VCPR and Telemedicine Rules in Mississippi
Mississippi's Veterinary Practice Act defines the veterinarian-client-patient relationship in section 73-39-53(v): the veterinarian must have assumed responsibility for clinical judgment with the client's agreement, and have recently seen the animal through an examination or a medically appropriate premises visit.
Section 73-39-59(3) then bars reaching that relationship solely by telephonic or electronic means.
The Act also ties prescribing and extralabel drug use to having a VCPR, and the provision has not been revisited since it was reenacted without change in 2008.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
Defined in the Act's definitions section: the veterinarian must have assumed responsibility for making clinical judgments about the animal's health, with the client's agreement to follow instructions, and must have recently seen the animal and be personally acquainted with its keeping and care, through an examination or through medically appropriate and timely premises visits.
Barred in terms — 'A veterinarian-client-patient relationship cannot be established solely by telephonic or other electronic means.'
Not addressed directly. The definition's recently-seen element is worded in the present tense, which reads as an ongoing condition, but neither section says whether or how a VCPR lapses if that condition goes stale — that is a question for the board.
No general telehealth-without-a-VCPR carve-out is stated, but §§ 73-39-61(j) and 73-39-77(1)(p) make prescribing, dispensing, or administering a prescription or extralabel drug without a VCPR a disciplinary violation.
Tied to having a VCPR: the Act makes it a disciplinary ground to dispense, distribute, prescribe, or administer a veterinary prescription drug — or to use any drug extralabel — without one, and separately requires a VCPR for prescription or extralabel use under the owner-exemption section.
Not addressed separately in the sections read.
Laws, 2005, ch. 421, § 5; reenacted without change, Laws, 2008, ch. 447, § 5, effective from and after its approval April 8, 2008 — unchanged since 2008, not revisited post-COVID.
In-person exam or premises visit required — State statute.
Miss. Code § 73-39-59, the licensing and VCPR-establishment section of the Mississippi Veterinary Practice Act, read together with the Act's own definition of the relationship at § 73-39-53(v)
What actually establishes the relationship
Mississippi's Veterinary Practice Act does define the relationship, in its definitions section rather than the section usually cited for VCPR: a veterinarian-client-patient relationship requires that the veterinarian has assumed responsibility for making clinical judgments about the animal's health and need for treatment, with the client's agreement to follow those instructions, and that the veterinarian has sufficient knowledge of the animal because the veterinarian has recently seen it and is personally acquainted with its keeping and care, through an examination of the animal or through medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where it is kept (Section 73-39-53(v)).
Section 73-39-59(2) then requires that a person practice veterinary medicine only within that relationship.
The exam-or-premises-visit element in the definition is the affirmative route a practice manager can point to, and it is also the fact that has to stay current, which bears on how the relationship is maintained, covered below.
“No person may practice veterinary medicine in the state except within the context of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship.”
The bar on establishing the relationship electronically
The bar itself is unambiguous: a veterinarian-client-patient relationship cannot be established solely by telephonic or other electronic means.
The word doing the work is solely — a phone call or video visit can be part of how a veterinarian gets to know a patient, but on its own it cannot supply the recently-seen, personally-acquainted element that the Act's definition requires.
That means the affirmative route the definition does provide, an examination of the animal or a medically appropriate and timely premises visit, is what a purely remote intake cannot substitute for.
This bar has stood unchanged since the section was first enacted.
“A veterinarian-client-patient relationship cannot be established solely by telephonic or other electronic means.”
Maintaining the relationship: what the definition still requires
Nothing in Section 73-39-59 says whether telehealth may be used once a VCPR already exists; the bar in subsection (3) speaks only to establishment.
The Act's definition, in Section 73-39-53(v), is written in the present tense — the veterinarian 'has recently seen' the animal — which reads naturally as an ongoing condition rather than a fact fixed at the moment the relationship began, though the text does not itself say what happens if that condition goes stale.
Neither section says how a telehealth visit counts toward it, how often an exam or premises visit must repeat, or whether a VCPR can lapse — those are questions for the board, not for this statute.
Confirm with the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine how it treats telemedicine alongside the recently-seen requirement.
