South Dakota Telepractice Requirements for Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists
The information below is collected from state licensure boards or regulatory agencies responsible for regulating the professions of audiology and/or speech-language pathology. The information is reviewed on an annual basis. Please be advised that laws, regulations, and policies may change at any time, so always check with your state for the most up-to-date information.
Telepractice State Licensure Board Requirements
South Dakota allows telepractice. The provider must hold a state license and adhere to the same requirements as in-person practice.
Reference: S.D. Codified Laws § 36-37-1, S.D. Codified Laws § 36-37-7
Temporary Practice for Out-of-State Providers
No permanent rules. Check with the state or ASHA to learn about emergency provisions.
Telesupervision State Licensure Board Laws and Regulations
This state has no specific laws or regulations for telesupervision of support personnel, clinical fellows or student interns. The regulations are unclear and indicate the possibility for telesupervision of support personnel. Check with the state or ASHA to learn about emergency or temporary provisions.
Reference: S.D. Codified Laws § 36-37-20.
Support Personnel
Unclear.
Clinical Fellow
No regulations.
Student Intern
No regulations.
Telepractice Reimbursement Laws and Regulations
Telepractice Private Insurance
No laws or regulations identified that include audiology or speech-language pathology. Check with the state or ASHA to learn about emergency or temporary provisions.
Telepractice Medicaid
No laws or regulations identified that include audiology or speech-language pathology. Check with the state or ASHA to learn about emergency or temporary provisions.
ASHA Guidance
Telepractice State Licensure
- Obtain a license from the state in which you reside and from the state in which the patient/client resides. If a state has not established regulations on telepractice, then contact the licensure board for further guidance and ask for written verification.
- It is the responsibility of the clinician to review the regulations on the state licensure board website in their entirety and regularly for updates or changes.
Telesupervision
If a state has not established regulations on telesupervision, then contact the licensure board for further guidance and ask for written verification.
Reimbursement for Telepractice Services
South Dakota law requires state-regulated insurance plans to cover telehealth services on the same basis as in-person services:
Section 2. That chapter 58-17 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:
No health insurer may exclude a service for coverage solely because the service is provided through telehealth and not provided through in-person consultation or contact between a health care professional and a patient. Health care services delivered by telehealth must be appropriate and delivered in accordance with applicable law and generally accepted health care practices and standards prevailing at the time the health care services are provided, including rules adopted by the appropriate professional licensing board having oversight of the health care professional providing the health care services. Health insurers are not required to provide coverage for health care services that are not medically necessary.
This section does not:
(1) Prohibit a health insurer from establishing criteria that a health care professional must meet to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of delivering a particular health care service via telehealth that the health insurer does not already reimburse other health care professionals for delivering via telehealth so long as the criteria are not unduly burdensome or unreasonable for the particular services;
(2) Prevent a health insurer from requiring a health care professional to agree to certain documentation or billing practices designed to protect the health insurer or patients from fraudulent claims so long as the practices are not unduly burdensome or unreasonable for the particular services; or
(3) Prevent a health insurer from including a deductible, copayment, or coinsurance requirement for a health care service provided via telehealth, if the deductible, copayment, or coinsurance is not in addition to and does not exceed the deductible, copayment, or coinsurance applicable if the same services were provided through in-person contact.Section 3. That chapter 58-17 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:
A health insurance policy, contract, or plan providing for third-party payment may not discriminate between coverage benefits for health care services that are provided in person and the same health care services that are delivered through telehealth as long as the services are appropriate to be provided through telehealth. Nothing in this Act prohibits a health insurer and a health care professional from entering into a contract for telehealth with terms subject to negotiation.
Citation: South Dakota Codified laws, § 58-17F as amended by SB 137 (2019).
Medicaid Reimbursement for Services Delivered via Telepractice
State regulations allow speech-language pathologists to provide services via telehealth under Medicaid.
General Rules
Services provided via telemedicine are subject to the same service requirements and limitations as inperson services.Telemedicine services always involve an originating site and a distant site. An originating site is the physical location of the Medicaid recipient at the time the service is provided. The distant site is the physical location of the practitioner providing the service via telemedicine
Originating sites:
Originating sites must be an enrolled provider to be reimbursed by South Dakota Medicaid. The following providers are eligible to be reimbursed a facility fee for serving as an originating site:
- Office of a physician or practitioner;
- Outpatient Hospital;
- Critical Access Hospital;
- Rural Health Clinic (RHC);
- Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC);
- Indian Health Service Clinic;
- Community Mental Health Center (CMHC);
- Nursing Facilities; and
- Schools
Citation: South Dakota Department of Social Services (2019). Medicaid Billing and Policy Manual: Telemedicine [PDF]
Audiologists and speech-language pathologists should keep in mind that while a state may have passed telepractice reimbursement laws and/or regulations, this does not guarantee that payers will reimburse for these services. Learn more about considerations for audiologists and speech-language pathologists.
Resources
For further information on telepractice requirements for audiologists and speech-language pathologists, please visit these websites:
- ASHA Practice Portal: Telepractice
- South Dakota Board of Hearing Aid Dispensers and Audiologists
- South Dakota Board for Speech Language Pathology
- State Telepractice Requirements and Reimbursement Maps [PDF]
- State Telesupervision Regulations Maps [PDF]
Questions regarding state advocacy issues? Call ASHA at 800-498-2071 and ask for the State Advocacy Team.
