Veterinarian relationship

AN ACT Relating to veterinarian-client-patient relationships; 1
amending RCW 18.92.015; and adding a new section to chapter 18.92 2
RCW. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 18.92 5
RCW to read as follows: 6
(1) A veterinarian-client-patient relationship is the basis for 7
interaction between veterinarians and their clients and patients. A 8
veterinarian-client-patient relationship exists when all of the 9
following conditions have been met: 10
(a) The veterinarian has assumed responsibility for making 11
clinical judgments regarding the health of the animal and need for 12
medical treatment, and the client has agreed to follow the 13
instructions of the veterinarian; 14
(b) The veterinarian has sufficient knowledge of the animal to 15
initiate, at a minimum, a general or preliminary diagnosis of the 16
medical conditions of the animal. To establish this knowledge, the 17
veterinarian must: 18
(i) Have physically examined the animal within the last year, or 19
sooner if medically appropriate. In cases where a veterinarian cannot 20
S-3745.1
SENATE BILL 6072
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Cleveland, Warnick, and Nobles
Read first time 01/13/26. Referred to Committee on Health & Long-
Term Care.
p. 1 SB 6072
physically examine the animal, such knowledge may be established 1
using telehealth when: 2
(A) The animal cannot access clinical veterinary care due to 3
substantial challenges including, but not limited to, substantial 4
transportation challenges for the client or animal or the 5
unavailability of in-person appointments for a significant amount of 6
time; or 7
(B) The animal has an urgent condition that could result in 8
suffering, and it is not medically reasonable for the veterinarian or 9
client to delay care; 10
(ii) In cases involving operations with several animals, such as 11
encountered at farms, laboratories, or in shelters, be personally 12
acquainted with the keeping and care of the animals by virtue of an 13
examination of the animals or by medically appropriate and timely 14
visits to the premises where the animals are kept; and15
(c) The veterinarian is readily available for follow-up 16
evaluation or has arranged for emergency coverage and continuing care 17
and treatment. 18
(2) Once a veterinarian-client-patient relationship has been 19
established, ongoing care may be provided via telemedicine; however, 20
it is the responsibility of the examining veterinarian to determine 21
if an additional physical examination is medically appropriate based 22
on available information regardless of when the last physical 23
examination was performed. 24
(3) Once a veterinarian-client-patient relationship has been 25
established, the relationship extends to all veterinarians employed 26
or practicing at the same premises or same mobile practice entity as 27
the veterinarian who established the most current veterinarian-28
client-patient relationship. The veterinarian-client-patient 29
relationship may not be extended to other veterinarians based solely 30
on the accessibility of the medical records. 31
(4) In the absence of an established veterinarian-client-patient 32
relationship, allowable telehealth services are limited to the 33
following: 34
(a) Teleadvice; 35
(b) Teletriage in an emergency situation. A licensed veterinarian 36
who in good faith engages in the practice of veterinary medicine by 37
rendering or attempting to render emergency care to a patient when a 38
client cannot be identified, or where a veterinarian-client-patient 39
relationship is not established, is not subject to discipline based 40
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solely on the veterinarian's inability to establish a veterinarian-1
client-patient relationship; 2
(c) Telemedicine for the purpose of prescribing sedation, other 3
than a controlled substance, prior to an in-person visit, to 4
facilitate transportation to, examination by, or treatment by a 5
veterinarian, or as provided in subsection (5)(e) of this section;6
(d) Dispensing drugs prescribed by another veterinarian licensed 7
under this chapter, if: 8
(i) Failure to dispense the drug could interrupt a therapeutic 9
regimen or cause a patient to suffer; and 10
(ii) The prescribing veterinarian has ascertained information 11
necessary to fill the requested prescription; and 12
(e) Poison control services. 13
(5) A veterinarian providing care for animal patients under the 14
telehealth exceptions for subsection (1)(b)(i) of this section:15
(a) May deny treatment because in their medical opinion a 16
physical examination is necessary to adequately diagnose, prognose, 17
and prescribe adequate care for the patient; 18
(b) Must be licensed as a veterinarian in the state of 19
Washington; 20
(c) Must, to the extent practicable, have or establish an 21
association with practices that are registered in the state of 22
