VCPR and Telemedicine Rules in South Carolina
South Carolina requires an in-person, physical examination of the animal or a timely premises visit to start a VCPR — there is no way to establish one over telehealth.
Once that relationship exists, the law lets a veterinarian maintain it through telecommunications technology, alternating with in-person exams or visits, and only then may telemedicine be used to prescribe.
The rule is brand new: Act 102 added this framework to the veterinary practice act and took effect March 9, 2026, which is recent enough that some secondary trackers still omit South Carolina entirely.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
A veterinarian-client-patient relationship only may be established by an in-person, physical examination of the animal or timely visits to the premises where the animal is kept.
No codified path exists — the statute allows only the in-person route, and the relationship lapses if the veterinarian has not seen the animal within one year.
Explicit and clean — an established relationship may be maintained through examinations using telecommunications technology, alternating with appropriate in-person, physical examinations or premises visits.
The statute draws a definitional line rather than listing specific exceptions: "telehealth" broadly covers delivering veterinary information or education by technology, while "telemedicine" — evaluating and treating a patient remotely — is defined as requiring an established VCPR. No separate list of narrow no-VCPR allowances is stated.
Only a licensed veterinarian with an established VCPR may prescribe medication through telemedicine, exercising professional judgment on when doing so is appropriate, and subject to the chapter's general prescription limitations under § 40-69-550(B).
The telehealth statute doesn't set its own controlled-substance number — § 40-69-550(B) instead subjects telemedicine prescribing to the chapter's general prescription limitations, not further detailed in the sources read. Separately, a board regulation requires a veterinarian authorized to prescribe controlled substances to complete at least 2 hours of continuing education every 2 years on prescribing and monitoring Schedule II, III and IV drugs — a general CE requirement, not one specific to telemedicine.
Act 102 (H.3223): ratified March 5, 2026, signed by the Governor and effective March 9, 2026.
In-person exam or premises visit required — State statute.
S.C. Code § 40-69-20(19) (VCPR definition) and new Article 5, §§ 40-69-510 to -560 ("Telehealth for Veterinary Services"), both added or amended by Act 102 (H.3223)
What actually establishes the relationship
South Carolina gives exactly one route, stated as a closed rule rather than a default with exceptions: the word is "only." A veterinarian-client-patient relationship may be established by an in-person, physical examination of the animal or by timely visits to the premises where the animal is kept — nothing else counts.
The companion definition in § 40-69-20(19)(f) attaches a clock to that exam: the relationship lapses once the licensee has not seen the animal within a year, so a practice needs to track when each patient's in-person exam ages out rather than treating the relationship as permanent once formed.
The relationship also is not locked to one individual veterinarian: under § 40-69-20(19)(g), it may extend to other licensed veterinarians working out of the same physical practice location as the one who established it, provided they have reviewed the patient's medical records and the condition relates to a prior one.
“A veterinarian-client-patient relationship only may be established by an in-person, physical examination of the animal or timely visits to the premises where the animal is kept.”
You cannot start the relationship over telehealth
The statute does not phrase this as a ban so much as a definition that leaves no room for one. "Telemedicine" is defined as the remote practice of veterinary medicine that allows a veterinarian who already has an established VCPR to evaluate and treat a patient virtually — the established relationship is baked into the definition, not a separate precondition layered on top.
Read together with § 40-69-520(B)'s single in-person establishment route, there is no codified path anywhere in Act 102 for a video exam, a questionnaire, or any other remote interaction to create the relationship in the first place.
Once it exists, telehealth can maintain it
South Carolina draws the establish-versus-maintain line explicitly and cleanly.
An established VCPR may be maintained through examinations that occur using telecommunications technology, in between appropriate in-person, physical examinations or visits to the premises where the patient is kept.
That wording keeps the in-person exam in the loop on an ongoing basis — telemedicine visits sit between physical ones rather than replacing them outright, so a practice building a telemedicine-maintenance workflow should plan for a recurring in-person touchpoint, not a one-time exam that clears the relationship for indefinite remote-only follow-up.
“An established veterinarian-client-patient relationship may be maintained through examinations that occur using telecommunications technology in between appropriate in-person, physical examinations or visits to the premises where the patient is kept.”
What telehealth may do without one
Act 102 does not enumerate a specific list of things telehealth may do absent a VCPR.
Instead it separates two defined terms: "telehealth" is the overarching term for using technology to deliver veterinary medical and health information or education — a collection of tools rather than a specific service — while "telemedicine" is the narrower term for remotely evaluating and treating a patient, and it is defined as requiring an established VCPR.
Read together, information- and education-focused uses of technology fall under the broader "telehealth" umbrella and are not, by that definition, "telemedicine"; the statute simply does not spell out where that line sits with specific, numbered carve-outs, so a practice should treat anything beyond general information sharing as requiring an established VCPR first.
