Board votes again.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board minutes, January 2026 meeting

  3. 03

    No controlled drugs for pain by telehealth

    Rule 360-3-.07(c) states that the telemedicine rule does not authorize prescribing controlled substances for pain or chronic pain by electronic means, and sends all pain treatment to Rule 360-3-.06. The limit applies even while the federal flexibilities last, so controlled pain prescribing for Georgia patients stays with in-person practice.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.07

  4. 04

    Check the PDMP every 90 days

    O.C.G.A. 16-13-63 requires a PDMP check before the first prescription of a Schedule II narcotic listed in 16-13-26(1) or (2), or of any benzodiazepine, and at least every 90 days after. Exemptions include supplies of three days and 26 pills or less, hospice, cancer and facility patients. Every DEA-registered prescriber must enroll under 16-13-57.

    Source: O.C.G.A. 16-13-63

  5. 05

    A short list for strong stimulants

    Rule 360-3-.02(3) limits Schedule II amphetamines and sympathomimetic amines to listed uses: attention deficit disorder, narcolepsy or hypersomnolence, epilepsy, drug-induced brain dysfunction, depression or other psychiatric diagnoses, approved clinical investigations, and weight-loss management where the FDA has approved the drug for that indication.

    Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-3-.02

Federal rules apply on top of every state's. Prescribing controlled substances by telehealth without an in-person visit runs on DEA flexibilities currently extended through December 31, 2026, with a permanent rule still pending.

LICENSES

Who can treat patients in Georgia

O.C.G.A. 43-34-31 requires Georgia authority for any practitioner treating a patient located in Georgia, and the Composite Medical Board offers physicians a full license, a compact license or a telemedicine-only license. AANP rates Georgia nurse practitioners restricted because they prescribe only under a Board-approved nurse protocol with a delegating physician.

  1. 01

    Compact or full license

    Georgia belongs to the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC), the multistate pathway for physicians, and the Board issues compact licenses through gateway.medicalboard.georgia.gov next to its full license. The Board notes that a full Georgia license also permits telemedicine, which matters for physicians who need DEA authority in Georgia.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board physician license types

  2. 02

    A license just for telemedicine

    O.C.G.A. 43-34-31.1 lets the Board issue a telemedicine license to a physician holding a full, unrestricted license elsewhere with no discipline in any state. It cannot be used to treat a Georgia patient in person except in an emergency, and the Board warns that the DEA treats it as a restricted license.

    Source: O.C.G.A. 43-34-31.1

  3. 03

    The supervising doctor must be close

    A Georgia delegating physician must hold an active Georgia license, practice in Georgia, and keep a principal place of practice in Georgia or within 50 miles of where the protocol is used, meaning the patient's location. The Board applies this to telehealth and has told a Florida-based physician that a virtual office does not qualify.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board APRN law summary

  4. 04

    Up to eight per physician

    O.C.G.A. 43-34-25(g) and 43-34-103(b)(1) let one Georgia delegating physician hold the combined equivalent of eight APRN protocol agreements and PA job descriptions at a time. Board Rules 360-32 and 360-5, effective May 25, 2026, carry that limit into the rules and auto-approve substantially similar protocols.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board 2026 rule updates

  5. 05

    Fingerprints for new licenses

    Amended Board Rule 360-2-.01 requires Georgia physician applicants to pass Georgia Crime Information Center and FBI fingerprint checks and to submit a Federation Credentials Verification Service report and a National Practitioner Data Bank self-query, with compliance mandatory from July 1, 2026.

    Source: Ga. Composite Medical Board 2026 rule updates

ADVERTISING

Marketing to patients in Georgia

Georgia's health-advertising limits sit in its general licensing statutes rather than in a Composite Medical Board advertising rule, since Rule 360-3-.02 has no advertising subsection. Two licensing statutes and two telephone-solicitation laws shape most telehealth marketing aimed at Georgia patients.

  1. 01

    Name the license in every ad

    O.C.G.A. 43-1-33 requires any advertisement naming a health care practitioner, printed or electronic, to include the practitioner's name and disclose the type of license held. Ads may not use deceptive or misleading terms, only physicians may use medical specialty titles, and clinicians wear name-and-license identifiers during patient encounters.

    Source: O.C.G.A. 43-1-33

  2. 02

    No promises of a cure

    O.C.G.A. 43-34-8 lets the Georgia Board discipline a licensee who knowingly makes misleading, deceptive, untrue or fraudulent representations, or who takes a fee on the claim that a manifestly incurable disease can be permanently cured. Untruthful or improbable statements are separate grounds for discipline under the same section.

    Source: O.C.G.A. 43-34-8

  3. 03

    No paying for patients

    O.C.G.A. 43-34-8 also makes it a ground for discipline to divide fees with any person or company for bringing or referring a patient. Where Georgia's Patient Self-Referral Act allows a referral to an entity the provider has invested in, O.C.G.A. 43-1B-5 requires a written disclosure form before the referral.