Washington to which the patient can be referred for an in-person 23
examination; 24
(d) Must notify the client that prescription drugs or medications 25
may be available at a pharmacy and, if requested, the veterinarian 26
must submit a prescription to a pharmacy that the client chooses;27
(e) Must provide the client with the veterinarian's identity and 28
clinic address; and 29
(f) Must encourage the owner of the animal or the qualified 30
individual to schedule an in-person follow-up examination of the 31
animal to occur not later than 90 days after the date of the 32
examination through telehealth if the veterinarian, the owner of the 33
animal, or the qualified individual has concerns about the animal's 34
health that cannot be addressed through telehealth.35
(6) Once a veterinarian-client-patient relationship has been 36
established, all forms of telehealth may be used at the discretion of 37
the veterinarian. 38
(7) The veterinarian-client-patient relationship may be 39
terminated under the following conditions: 40
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(a) The termination does not constitute patient abandonment as 1
described in board rules; 2
(b) If there is an ongoing medical or surgical condition, the 3
client is offered a patient referral at the time of termination to 4
another veterinarian for diagnosis, care, and treatment; or5
(c) Clients may terminate the veterinarian-client-patient 6
relationship at any time. 7
(8) For animals or animal products for food consumption:8
(a) There must be a written agreement with the client that 9
identifies the farm veterinarian of record who is accountable for 10
drug use and treatments administered to the animals on the farm 11
operation; 12
(b) The veterinarian of record is the responsible party for 13
providing appropriate oversight of drug use on the farm operation. 14
Oversight includes establishment of diagnostic and treatment 15
protocols, training of personnel, review of treatment records, 16
monitoring drug inventories, assuring appropriate labeling of drugs, 17
and monitoring compliance and outcomes. Veterinary oversight of drug 18
use must include all drugs used on the farm regardless of the 19
distribution of the drugs to the farm; 20
(c) Provision of drugs or drug prescriptions must be for specific 21
time frames appropriate to the scope and type of operation involved 22
and only for the management groups within the operation that the 23
veterinarian of record has direct involvement and oversight;24
(d) A veterinarian issuing a veterinary feed directive must 25
comply with applicable federal laws and regulations, including 21 26
C.F.R. 558.6. 27
(9) Medical records must be maintained pursuant to board rules.28
(10)(a) A veterinarian may use or prescribe drugs only within the 29
context of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship except as 30
outlined in subsection (4) of this section. Veterinary prescription 31
drugs are restricted by federal law, under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 353 (f), and 32
may only be used by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian.33
(b) Extra label use may be allowed only when ordered by a 34
veterinarian and within the context of a veterinarian-client-patient 35
relationship. 36
(c) A veterinarian providing care through telehealth may not 37
prescribe a drug to the animal patient for a period longer than three 38
months from the date of issuing a prescription unless a veterinarian 39
has examined the animal patient in person. The veterinarian may not 40
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issue another prescription to the animal patient for the same drug 1
unless they have conducted another examination of the animal patient, 2
either in person or using telehealth. 3
(d) A veterinarian providing care through telehealth may not 4
prescribe an antimicrobial drug to the animal patient for a period 5
longer than 21 days of treatment. The veterinarian may not issue any 6
further antimicrobial drug prescription, including a refill, to treat 7
the condition of the animal patient unless the veterinarian has 8
conducted an in-person examination of the animal patient.9
(11) A veterinarian providing care for patients using telehealth 10
shall inform the client about the use and potential limitations of 11
telehealth and obtain consent from the client to use telehealth, 12
including acknowledgment of all of the following: 13
(a) The same standards of care apply to veterinary medicine 14
services via telehealth and in-person veterinary medical services;15
(b) The client has the option to choose an in-person visit from a 16
veterinarian at any time; and 17
(c) The client has been advised how to receive follow-up care or 18
assistance in the event of failure to respond or declining clinical 19
condition; or of an adverse reaction to the treatment; or in the 20
event of an inability to communicate resulting from technological or 21
