VCPR and Telemedicine Rules in Montana
Montana's veterinary practice act has no VCPR definition of its own — the relationship is defined entirely in the Board of Veterinary Medicine's administrative rules instead.
That definition requires a physical examination or medically appropriate premises visits and never mentions electronic means, so whether it can be established or maintained by telemedicine is genuinely unaddressed on the rule's text.
What is addressed is prescribing: dispensing a prescription or feed-directive drug without a valid VCPR already in place is unprofessional conduct for both veterinarians and licensed veterinary technicians.
The rules were last amended in January 2024.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
The Board's rule requires that the veterinarian has recently seen and is personally acquainted with the keeping and care of the animal, by virtue of a physical examination or medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animal is kept — a physical-relationship standard defined entirely in rule, since the underlying statute has no VCPR definition of its own.
Not addressed. The rule's own definition of 'encounter' names telehealth interactions alongside in-person visits and phone calls, but nothing in the rules read ties that term to establishing a VCPR — the definition itself never mentions electronic means as a way to establish the relationship.
Not stated in the sources read.
Not stated in the sources read.
It is unprofessional conduct for a licensed veterinarian to dispense or prescribe a veterinary prescription drug or veterinary feed directive drug without a valid VCPR, and for a licensed veterinary technician to dispense one without a VCPR established by a licensed veterinarian.
Not stated in the sources read.
AMD, 2024 MAR p. 84, effective 1/13/2024 (both ARM 24.225.301 and 24.225.550).
The text is silent on modality — Board rule or administrative code.
Mont. Admin. r. 24.225.301(12) (VCPR definition, Board of Veterinary Medicine rule) and 24.225.550 (unprofessional conduct — prescribing without a valid VCPR); Mont. Code Ann. Title 37, ch. 18 (the veterinary practice act) contains no VCPR definition of its own
The definition lives in Board rule, not statute
Montana's veterinary practice act, Title 37 chapter 18, has no VCPR definition in its own definitions section, § 37-18-101, and no VCPR or telehealth section appears in the chapter's eight parts' tables of contents — the relationship is defined entirely by the Board of Veterinary Medicine's own administrative rule instead.
That rule builds the VCPR from three elements: the veterinarian has assumed responsibility for clinical judgments and the client has agreed to that arrangement, the veterinarian has sufficient knowledge of the animal to make at least a preliminary diagnosis, and the veterinarian is available for follow-up.
The middle element is the physical one that matters for telemedicine — the veterinarian has recently seen and is personally acquainted with the keeping and care of the animal by virtue of a physical examination or medically appropriate and timely premises visits.
A practice manager building an intake policy in Montana has to look to the Board's rule rather than the statute for this definition.
“the veterinarian has sufficient knowledge of the animal(s) to initiate at least a general or preliminary diagnosis of the medical condition of the animal(s). This means that the veterinarian has recently seen and is personally acquainted with the keeping and care of the animal(s) by: (i) virtue of a physical examination of the animal(s); or (ii) medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animal(s) are kept”
The rule never says whether telemedicine can establish it
The definition of VCPR names only a physical examination or premises visits as the way a veterinarian becomes sufficiently acquainted with an animal — it contains no clause permitting establishment by telehealth, and no clause barring it either.
That silence is notable given that the same rule, in a different subsection, defines 'encounter' as an in-person visit, a telephone conversation, or any telehealth interaction between the licensee and a client.
Nothing in the rules read connects that encounter definition back to establishing a VCPR, so a practice cannot point to it as authorizing a remote-only intake.
The safer reading, absent guidance from the Montana board, is that the rule describes a physical-relationship standard and leaves the telemedicine question open rather than answered.
“"Encounter" means an in-person visit, telephone conversation, or any telehealth interactions between the licensee and a client.”
Prescribing without a VCPR is unprofessional conduct — for vets and technicians both
Montana's rule reaches both sides of the practice.
