Bill Text: IL HB3402 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Physical Therapy Act. Provides that initial physical therapy evaluations without a referral or an established diagnosis may be performed by a licensed physical therapist via telehealth when the physical therapist determines that an in-person examination is not required based on the physical therapist's clinical judgment and the applicable standard of care (rather than cannot be performed via telehealth unless necessary to address a documented hardship). Provides that a physical therapist or a licensed physical therapy assistant may require the patient to undergo an in-person visit instead of providing telehealth services (rather than the use of telehealth as a primary means of delivering physical therapy must be an exception and documentation must support the clinical justification). Provides that a physical therapist providing telehealth must have the capacity to provide or be able to facilitate a referral to in-person care within the State (rather than must only have the capacity to provide in-person care). Provides that the standard of care for a patient receiving physical therapy through telehealth is equal to the standard of care for in-person care.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-03-21 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3402 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2025-HB3402-Introduced.html
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| 1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Illinois Physical Therapy Act is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | changing Section 1.3 as follows:
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| 6 | (225 ILCS 90/1.3) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2026) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Sec. 1.3. Telehealth services. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | (a) Physical therapy through telehealth services may be | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | used to address access issues to care, enhance care delivery, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | or increase the physical therapist's ability to assess and | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | direct the patient's performance in the patient's own | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | environment. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | (b) A physical therapist or physical therapist assistant | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | working under the general supervision of a physical therapist | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | may provide physical therapy through telehealth services | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | pursuant to the terms and use defined in the Telehealth Act and | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | the Illinois Insurance Code subject to the following | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | conditions: | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | (1) Initial physical therapy evaluations without a | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | referral or established diagnosis may only be performed by | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | a licensed physical therapist and may be performed via | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | telehealth when the physical therapist determines that an | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 | in-person examination is not required based on the | ||||||
| 2 | physical therapist's clinical judgment and the applicable | ||||||
| 3 | standard of care. and cannot be performed via telehealth | ||||||
| 4 | unless necessary to address a documented hardship, | ||||||
| 5 | including, but not limited to, geographical, physical, or | ||||||
| 6 | weather-related conditions. | ||||||
| 7 | (2) A physical therapist or a licensed physical | ||||||
| 8 | therapy assistant may require the patient to undergo an | ||||||
| 9 | in-person visit instead of providing telehealth services. | ||||||
| 10 | The use of telehealth as a primary means of delivering | ||||||
| 11 | physical therapy must be an exception and documentation | ||||||
| 12 | must support the clinical justification. | ||||||
| 13 | (3) A patient receiving physical therapy must be able | ||||||
| 14 | to request and receive in-person care at any point during | ||||||
| 15 | their treatment. | ||||||
| 16 | (4) A physical therapist providing telehealth must | ||||||
| 17 | have the capacity to provide or be able to facilitate a | ||||||
| 18 | referral to in-person care within the State of Illinois. | ||||||
| 19 | (5) The standard of care for a patient receiving | ||||||
| 20 | physical therapy through telehealth is equal to the | ||||||
| 21 | standard of care for in-person care. | ||||||
| 22 | (Source: P.A. 103-849, eff. 1-1-25.) | ||||||