equipment failure or failure to be able to reconnect for a follow-up 22
conversation. 23
(12) A veterinarian who practices veterinary medicine through 24
telehealth must do all of the following: 25
(a) Certify with the board of at least 14 days a year of practice 26
in a clinic setting with hands-on animal experience unless telehealth 27
medicine is less than 90 percent of the veterinarian's annual 28
practice in Washington, unless the veterinarian has over 20 years of 29
practicing veterinary experience. The board may exempt individual 30
veterinarians otherwise precluded from in-person practice from the 31
requirements of this subsection; 32
(b) Ensure that the technology, method, and equipment used to 33
provide veterinary medicine services through telehealth complies with 34
all current applicable privacy protection laws; 35
(c) Have historical knowledge of the animal patient by obtaining, 36
if available, and reviewing the animal patient's relevant medical 37
history, and, if available, medical records including any diagnostic 38
data. If medical records exist from a previous in-person visit and 39
are in possession of the client, the client may transmit those 40
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records, including any diagnostic data contained therein, to the 1
veterinarian electronically; 2
(d) Employ sound professional judgment to determine whether using 3
telehealth is an appropriate alternative method from in-person 4
evaluation for delivering medical advice or treatment to the animal 5
patient and providing quality of care consistent with prevailing 6
veterinary medical practice; 7
(e) As required by subsection (5)(c) of this section, be familiar 8
with available medical resources, including emergency resources near 9
the animal patient's location, be able to provide the client with a 10
list of nearby veterinarians who may be able to see the animal 11
patient in person upon the request of the client, and keep, maintain, 12
and make available a summary of the animal patient record, as 13
specified in board rules; 14
(f) Provide the client with the veterinarian's name, contact 15
information, and license number that has undertaken the telehealth 16
appointment; 17
(g) Secure an alternative means of contacting the client if the 18
electronic means is interrupted; and 19
(h) Not claim to be a specialist unless the veterinarian is 20
certified in such specialty by a board recognized by the American 21
veterinary medical association. 22
(13) A veterinarian may use telehealth without establishing a 23
veterinarian-client-patient relationship in order to provide 24
teleadvice to another licensed veterinarian or in an emergency 25
situation as long as the client is clearly instructed as soon as 26
possible to have their animal patient evaluated in person by a 27
licensed veterinarian. 28
Sec. 2. RCW 18.92.015 and 2013 c 19 s 43 are each amended to 29
read as follows: 30
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 31
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 32
(1) "Animal patient" means any animal under the care and 33
treatment of a veterinarian.34
(2) "Board" means the Washington state veterinary board of 35
governors. 36
(((2))) (3) "Client" means the animal patient's owner, owner's 37
agent, or other person presenting the animal patient for care.38
(4) "Department" means the department of health.39
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(((3))) (5) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of 1
health. 2
(((4))) (6) "Teleadvice" means the provision of any health 3
information, opinion, guidance, or recommendation concerning prudent 4
future actions that are not specific to a particular animal patient's 5
health, illness, or injury.6
(7) "Telehealth" means the overarching term that encompasses all 7
uses of technology geared to remotely deliver health information or 8
education. Telehealth encompasses a broad variety of technologies and 9
tactics to deliver virtual medical, health, and education services. 10
Telehealth is not a specific service, but a collection of tools which 11
allow veterinarians to enhance care and education delivery. 12
Telehealth encompasses teleadvice, telemedicine, and teletriage.13
(8) "Veterinary medication clerk" means a person who has 14
satisfactorily completed a board-approved training program developed 15
in consultation with the pharmacy quality assurance commission and 16
designed to prepare persons to perform certain nondiscretionary 17
functions defined by the board and used in the dispensing of legend 18
and nonlegend drugs (except controlled substances as defined in or 19
under chapter 69.50 RCW) associated with the practice of veterinary 20
medicine. 21
(((5))) (9) "Veterinary technician" means a person who is 22
licensed by the board upon meeting the requirements of RCW 18.92.128.23
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