It is unprofessional conduct for a licensed veterinarian to dispense or prescribe a veterinary prescription drug or veterinary feed directive drug without a valid VCPR, and separately, it is practice beyond scope for a licensed veterinary technician to dispense one of those drugs without a VCPR that a licensed veterinarian has established.
Neither provision names a telemedicine-specific carve-out or exception — the rule is modality-neutral and simply requires that a valid VCPR already exist.
Because the underlying definition never addresses electronic establishment, a veterinarian relying on a telemedicine-only relationship to prescribe is prescribing against an unresolved legal question rather than a codified allowance.
“dispense or prescribe a veterinary prescription drug or veterinary feed directive drug without a valid VCPR”
Both rules were last amended in January 2024
Both the VCPR definition and the unprofessional-conduct rule were most recently amended by 2024 MAR p. 84, effective January 13, 2024.
That is only the latest entry in each rule's notes, not a shared amendment history — the two rules are amended independently — and the sources read do not show whether that particular 2024 action touched the VCPR wording in (12) or the prescribing language in .550 at all.
This series exists specifically because dates like this one move state to state every few months — check the effective date on anything relied on, and confirm the current text directly with the Montana Board of Veterinary Medicine.
There are two VCPRs, and the federal one does not move
What This Page Does — and Doesn’t — Cover
This page describes Montana’s own text — Mont. Admin. r. 24.225.301(12) (VCPR definition, Board of Veterinary Medicine rule) and 24.225.550 (unprofessional conduct — prescribing without a valid VCPR); Mont. Code Ann. Title 37, ch. 18 (the veterinary practice act) contains no VCPR definition of its own as read for this series, current as of September 2026, with the provision itself last changed AMD, 2024 MAR p. 84, effective 1/13/2024 (both ARM 24.225.301 and 24.225.550). 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
Does Montana's veterinary practice act define a VCPR?
No. Mont.
Code Ann.
Title 37, chapter 18 — Montana's veterinary practice act — has no VCPR definition in its own definitions section, § 37-18-101, and no VCPR or telehealth section appears in the chapter's eight parts' tables of contents.
The relationship is defined instead by the Board of Veterinary Medicine's own administrative rule, Mont.
Admin. r. 24.225.301(12).
A practice manager looking for Montana's VCPR standard has to go to the Board's rule, not the statute.
Confirm the current rule text with the Montana Board of Veterinary Medicine.
Can a Montana veterinarian establish a VCPR over video?
The rule does not say.
Mont.
Admin. r. 24.225.301(12) requires a physical examination or medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animal is kept, and it never mentions electronic means as an alternative or bars them outright.
The same rule separately defines an 'encounter' as including telehealth interactions, but nothing ties that definition to establishing a VCPR.
Treat the question as unresolved and confirm current board guidance before building a telemedicine intake workflow on it.
What can a Montana veterinarian or technician prescribe with no VCPR at all?
No veterinary prescription drug or veterinary feed directive drug.
Mont.
Admin. r. 24.225.550(2)(a) makes it unprofessional conduct for a licensed veterinarian to dispense or prescribe either without a valid VCPR, and 24.225.550(3)(a)(iv) makes it practice beyond scope for a licensed veterinary technician to dispense one without a VCPR a veterinarian has established.
Neither provision states a telemedicine-specific exception.
Confirm the current rule with the board before relying on any narrower reading.
Does satisfying Montana'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 Montana permits, and extralabel use is routine rather than an edge case.
Check both, and confirm with the Montana Board of Veterinary Medicine.
When did Montana's VCPR rule last change?
Both the VCPR definition, Mont.
Admin. r. 24.225.301, and the related unprofessional-conduct rule, 24.225.550, were most recently amended by 2024 MAR p. 84, effective January 13, 2024 — that is each rule's latest notes entry, not a shared amendment history, and the sources read do not show whether that amendment touched the VCPR wording itself.
Confirm the current text directly with the Montana Board of Veterinary Medicine before relying on it.
More Montana VCPR & Telemedicine Resources
Sourced from Montana’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 Montana board before relying on them.