Unchanged since 2008
Section 73-39-59 was enacted in 2005 (Laws 2005, ch. 421, section 5) and reenacted without change in 2008 (Laws 2008, ch. 447, section 5), effective from and after its approval on April 8, 2008.
The Act's definitions section, section 73-39-53, was added by the same 2005 session law and reenacted without textual change in 2008, though under its own numbering within each act (section 2, not section 5).
Nothing in either section shows a later legislative change to the definition or the electronic-establishment bar, but board rules were not independently checked for this page, and Justia's own site carries a currency disclaimer.
Confirm the current text and any board-rule changes directly with the board before relying on the dates above.
There are two VCPRs, and the federal one does not move
What This Page Does — and Doesn’t — Cover
This page describes Mississippi’s own text — Miss. Code § 73-39-59, the licensing and VCPR-establishment section of the Mississippi Veterinary Practice Act, read together with the Act's own definition of the relationship at § 73-39-53(v) as read for this series, current as of September 2026, with the provision itself last changed Laws, 2005, ch. 421, § 5; reenacted without change, Laws, 2008, ch. 447, § 5, effective from and after its approval April 8, 2008 — unchanged since 2008, not revisited post-COVID. It does not cover licensure, scope of practice, or the terms of a specific prescription, and it is not a compliance sign-off for a telemedicine service.
VCPR and telemedicine rules are the fastest-moving area this site covers — nine states changed theirs between 2024 and 2026, and bills are live in others. Confirm the current text with the board before you build an intake policy, a prescribing workflow or a remote-care service on it, and read the federal note above alongside it rather than instead of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Mississippi veterinarian establish a VCPR over video?
No. Section 73-39-59(3) states that a veterinarian-client-patient relationship cannot be established solely by telephonic or other electronic means.
The Act's own definition, in section 73-39-53(v), requires that the veterinarian has recently seen the animal through an examination or a medically appropriate premises visit, which video or phone contact alone cannot supply.
Whether telehealth may play any role once a relationship already exists is not addressed by either section.
Confirm the board's current interpretation before building an intake process around remote contact.
What does Mississippi law say about maintaining a VCPR by telemedicine?
Not directly.
Section 73-39-59 addresses only how a relationship may not be established; it says nothing about modality once a VCPR already exists.
But the Act's definition, in section 73-39-53(v), requires that the veterinarian has recently seen the animal for the relationship's knowledge element to hold, so the underlying exam or premises visit still has to stay current.
Neither section says how telemedicine follow-up counts toward that.
Confirm with the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine how it treats the requirement alongside remote follow-up.
What can be done in Mississippi with no VCPR at all?
Very little, as far as the sections read address it.
Section 73-39-59 requires that veterinary medicine be practiced only within a VCPR and bars establishing one solely electronically.
Sections 73-39-61(j) and 73-39-77(1)(p) go further for drugs specifically: a VCPR must exist before prescription or extralabel drugs are administered, dispensed, or prescribed, and doing so without one is grounds for license discipline.
Confirm with the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine before relying on any narrower reading.
Does satisfying Mississippi's VCPR rule make a practice federally compliant?
No, and this is the trap.
The federal VCPR at 21 CFR 530.3(i) is a separate relationship governing extralabel drug use and Veterinary Feed Directives; it requires that the veterinarian has recently seen the animal or visited the premises, and the FDA has said it cannot be met solely through telemedicine.
It applies regardless of what Mississippi permits, and extralabel use is routine rather than an edge case.
Check both layers, and confirm specifics with the Mississippi board.
When did Mississippi's VCPR statute last change?
Section 73-39-59 was enacted in 2005 (Laws 2005, ch. 421, section 5) and reenacted without change in 2008 (Laws 2008, ch. 447, section 5, effective from and after its approval on April 8, 2008).
The Act's definitions section, section 73-39-53, was added and reenacted in the same two years, though under section 2 of each session law rather than section 5.
Board rules were not checked as part of this page, and Justia's own site disclaims currency, so confirm the current text and any board-rule changes directly with the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine.
More Mississippi VCPR & Telemedicine Resources
Sourced from Mississippi’s own statute or board rule (see the citations above). Verified September 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice — confirm current rules with the Mississippi board before relying on them.