Prescribing through telemedicine, and where controlled substances sit
Prescribing through telemedicine is tied directly to the established relationship: except as provided in subsection (B), only a licensed veterinarian with an established VCPR may prescribe medication through telemedicine, and the veterinarian must use professional judgment in deciding whether doing so is appropriate.
Subsection (B) is the exception that opening clause points to, and it pulls telemedicine prescribing back into the chapter's general rules rather than leaving it unrestricted: a veterinarian who prescribes medication through telemedicine is subject to the limitations on prescriptions provided elsewhere in Chapter 69, a cross-reference this page's sources do not further detail.
Separately, the board's continuing-education regulation requires a veterinarian authorized to prescribe controlled substances to complete at least two hours of continuing education every two years on approved procedures for prescribing and monitoring Schedule II, III and IV drugs — a general credentialing requirement that applies regardless of whether the prescription was written in person or through telemedicine, not a telemedicine-specific dosage or duration cap.
“A licensed veterinarian who prescribes medication through telemedicine is subject to the limitations on prescriptions provided in this chapter.”
This is a brand-new statute, effective March 2026
Before Act 102, South Carolina's VCPR definition lived only in the board's regulation, S.C. Code Regs. 120-1.C (last amended 2023), which predates telehealth-specific language.
Act 102 did not repeal or amend that regulation — its own title says it removes an obsolete definition from the statute and adds a new one, and Section 2 amends only § 40-69-20.
The two now coexist: 120-1.C is still on the books as of this page's sources, and the newer § 40-69-20(19) is the one that governs the telehealth-specific rules covered here.
Act 102 also added the entire telehealth article, §§ 40-69-510 through -560, ratified March 5, 2026 and effective March 9, 2026 — recent enough that VetWise's August 2026 tracker omits South Carolina from both its "virtual VCPR" and "in-person-first" categories.
A state's absence from a recent-looking aggregator is not evidence it has no telehealth law.
“AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING ARTICLE 5 TO CHAPTER 69, TITLE 40 SO AS TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING THE USE OF TELEHEALTH FOR VETERINARY SERVICES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 40-69-20, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS CONCERNING THE BOARD OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EXAMINERS, SO AS TO REMOVE AN OBSOLETE DEFINITION AND TO DEFINE "VETERINARIAN-CLIENT-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP."”
There are two VCPRs, and the federal one does not move
What This Page Does — and Doesn’t — Cover
This page describes South Carolina’s own text — S.C. Code § 40-69-20(19) (VCPR definition) and new Article 5, §§ 40-69-510 to -560 ("Telehealth for Veterinary Services"), both added or amended by Act 102 (H.3223) as read for this series, current as of September 2026, with the provision itself last changed Act 102 (H.3223): ratified March 5, 2026, signed by the Governor and effective March 9, 2026. 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 South Carolina veterinarian establish a VCPR over video?
No. S.C. Code § 40-69-520(B) states that a veterinarian-client-patient relationship only may be established by an in-person, physical examination of the animal or timely visits to the premises where the animal is kept — there is no electronic path.
The relationship also lapses if the veterinarian has not seen the animal within a year.
Confirm the current statute with the South Carolina Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners before building a service on it.
Once a South Carolina VCPR exists, what can telehealth do?
It can maintain the relationship.
Under § 40-69-520(C), an established VCPR may be maintained through examinations that occur using telecommunications technology, in between appropriate in-person, physical examinations or premises visits.
The in-person exam stays part of the ongoing pattern rather than being a one-time gate.
Verify current requirements with the board.
What can a South Carolina veterinarian do by telehealth without a VCPR?
The statute does not list specific narrow allowances.
It instead defines "telehealth" broadly as delivering veterinary information or education by technology, and defines "telemedicine" — evaluating and treating a patient — as requiring an established VCPR.
Beyond that definitional line, the sources read do not spell out what else may be done with no VCPR at all; confirm with the board before relying on any specific use.
Does satisfying South Carolina'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 South Carolina permits.
Extralabel use is routine, so this is not an edge case — check both.
When did South Carolina's veterinary telemedicine rule last change?
Act 102 (H.3223) was ratified March 5, 2026 and signed by the Governor on March 9, 2026, effective the same day.
It added a new VCPR definition and telehealth article to the statute; it did not repeal or amend the board's older regulatory definition, S.C. Code Regs. 120-1.C, which predates telehealth-specific language and is still on the books.
Because the statutory change is so recent, some secondary aggregators still omit South Carolina from their state lists — confirm the current statute with the board rather than relying on a tracker.
More South Carolina VCPR & Telemedicine Resources
Sourced from South Carolina’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 South Carolina board before relying on them.