Telepractice and telehealth: what the national organizations say
ASHA and APTA both tell clinicians to check state law before delivering services remotely. ASHA says clinicians should verify licensure requirements in the state where they provide services and the state where the client receives them, and that state statutes and regulations take precedence over ASHA’s guidance. APTA says to examine your state’s physical therapy licensure law and board rules.
Quoted from official pages checked November 10, 2026. Confirm current requirements, fees, and dates on those sites. This page is not legal advice and does not guarantee eligibility, certification, or licensure.
Speech-language pathology (ASHA)
ASHA’s Practice Portal page on telepractice, checked November 10, 2026, defines telepractice as “the use of telecommunications and Internet technology to connect audiologists and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) with clients, family care partners, and other professionals for screening, assessment, intervention, consultation, and education.” It states: “It may be the primary mode of service delivery or can be used in combination with in-person services.” It also states: “Use of telepractice should be of equal quality to in-person services and delivered in a manner consistent with the following:” The list that follows includes codes of ethics, professional scopes of practice, state and federal requirements including licensure, payer policy when applicable, and employer and institutional policies when applicable.
On licensure, it states:
States may have statutory and regulatory requirements regarding telepractice. Clinicians should verify state licensure/certification requirements in the state from which the clinician provides services as well as the state in which the client receives services prior to initiating services. Clinicians should also verify requirements including temporary location changes such as vacations and college attendance.
It adds: “The state statutes and regulations take precedence over ASHA’s practice guidance.” On the compact, it states: “Under the ASLP IC, audiologists and SLPs who are licensed and in good standing in a compact member state may be eligible to practice in other member states through a compact privilege to practice.” See ASLP-IC and the official ASLP-IC site.
Physical therapy (APTA)
APTA’s Digital Health in Practice page lists steps “Before you begin practicing telehealth in your state:” and states: “Examine your state's physical therapy licensure law and corresponding state licensure board regulations/rules. In many states, the physical therapy practice act is silent on the use of telehealth.” For practice in more than one state, see compacts and compact privilege vs a second state license.
Occupational therapy
No OT telehealth page is quoted here. AOTA’s pages returned an empty response to a plain read on November 10, 2026, and the NBCOT and OT Compact pages checked did not address telehealth. Check the OT board in the directory.
What this page does not do
It lists no state telehealth rules and gives no legal or billing advice. State rules vary; check the board where you and the client are located.