Cross State Licensing

Physicians treating patients in Oklahoma through telemedicine must be fully licensed to practice medicine in Oklahoma.

SOURCE: OK Admin Code Sec. 435:10-7-13(a).  (Accessed Mar. 2025).

The State Board of Osteopathic Examiners has the authority to issue a telemedicine license.

SOURCE: OK Statute, Title 59, Sec. 633, (Accessed Mar. 2025).

 The Oklahoma Board of Nursing may issue temporary licenses to nurses from other states upon proper application stating the purpose of such licenses; provided, no temporary license may be issued for more than ninety (90) days. Temporary licenses may be renewed at the discretion of the Board but shall not extend over a period longer than one (1) year.

The Board may issue temporary critical need licenses for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses under Section 1 of this act.

SOURCE: OK Statute, Title 59, Ch. 12, Sec. 567.15. (Accessed Mar. 2025).

Except as provided in 59 O.S.§ 1604, no practitioner licensed in another state may deliver speech-language pathology and audiology services via telepractice to clients located in Oklahoma, unless licensed in Oklahoma.

SOURCE: OK Admin Code Sec. 690:10-3-9.  (Accessed Mar. 2025).

The Board may issue a license for a speech-language pathology assistant to a person who holds a current speech-language pathology assistant license in another state or country according to the following conditions:

• Payment of the Board’s current fee for licensure; AND one of the following:
• The applicant submits evidence of licensure in good standing from another other state or country which maintains a system and standard of qualifications and examinations for speech-language pathology assistants which meets or exceeds the current requirements for licensure in Oklahoma; OR
• The applicant is currently certified as an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) speech-language pathology assistant.

SOURCE: OK Admin Code Sec. 690:10-7-9.  (Accessed Mar. 2025).

Physical Therapists and Assistants

In order to provide physical therapy via telehealth defined in 435:20-1-1.1 of the Code, a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant providing services to a patient or client, physically located in Oklahoma, must have a valid and current Oklahoma Physical Therapist or Physical Therapist Assistant license, issued by State of Oklahoma.

SOURCE: OK Admin Code Sec. 435:20-5-11 (Accessed Mar. 2025).

Optometry

The scope of delivery of care as defined in subsections A and B of 59 OS § 581 to an individual who is physically located in this state when the care is delivered shall constitute the practice of optometry.

The prescribing for spectacles or contacts lenses by an optometrist requires a comprehensive visual examination conducted by a physician holding a license to practice optometry in this state.

Physicians treating patients in Oklahoma through telemedicine in optometry must be fully licensed to practice optometry in Oklahoma and must proceed as follows.  Physicians cannot establish a doctor-patient relationship via telehealth alone. During telemedicine encounters, the distant site physician performs an exam of a patient at a separate, remote originating site location which shall be registered with the Board of Examiners in optometry by the distant site physician as a primary or branch practice location pursuant to Rule OAC 505:10-5-7.  If the distant site physician deems it to be medically necessary, or if Oklahoma law requires manual procedures at the near site in order to meet legal definitions of procedures which meet the standard of care, a licensed optometrist in this state trained in the use of the equipment shall be utilized at the originating site to “present” the patient, manage the camera, and perform any physical activities to successfully complete the exam.  The on-site optometrist must obtain or review all aspects of the patient’s medical history and any available medical records.  A medical record must be kept and be accessible at both the distant and originating sites; preferably a shared Electronic Medical Record, that is full and complete and meets the standards as a valid medical record.  There should be provisions for appropriate follow up care equivalent to that available to face-to-face patients and be on par with the same service delivered in person. The information available to the distant site physician for the medical problem to be addressed must be equivalent in scope and quality to what would be obtained with an original or follow-up face-to-face encounter and must meet all applicable standards of care for that medical problem including the documentation of a history, a physical exam, the ordering of any diagnostic tests, making a diagnosis and initiating a treatment plan with appropriate discussion and informed consent.

As part of additional disclosure requirements, all physicians must disclose their identity and credentials, including informing the patient that the optometrist is licensed to practice in the jurisdiction in which the patient is located.

The Board considers that the practice of optometry occurs both where the patient is located and where the optometrist providing professional services is located. In order for an optometrist to provide professional optometric services to a person located in Oklahoma that optometrist must be licensed by the Oklahoma Board of Examiners in Optometry.

Oklahoma licensees who wish to treat patients located outside Oklahoma by utilizing telemedicine should know both that this Board has oversight of such practice and that other state boards of optometry may take the position that such constitutes the practice of optometry in their respective states, and accordingly such boards also may require licensure in their states as a prerequisite. Optometrists intending to practice in such manner should therefore check with the optometry boards in all states in which they intend to treat patients for those state licensure requirements to determine whether or not such practice is permitted in those jurisdictions and whether separate licensure in those states is required.

Displaying license and current certificate of renewal; branch office licenses: Title 505:10-5-7(2) requires display of a copy of the optometrist’s license at each of no more than two offices. The licensee must display his/her license and current certificate of renewal in a conspicuous place in each of the optometrist’s offices. As noted above, a head shot photograph of the doctor should be attached to the license so as to be visible to a near site patient consulting with a remote site physician. A licensee who practices in more than one office location must obtain a duplicate license for each such branch office, with such branch office licenses to be displayed in like manner.

SOURCE: OK Admin Code Sec. 505:10-5-19. (Accessed Mar. 2025).