The short answer for Puerto Rico. An evaluation by a practitioner licensed by the Junta. ⚠️ Ley 8-2025 (approved 11 April 2025) removed the separate telemedicine CERTIFICATION for professionals already authorized to practise in Puerto Rico — practitioners licensed only in a mainland or federal jurisdiction still need it.
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 Puerto Rico against primary sources, and says so plainly where a question is unsettled.
Who may perform the good faith exam in Puerto Rico
An evaluation by a practitioner licensed by the Junta. ⚠️ Ley 8-2025 (approved 11 April 2025) removed the separate telemedicine CERTIFICATION for professionals already authorized to practise in Puerto Rico — practitioners licensed only in a mainland or federal jurisdiction still need it.
Medical director. An MD or DO licensed IN PUERTO RICO.
Delegation and supervision. Within scope under the applicable Puerto Rico rules; RN within scope on a valid order.
The gate that catches operators in Puerto Rico
Fifty-state coverage is not national coverage. A brand advertising nationwide availability with fifty licences has not covered Puerto Rico.
Spanish is the island’s language of record. Patient-facing consent and clinical materials should exist in it, as a practical necessity rather than an enhancement.
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 Puerto Rico as everywhere else, and they are where most exam processes actually break — not on the licence question, but on documentation nobody kept.
How Puerto Rico sits on structure
Corporate practice of medicine. Governed by the Junta de Licenciamiento y Disciplina Médica under Ley 139-2008. A mainland licence confers nothing on the island.
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 Puerto Rico for the structure side.
What MDside provides in Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico-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 Puerto Rico, matched to the services actually on your menu.
- A named Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico
Frequently asked questions
Who can perform a good faith exam in Puerto Rico?
An evaluation by a practitioner licensed by the Junta. ⚠️ Ley 8-2025 (approved 11 April 2025) removed the separate telemedicine CERTIFICATION for professionals already authorized to practise in Puerto Rico — practitioners licensed only in a mainland or federal jurisdiction still need it.
Can the exam be done by telehealth in Puerto Rico?
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 Puerto Rico require a physician medical director?
An MD or DO licensed IN PUERTO RICO.
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 Puerto Rico: Ley 139-2008 (Junta de Licenciamiento y Disciplina Médica); Ley 168-2018 (Telemedicina), as amended by Ley 8-2025. Last reviewed 2026-09-03. Corrections are welcome and get made: contact us.
General information about good faith exams and practice structure in Puerto Rico, not legal advice. Requirements differ by state and change often. Confirm your obligations with healthcare counsel licensed in Puerto Rico.