Who Needs a License to Open a Medical Spa?

In short, do you need a specific license to open a medical spa? Well, you'll need a medical license to open your medical spa business. However, if you are not a licensed doctor, it is still possible to own a medical spa by creating an MSO with a doctor or a company owned by a doctor, as long as they are the majority shareholder. Only doctors can own medical spas. While a physician assistant may own minority shares in a medical spa or serve as a minority partner with a doctor or doctors, other healthcare providers, such as nurse practitioners and non-medical professionals, cannot. Non-medical professionals cannot legally work with doctors in a partnership setting.

If you hire a doctor and have no medical history, you should know that it is illegal. Only physicians (and other medical professionals) licensed in California can own shares in a medical corporation or be partners in a medical office. If you don't have a license, working with a doctor is a criminal act. If you are a licensed doctor working with an unlicensed person, your exposure is even greater. In addition to being considered a crime, you may have lost your medical license.

Even if you are a medical professional (for example, nurse) you cannot open a medical spa on your own; you must have a doctor associated with the medical spa. Some medical spas are opened by nurses, believing that because they have a medical license they can do whatever they want. While some nurses may perform certain acts, as a rule, no medical spa should be opened without a doctor associated with it. While medical practice allows nurses to perform certain procedures, that doesn't mean that the doctor can be relieved of their responsibilities. A physician should always be available to “supervise”, which means supervising, directing, handling, inspecting and providing guidance and evaluation. Anything other than this is illegal.

The company must be an organized healthcare system. This means that the Company must follow government-approved medical guidelines. The doctor must be responsible for advertising and marketing. At no time is the physician allowed to delegate his or her advertising and marketing responsibilities to a third party. Not surprisingly, many entrepreneurs and non-medical health professionals see an opportunity on the property of a medical spa but are not sure how to proceed. The fact of the matter is that in most of the United States, states the services provided by medical spas are considered medical.

According to the legal doctrine known as “corporate practice of medicine” only a doctor or corporation owned by a doctor can own a medical facility. In addition, only physicians or physician-owned corporations can charge patients' fees for the provision of medical services. To be clear, although you can open a Med Spa without being a doctor, you need one to make it all happen. To start up your Med Spa business, you'll need to become an MSO (Management Services Organization). This will allow you to handle all the business aspects of your Med Spa such as marketing, branding, human resources, payroll and real estate - just to name a few. The administrative rules of the Texas Medical Board governing the corporate practice of medicine include penalties ranging from fines to suspension and revocation of a doctor's license.

For example in Florida you don't need to have any kind of medical qualification if you want to own a medical spa. Medical treatments such as dermal fillers and toxin treatments should only be performed by licensed medical professionals who have received appropriate training in these specialized treatments. Read on for answers to common marketing questions from medical spas considering expanding their practice to include one. Unlike certain cosmetic facilities such as laser hair removal clinics, opening up a medical spa does not require an installation license. In Texas certain cosmetic procedures offered by medical spas are considered the practice of medicine meaning that they must comply with specific rules and regulations. So it's no wonder that medical spas are becoming increasingly popular giving people the luxurious and relaxing experience of day spas combined with aesthetic medical treatments such as Botox injections. Failure to operate in accordance with the law could result in significant liabilities for all parties involved including substantial fines loss of their medical license and penalties related to practicing medicine without any kind of license. To be considered as an actual medical spa the clinic usually operates under the supervision of either doctors (doctor plastic surgeon or dermatologist) since it incorporates procedures that require some kind of medical supervision. Once again most medical spas rarely accept insurance so instead of trying to advertise any kind of bargain your marketing strategy should focus on the quality of your services. To avoid any kind of mistakes read “Three Ways Your MSO May Be Violating The Ban Against Corporate Medicine Practice”.

Theodore Eflin
Theodore Eflin

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