What a Telehealth Consent Form Must Cover, State by State

Consent is the cheapest compliance item in telehealth and one of the most often wrong. The usual mistake is a single checkbox ("I consent to telehealth") that meets nobody's statute in particular. The other mistake runs the opposite way: a five-page form that patients sign without reading and that still omits the one element a strict state requires. CCHP's Fall 2025 summary counts telehealth consent requirements in 45 states, DC and Puerto Rico, but that count includes Medicaid program rules. The requirements that bind every licensed clinician are fewer and more specific.

Which states require telehealth consent for every patient?

From the statutes and board rules we have verified, these states require telehealth-specific consent from physicians (and in most cases other licensees), regardless of payer:

• Alabama (Ala. Code § 34-24-703): consent to telehealth, including the mode of communication and its limits, documented in the record, along with identity and city-and-state verification and credential disclosure.
• Arizona (A.R.S. § 36-3602(A)): verbal or written informed consent, including electronically, before care by telehealth; verbal consent documented in the record.
• California (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 2290.5): the provider initiating telehealth must tell the patient telehealth will be used and obtain verbal or written consent, documented.
• Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-906(b), (d)): at the first telehealth interaction, explain treatment methods and limits, obtain consent, document notice and consent, and document any later revocation. The provider must also ask whether the patient consents to records going to their primary care provider.
• Delaware (24 Del. C. § 6003(a)(3)): consent after disclosure of the delivery model and treatment limits, including informed consent to telemedicine technologies.
• Iowa (Iowa Admin. Code r. 481-655.9): informed consent to the care, including to telemedicine, documented promptly.
• Kentucky (KRS 311.5975): informed consent from the patient or an authorized decision maker before services begin.
• Maine (joint telehealth rule, Code Me. R. 02-373 ch. 11): appropriate informed consent, including for a remote exam, documented promptly.
• Maryland (Md. Code, Health Occ. § 1-1002(3)) and New Hampshire (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 329:1-c): oral or written consent as a condition of establishing a relationship by telehealth.
• Michigan (Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.16284): consent for treatment, obtained directly or indirectly, before a telehealth service, with proof of consent in the record under board rules.
• Ohio (Ohio Admin. Code 4731-37-01): consent documented in the record or by signed authorization, after discussing risks, benefits and alternatives.
• South Dakota (S.D. Codified Laws § 34-52-3): consent after disclosure of the delivery model and its limits.
• Texas (Tex. Occ. Code § 111.002): informed consent from the patient or an authorized decision maker before telemedicine services.
• Vermont (18 V.S.A. §§ 9361, 9362): see below; the most detailed in the country.
• West Virginia (W. Va. Code § 30-3-13a and board rules): consent to telehealth, except for pathologists and radiologists.

Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin reach a similar result through medical board policy or rule rather than statute. Each state's page in our telehealth law index gives the citation we found, or says none was confirmed.

Which states add no telehealth-specific consent?

Florida, Hawaii, Illinois and Montana have no telehealth-specific consent requirement for physicians in the sources we checked; general informed-consent law still applies. The District of Columbia applies its in-person consent rules to telehealth without a separate form (D.C. Code § 3-1201.05(c)(2)). Indiana goes a step further: informed consent is part of establishing a telehealth relationship, but a provider may not be required to obtain a separate, additional written consent for telehealth (Ind. Code § 25-1-9.5-7). For several other states we found consent rules only in Medicaid program guidance or for other professions, and the state pages mark those fields as unconfirmed rather than guessing.

What makes Vermont different?

Vermont spells out content. Under 18 V.S.A. § 9361(c), providers must obtain and document oral or written informed consent before telemedicine, covering its limits, who else is present, and the use of HIPAA-compliant connections. For ongoing care, consent is needed only at the first episode. Audio-only visits have their own consent under § 9362, covering billing and the patient's right to choose another modality. Out-of-state clinicians on a Vermont telehealth license or registration are bound by both sections (26 V.S.A. § 3058). See Vermont's telehealth license and registration.

What do Louisiana and Washington require?

Louisiana's Board of Medical Examiners frames it as disclosure rather than consent. Before telemedicine, a physician must give and document the physician's name, Louisiana license number and specialty, how follow-up and emergency care work, how to access records, the plan if the technology fails, and privacy practices, and must tell patients they may decline telemedicine (La. Admin. Code tit. 46, pt. XLV, §§ 7507, 7511).

Washington applies in-person consent standards to telehealth under the Uniform Telehealth Act (RCW 18.134.030) and adds a billing consent: before billing for an audio-only visit, the provider must get the patient's consent, which can be verbal or written, lasts up to 12 months and must be kept five years (RCW 48.43.735; WAC 284-170-433). Audio-only consents are covered in more detail in audio-only telehealth rules.

What do the requirements have in common?

Put the strict states side by side and the same elements keep showing up. A consent process that covers all of them satisfies every statute above:

1. Notice that care will be by telehealth, and by which modality (video, audio-only, asynchronous).
2. The limits of telehealth, including that an in-person exam may be needed and that the clinician may decide telehealth is not appropriate.
3. Clinician identity and credentials, including the license number for the patient's state where required (Louisiana, Connecticut).
4. Privacy and security, including the platform's safeguards and the risk of a technology failure, and who else is present on each end (Vermont, Idaho).
5. Follow-up and emergencies: how to reach the practice, what happens if the connection drops, and when to call 911. See emergency protocols.
6. The right to decline telehealth or switch modalities (Louisiana, Vermont audio-only).
7. Records sharing with a primary care provider, as a separate yes or no (Connecticut; Texas requires a report to the PCP after certain telemedicine encounters if the patient consents).
8. Costs and billing, especially for audio-only and self-pay (Vermont, Washington; Connecticut requires cost disclosure to self-pay patients).
9. Who may consent: the patient, a parent or guardian, or an authorized decision maker (Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland, Texas).

Verbal, written or electronic?

Most statutes accept verbal consent if it is documented. Arizona and California say verbal or written; Maryland and New Hampshire say oral or written; Ohio accepts a record entry or a signed authorization. None of the statutes we reviewed requires a wet signature. The safest design is an electronic consent at intake plus a short verbal confirmation recorded by the clinician at the first visit, with the version number of the consent text stored alongside it.

How often must consent be renewed?

Usually once per relationship. Connecticut ties it to the initial telehealth interaction; Vermont to the first episode of ongoing care. Washington's audio-only billing consent lasts up to 12 months. Re-consent when the modality changes (video to audio-only), when the practice changes platforms in a way that changes the privacy disclosure, or when a new clinician in another state takes over and the patient's state requires credential disclosure.

How do you run one consent across many states?

• Write a base consent covering the nine elements above.
• Add state-specific inserts only where content differs: Vermont audio-only, Louisiana disclosures, Washington audio-only billing, Connecticut cost disclosure for self-pay patients.
• Gate the visit on consent status in the EHR, keyed to the patient's state at the time of the visit, not their billing address. See patient location verification.
• Keep every version of the text with an effective date, and log which version each patient accepted.
• Review the set when CCHP publishes its Fall 2026 report, expected around November.

Our Telehealth Policies & Consent Kit ($1,950) produces the base consent, the state inserts and the related policies, for your counsel to review and approve. Psychologists have their own rules on top; White Glove PsyPact covers them in informed consent for telepsychology. Nothing here is legal advice.