Definitions

“Telehealth” shall have the same meaning as that term defined in R.S. 40:1223.3.

SOURCE: LA Revised Statute 37:1262(4) (Accessed Feb. 2025).

“Telehealth” means healthcare services, including behavioral health services, provided by a healthcare provider, as defined in this Section, to a person through the use of electronic communications, information technology, asynchronous store-and-forward transfer technology, or synchronous interaction between a provider at a distant site and a patient at an originating site, including but not limited to assessment of, diagnosis of, consultation with, treatment of, and remote monitoring of a patient, and transfer of medical data. The term “telehealth” shall not include any of the following:

• Electronic mail messages and text messages that are not compliant with applicable requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1320d et seq.).
• Facsimile transmissions.

SOURCE: LA Revised Statute 40:1223.3 (Accessed Feb. 2025).

Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology

Telehealth, also known as telepractice, is a mode of delivering audiology and speech-language pathology services that utilizes information and communication technologies to enable the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education care management, and self-management of clients at a distance from the audiologist or speech-language pathologist provider. Telehealth allows services to be accessed when providers are in a distant site and patients are in the originating site. Telehealth facilitates self-management and caregiver support for patients and includes synchronous interactions and asynchronous store and forward transfers.

SOURCE: LA Admin. Code 46: LXXV.103., p. 4 (Accessed Feb. 2025).

Physician’s Use of Telemedicine in Practice

Telemedicine – the practice of health care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, and transfer of medical data by a physician using interactive telecommunication technology that enables a physician and a patient at two locations separated by distance to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. Neither an electronic mail message between a physician and a patient, or a true consultation constitutes telemedicine for the purposes of this Part. A physician practicing by telemedicine may utilize interactive audio without the requirement of video if, after access and review of the patient’s medical records, the physician determines that he or she is able to meet the same standard of care as if the healthcare services were provided in-person.

SOURCE: LA Admin. Code 46: XLV.7503., p. 225 (Accessed Feb. 2025).

Board of Optometry

Optometric Telemedicine — a health service interaction that is delivered by a licensed optometrist acting within the scope of his or her license between an optometrist in one physical location and a patient located in any different physical location, accomplished via audio-visual link, imaging, telephone, or other appropriate forms of electronic communication and/or technology used to allow or assist the optometrist in providing care to the patient and may require the use of advanced telecommunications technology, other than facsimile technology, including all of the following:

• Compressed digital interactive video, audio, or data transmission;
• Clinical data transmission using computer imaging by way of still image capture and store and forward;
• Another technology that facilitates access to health care services or optometric specialty expertise.

SOURCE: LA Admin Code LAC 46:LI.509, (Accessed Feb. 2025).

Board of Psychology

Telecommunication—the preparation, transmission, communication, or related processing of information by electrical, electromagnetic, electromechanical, electrooptical, or electronic means (Committee on National Security Systems, 2010).

Telepsychology—the practice of psychology which includes assessment, diagnosis, intervention, consultation or information by psychologists using interactive telecommunication technology that enables a psychologist and a client, at two different locations separated by distance to interact via two-way audio/ or audio only transmissions simultaneously. Telepsychology is not a separate specialty. If the use of technology is for purely administrative purposes, it would not constitute telepsychology under this Chapter.

Telesupervision—a method of providing supervision to psychology trainees via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously or other telecommunication technologies.

SOURCE: LA Admin Code LAC Title 46:LXIII Sec. 1401-1409, (Accessed Feb. 2025).

Teledentistry

Teledentistry is defined as the use of medical or dental information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to provide dental treatment or diagnosis, but does not include email or telephone exchanges between a provider and a patient with whom an in-person provider-patient relationship has been established.

SOURCE: LA Admin. Code LAC 46:XXXIII.203 (Accessed Feb. 2025).

Professional Counselors

Teletherapy is defined as a method of delivering mental health counseling, psychotherapy, and marriage and family therapy services as prescribed by R.S. 37:1101 and R.S. 37:1116 using interactive technology-assisted media to facilitate prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental, emotional, behavioral, relational, and addiction disorders to individuals, groups, organizations, or the general public that enables a licensee and a client(s) separated by distance to interact via synchronous video and audio transmission.

SOURCE: LA Admin. Code LAC 46, Part LX, Subpart 1, Sec. 505 (Accessed Feb. 2025).