    Source: O.C.G.A. 43-1B-5

  4. 04

    Sellers answer for their callers

    Georgia's no-call statute, O.C.G.A. 46-5-27, now bars telephone solicitations made on behalf of any person or entity to numbers on the state list, so an advertiser can be liable for a vendor's calls. The amendment dropped the knowing-violation element and expressly allows class actions with attorney fees.

    Source: Klein Moynihan Turco on O.C.G.A. 46-5-27 (law firm)

  5. 05

    Callers must say who they are

    O.C.G.A. 10-1-393.13 requires a telephone solicitor calling Georgia consumers to state clearly, at the start of the call, who is initiating it, and bars blocking caller ID. The number displayed must be a working number that can take incoming calls and accurately reflects the caller.

    Source: O.C.G.A. 10-1-393.13

TESSIC HEALTH IN GEORGIA

How Tessic Health's providers cover Georgia

Tessic Health's providers who treat Georgia patients hold Georgia authority to practice, and a brand's Georgia clinic runs to the rules above. Each line below is how the network applies one Georgia requirement.

  1. 01

    Every first visit is live video

    Every first Georgia visit is a real-time video visit with a Georgia-licensed provider before any prescription, including non-controlled treatments such as PDE5 inhibitors, hair-loss or weight-loss medication. Intake questionnaires feed the chart but never stand alone as the Rule 360-3-.07 examination.

  2. 02

    A yearly in-person reminder

    Each Georgia patient record carries a yearly prompt to be seen in person by a Georgia-licensed physician, PA or nurse practitioner, and the provider documents the effort, which is how the network meets the diligent-efforts duty in Rule 360-3-.07(a)(8).

  3. 03

    Database checks and no pain drugs

    The Georgia PDMP report is checked and noted before a first Schedule II narcotic or benzodiazepine prescription and at least every 90 days while one continues, as O.C.G.A. 16-13-63 requires. Controlled medications for pain are not prescribed to Georgia patients by telehealth.

  4. 04

    A filed protocol for every team

    Nurse practitioners and PAs treating Georgia patients work under a Georgia-licensed delegating physician who meets the Board's Georgia-or-50-mile location test, with telemedicine documented to the Board under Rule 360-3-.07(a)(5). Schedule II stimulants for Georgia patients are prescribed by physicians only.

  5. 05

    Pharmacies with a Georgia permit

    Prescriptions filled at 0% markup ship to Georgia patients only from pharmacies holding a Georgia license or a nonresident pharmacy permit under O.C.G.A. 26-4-114.1, a permit that also requires a toll-free line open at least six days and 60 hours a week under Rule 480-6-.02.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Questions about telehealth in Georgia

  • No. The Composite Medical Board answered in its September minutes that asynchronous telehealth does not meet Rule 360-3-.07 for starting a relationship, even for a non-controlled drug. A questionnaire can gather history ahead of the live video visit that opens every Georgia patient's treatment with Tessic Health's providers.

  • Not the Schedule II stimulants. O.C.G.A. 43-34-25 bars Georgia APRNs from Schedule II except emergency hydrocodone or oxycodone for a five-day initial supply, so amphetamine and methylphenidate products need a physician prescriber. Schedule III–V drugs can be delegated in the nurse protocol.

  • At the first prescription and at least every 90 days after, for Schedule II narcotics and all benzodiazepines, under O.C.G.A. 16-13-63. Supplies of three days and 26 pills or fewer, cancer and hospice patients, and patients in a hospital or care facility are exempt.

  • Yes. Georgia is an IMLC member, and the Composite Medical Board issues compact licenses alongside full and telemedicine-only licenses. Its licensing page notes that the DEA treats the telemedicine license as restricted, so the Board points physicians who need DEA authorization to the full Georgia license.

  • Not under state law. O.C.G.A. 16-13-41 lets a Schedule II order travel electronically under State Board of Pharmacy rules but never requires it, and Schedule III–V orders may still be written or oral. Medicare Part D's federal EPCS rule still binds Georgia prescribers, and Tessic Health's providers e-prescribe controlled drugs for Georgia patients through EPCS.

  • It depends on the next federal step. The Georgia Board voted in January to mirror the DEA and HHS flexibilities through December 31, 2026; after that, Rule 360-3-.02(5) bars controlled prescriptions from an electronic consult alone unless a federal telemedicine exception, such as a DEA special registration, applies.

SOURCES

Rules checked September 2026 · 29 sources cited. A planning summary, not legal advice. Statutes, board rules and enforcement priorities change; a brand's own counsel should review its model and marketing before launch.

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Rules in other states

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