Delaware's Interstate Telehealth Registration for Dietitians

Delaware licenses dietitians and nutritionists through its Board of Dietetics/Nutrition. For a dietitian who will only see Delaware clients by telehealth, the state offers something lighter than a full license: the Dietitian/Nutritionist Interstate Telehealth Registration, issued by the Division of Professional Regulation (DPR).

What does the law allow?

Delaware's telehealth chapter, Title 24, Chapter 60, covers providers licensed by a list of boards that includes the State Board of Dietetics/Nutrition (24 Del. C. § 6002(a)(11)). Section 6002(c) then says a provider licensed in a state that has not adopted an interstate compact applicable to them "may only provide telehealth under this chapter if the health-care provider obtains an interstate telehealth registration from the Division of Professional Regulation."

DPR's registration page summarizes who may apply: you must be licensed in a state other than Delaware and will provide services by telehealth only, within a provider-patient relationship established under § 6003.

Who is eligible?

Section 6002(c) requires that all of these be "continuously met":

• A valid, active license issued by another state's licensing authority.
• Good standing in every state where you are licensed.
• No administrative complaint pending before another state's board.
• No current investigation by another state's board or any Delaware authority.

DPR's page adds that you must not be actively licensed in a state that has enacted a compact in which Delaware participates. Delaware has not enacted the Dietitian Licensure Compact (the Commission's map shows no active legislation there), so that condition does not block dietitians today.

The registration rests on a license from another state. A dietitian whose only credential is CDR registration, such as one living in California, Colorado, Virginia or Arizona, has no out-of-state license to register against.

Which obligations come with registering?

Under § 6002(d), a registrant consents to Delaware law governing the profession, Delaware's courts, the profession's conduct rules, and the Delaware board's complaint, investigation and hearing process. Discipline Delaware imposes may be reported to the national practitioner database and to every state where you hold a license.

What does § 6003 require of each relationship?

Delaware sets out what a telehealth provider-patient relationship must include. Among the items in § 6003(a):

• "Thorough verification and authentication of the location and, to the extent possible, identity of the patient."
• Disclosure and validation of your identity and credentials.
• Appropriate consent after disclosure of the delivery model and its limitations.
• Availability of follow-up care.
• A written visit summary provided to the patient.

Several of these read as written for prescribers, but the location and identity check and the visit summary are worth building into any dietitian's workflow. See the where-the-client-is rule.

Which documents slow the application down?

License verifications. DPR's checklist for the registration requires a "State/Jurisdiction Licensure Verification sent directly to the Board office from each state or jurisdiction in which you currently hold or have ever held a license." Every license you have ever held, including one that lapsed years ago, has to be verified by that state, and some states take weeks. Verifications can be emailed by the other jurisdiction to DPR's verification address or mailed to its Dover office.

Applications go through DELPROS, Delaware's online licensing system. DPR warns that you have six months to submit an application once you begin; after that, you must start over. Order verifications early so they arrive inside that window.

Read the attachments page carefully, too. DPR explains that some items are uploaded directly to the application, while others are marked "acknowledge," meaning you or a third party must mail them to the board office. Its examples of third-party documents include transcripts, employment verifications and license verifications from other states, and it notes that forms needing a supervisor signature, seal or notary may have to be mailed. Mixing up the two is an easy way to lose a few weeks.

Is a registration or a Delaware license the better fit?

A registration fits a telehealth-only practice. A full Delaware dietitian/nutritionist license fits anyone who might see Delaware clients in person, wants to hold the Delaware credential, or works with a payer that requires a Delaware license. Delaware's registration page sits beside its full license page on the board's site, along with the board's fee schedule.

Our sister site covers the same registration for physicians and other clinicians in Delaware's interstate telehealth registration.

Can we prepare it for you?

Yes. Our Telehealth Registration service is $299 per state. We list every license you hold or have held, request each verification, assemble the DELPROS attachments and track the file; you review, sign, pay DPR and submit. If Delaware is one of several states on your list, a Multi-State Telehealth Package covers three states for $1,499. See Delaware's requirements.