On August 15, 2025, Illinois enacted Senate Bill (SB) 2153, which became effective on the date of signature. The legislation amends the Illinois Physical Therapy Act to remove various provisions that previously limited the ability of physical therapists and physical therapy assistants to offer remote physical therapy services in Illinois.
In Depth
In 2024, Illinois enacted House Bill (HB) 5087, which created a new section of the Illinois Statutes, 225 ILCS 90/1.3, that contained provisions that significantly limited physical therapists’ ability to provide telehealth services to patients in the state. HB 5087 became effective on January 1, 2025.
SB 2153 updates certain telehealth provisions found in 225 ILCS 90/1.3 and permits physical therapists and physical therapist assistants to use telehealth to improve access, delivery, and assessment in a patient’s environment under certain conditions. SB 2153 removes prior restrictive language specifying that initial physical therapy evaluations without a referral or established diagnosis could only be performed by a licensed physical therapist and could not be performed via telehealth unless necessary to address a documented hardship, including geographical, physical, or weather-related conditions. SB 2153 further removed language stating that the use of telehealth as a primary means of delivering physical therapy must be an exception, and that documentation must support the clinical justification. The law also revised the requirement that a physical therapist providing telehealth have the capacity to provide in-person care within the state of Illinois. The amended law states that a physical therapist providing telehealth must have the capacity to provide in-person care within the state of Illinois or must be able to facilitate a referral to in-person care within the state.
Why it matters
- These updates removed barriers for both telehealth providers and patients seeking telehealth physical therapy services.
- The previous requirement that remote telehealth providers have capacity to provide in-person care required providers to either offer a physical space in which to provide care or arrange for such accommodations, potentially decreasing patient access to otherwise authorized providers that can provide beneficial services to patients in need. By removing this requirement and the documented hardship requirement, the legislation eliminated significant limitations for many remote physical therapy providers who are otherwise licensed and duly authorized to practice within the state of Illinois.
The law retained language that patients can request in-person care at any point in their treatment, which is generally consistent with other state allowances and patient rights when receiving remote care.
Providers should assess the impact of these new flexibilities on their current practice.
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