Florida HB 805: Veterinary Medicine

Bill Text

CS/HB 805 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb805-01-c1
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to veterinary medicine; providing a 2
short title; amending s. 474.201, F.S.; revising 3
legislative findings, intent, and purpose; amending s. 4
474.202, F.S.; defining the term "veterinary 5
professional associate"; amending s. 474.2021, F.S.; 6
increasing the amount of time for which prescriptions 7
based solely on a veterinary telehealth evaluation may 8
be issued for certain drugs; amending s. 474.203, 9
F.S.; revising the applicability of certain 10
exemptions; creating s. 474.2126, F.S.; providing 11
requirements for veterinary professional associates to 12
receive certificates of registration from the 13
Department of Business and Professional Regulation; 14
requiring the department to make a list of veterinary 15
professional associate registrants publicly available 16
on its website; authorizing the department to suspend 17
the registration of a veterinary professional 18
associate upon a certain determination by the Board of 19
Veterinary Medicine; authorizing the department to 20
rescind the registration of a veterinary professional 21
associate under certain circumstances; prohibiting a 22
person from holding himself or herself out as a 23
veterinary professional associate under certain 24
circumstances; authorizing a registered veterinary 25

CS/HB 805 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb805-01-c1
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

professional associate to engage in the practice of 26
veterinary medicine under certain circumstances; 27
prohibiting a registered veterinary professional 28
associate from taking certain actions; providing 29
exceptions; amending s. 828.30, F.S.; conforming 30
provisions to changes made by the act; providing an 31
effective date. 32
33
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 34
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Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Veterinary 36
Workforce Innovation Act." 37
Section 2. Section 474.201, Florida Statutes, is amended 38
to read: 39
474.201 Legislative findings, intent, and purpose.— 40
(1) The Legislature finds that the practice of veterinary 41
medicine is potentially dangerous to the public health and 42
safety if conducted by incompetent and unlicensed practitioners. 43
The legislative purpose in enacting this chapter is to ensure 44
that every veterinarian practicing in this state meet minimum 45
requirements for safe practice. It is the legislative intent 46
that veterinarians who are not normally competent or who 47
otherwise present a danger to the public shall be disciplined or 48
prohibited from practicing in this state. 49
(2) The Legislature finds that the practice of educated, 50

CS/HB 805 2026

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trained, and experienced veterinary professional associates will 51
increase consumer access to high-quality veterinary medical 52
services at a reasonable cost to consumers, while also 53
increasing the efficiency of the practice of veterinary medicine 54
in this state. 55
Section 3. Present subsection (14) of section 474.202, 56
Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (15), and a new 57
subsection (14) is added to that section, to read: 58
474.202 Definitions.—As used in this chapter: 59
(14) "Veterinary professional associate" means an 60
individual who has graduated with a master's degree or the 61
equivalent in veterinary clinical care from an accredited 62
institution and who meets the requirements to be registered by 63
the department. 64
Section 4. Subsection (4) of section 474.2021, Florida 65
Statutes, is amended to read: 66
474.2021 Veterinary telehealth.— 67
(4) A veterinarian practicing veterinary telehealth: 68
(a) May not engage in the practice of veterinary 69
telehealth unless it is within the context of a 70
veterinarian/client/patient relationship; 71
(b) Shall practice in a manner consistent with his or her 72
scope of practice and the prevailing professional standard of 73
practice for a veterinarian who provides in-person veterinary 74
services to patients in this state and shall employ sound, 75

CS/HB 805 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb805-01-c1
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

professional judgment to determine whether using veterinary 76
telehealth is an appropriate method for delivering medical 77
advice or treatment to the patient; 78
(c) May use veterinary telehealth to perform an initial 79
patient evaluation to establish the veterinarian/client/patient 80
relationship if the evaluation is conducted using synchronous, 81
audiovisual communication. The evaluation may not be performed