republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-1701.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Medical Excellence Zone Program; VDH to determine feasibility of establishment."
description: "Department of Health; Department of Health Professions Medical Excellence Zone Program; telemedicine; reciprocal agreements. Directs the Department of Health to determine the feasibility of establishing a Medical Excellence Zone Program to allow citizens of the Commonwealth living in rural underserved areas to receive medical treatment via telemedicine services from providers licensed or registered in a state that is contiguous with the Commonwealth and directs the Department of Health Professions to pursue reciprocal agreements with such states for licensure for certain primary care practitioners licensed by the Board of Medicine. The bill requires the Department of Health to set out the criteria that would be required for a locality or group of localities in the Commonwealth to be eligible for the designation as a medical excellence zone and report its findings to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020. The bill states that reciprocal agreements with states that are contiguous with the Commonwealth for the licensure of doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathic medicine, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners shall only require that a person hold a current, unrestricted license in the other jurisdiction and that no grounds exist for denial based on the acts of unprofessional conduct. The Department of Health Professions is required to report on its progress in establishing such agreements to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to prioritize applications for licensure by endorsement as a doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine, a physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner from such states through a streamlined process with a final determination regarding qualification to be made within 20 days of the receipt of a completed application. This bill is identical to SB 757."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1701"
citation: "Virginia HB 1701 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kathy K.L. Tran"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-17"
last_action: "2020-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e19dc030-c403-4ca2-9de0-307b33041981"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1701"
source_hash: "eb7d9fa3f3e9e78930d397f25b7a5f6a51c78d6330e700d35db109fffc702b31"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1701 (2020) — Medical Excellence Zone Program; VDH to determine feasibility of establishment.

Department of Health; Department of Health Professions Medical Excellence Zone Program; telemedicine; reciprocal agreements. Directs the Department of Health to determine the feasibility of establishing a Medical Excellence Zone Program to allow citizens of the Commonwealth living in rural underserved areas to receive medical treatment via telemedicine services from providers licensed or registered in a state that is contiguous with the Commonwealth and directs the Department of Health Professions to pursue reciprocal agreements with such states for licensure for certain primary care practitioners licensed by the Board of Medicine. The bill requires the Department of Health to set out the criteria that would be required for a locality or group of localities in the Commonwealth to be eligible for the designation as a medical excellence zone and report its findings to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020. The bill states that reciprocal agreements with states that are contiguous with the Commonwealth for the licensure of doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathic medicine, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners shall only require that a person hold a current, unrestricted license in the other jurisdiction and that no grounds exist for denial based on the acts of unprofessional conduct. The Department of Health Professions is required to report on its progress in establishing such agreements to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to prioritize applications for licensure by endorsement as a doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine, a physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner from such states through a streamlined process with a final determination regarding qualification to be made within 20 days of the receipt of a completed application. This bill is identical to SB 757.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0368)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0368)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1701ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1701ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB1701)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1701)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB1701H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1701H1)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Education and Health (13-Y 0-N) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N) — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Kathy K.L. Tran — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-17** Presented and ordered printed 20105444D `introduction`
- **2020-01-17** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-22** Assigned HWI sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-28** Impact statement from DPB (HB1701)
- **2020-01-29** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-29** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-04** Committee substitute printed 20107091D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB1701H1)
- **2020-02-04** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 20107091D-H1
- **2020-02-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1701H1
- **2020-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-10** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-20** Reported from Education and Health (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-28** Enrolled
- **2020-02-28** Impact statement from DPB (HB1701ER)
- **2020-02-28** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-02** Signed by President
- **2020-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2020
- **2020-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 368 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e19dc030-c403-4ca2-9de0-307b33041981`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).