The short answer for North Dakota. ⚠️ § 43-17-02.3: the practice of medicine is DEEMED TO OCCUR IN THE STATE THE PATIENT IS LOCATED. Whoever performs the exam needs an ACTIVE North Dakota licence, wherever they sit.
A good faith exam is a clinical evaluation by a licensed provider, before treatment, establishing that the treatment is appropriate for that patient. What differs between states is who is allowed to perform it, whether it may happen remotely, and what has to be documented. This page sets out what we have verified for North Dakota against primary sources, and says so plainly where a question is unsettled.
Who may perform the good faith exam in North Dakota
⚠️ § 43-17-02.3: the practice of medicine is DEEMED TO OCCUR IN THE STATE THE PATIENT IS LOCATED. Whoever performs the exam needs an ACTIVE North Dakota licence, wherever they sit.
Medical director. A North Dakota-licensed MD or DO.
Delegation and supervision. NP and PA within scope under the applicable nursing and medical rules; RN within scope on a valid order.
The gate that catches operators in North Dakota
Licensure by patient location. Statutory exceptions are narrow — organ harvest team, air ambulance, one-time diagnostic consult to a licensed ND physician or ≤7 days teaching, board-approved charitable, board rules. None is a business model.
The fee-splitting ground in § 43-17-31 carries an express carve-out: it does not affect the lawful distributions of professional partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies or associations.
What makes the exam defensible
Nobody is ever asked to produce a good faith exam on a good day. The request arrives after a complication, a board complaint, an insurance audit or a buyer’s diligence. Five things decide whether what you hand over helps you:
- A qualified practitioner, permitted in that state, actually performed it.
- A real evaluation happened — history, indications, contraindications, and a decision.
- The treatment plan and the order are specific: drug or device, site, dose or settings.
- Informed consent was taken and recorded before treatment, not after.
- The record still exists, unaltered and retrievable, two years later when somebody asks.
Only the first of those is state-specific. The other four fail in exactly the same way in North Dakota as everywhere else, and they are where most exam processes actually break — not on the licence question, but on documentation nobody kept.
How North Dakota sits on structure
Corporate practice of medicine. No express prohibition in N.D.C.C. ch. 43-17. ⚠️ Sources citing § 43-17-31 as a ban are misreading a section titled “Grounds for disciplinary action”.
The exam and the structure are separate questions and they fail separately. A perfectly documented exam performed inside an entity that may not lawfully deliver the service is still a problem, and a clean entity does not save a rubber-stamped exam. See medical direction in North Dakota for the structure side.
What MDside provides in North Dakota
- North Dakota-licensed physicians performing the exam themselves — not a queue of signatures.
- A written evaluation, treatment plan and order per patient, in a record you keep and can export.
- Protocols and delegation written to North Dakota, matched to the services actually on your menu.
- A named North Dakota medical director doing the work, where your structure needs one.
- 503A and 503B pharmacy relationships and in-house lab draws where the treatment calls for them.
Book a call and we will read your current exam process against the five tests above, in North Dakota and any other state you operate in. The review is free and you are not obliged to use us for the fix.
Read the detail on North Dakota
Frequently asked questions
Who can perform a good faith exam in North Dakota?
⚠️ § 43-17-02.3: the practice of medicine is DEEMED TO OCCUR IN THE STATE THE PATIENT IS LOCATED. Whoever performs the exam needs an ACTIVE North Dakota licence, wherever they sit.
Can the exam be done by telehealth in North Dakota?
That depends on the state rule above and on the treatment. Where we have verified a restriction it is stated on this page; where the position is unsettled we say so rather than guess, and we confirm it with the board before you build a remote funnel.
Does North Dakota require a physician medical director?
A North Dakota-licensed MD or DO.
What happens if the exam is not documented?
The exam effectively did not happen. In a complaint, an audit or a sale, an undocumented evaluation is treated as no evaluation — which is why the record, not the call, is the thing you are actually buying.
Primary sources for North Dakota: N.D.C.C. § 43-17-02.3; N.D.C.C. § 43-17-31; N.D.C.C. ch. 43-12.1 (Nursing). Last reviewed 2026-09-03. Corrections are welcome and get made: contact us.
General information about good faith exams and practice structure in North Dakota, not legal advice. Requirements differ by state and change often. Confirm your obligations with healthcare counsel licensed in North Dakota.