Medical Licenses Violation Due to Med Spa Operation

Med Spa Medical Directors or physician owners are at risk of medical license violations and investigations since they fall under their medical practices. This means a loss of their medical license, fines, criminal charges and penalties, and possible imprisonment.

Med Spas Regulated as Medical Practices
Med Spa offices must follow the same laws and regulations that govern the practice of medicine. If you are operating a Medical Spa, you are held accountable to the same standard of care as they are for their routine medical practice. This means standards of informed consent, good-faith exams, delegation to appropriate supervised health care professionals, patient –physician confidentiality, rules about maintaining medical records as well as responsibility and liability of supervision.

Medical Spa procedures are considered prescriptive medical devices and “dangerous drugs” and as such are considered medical procedures. These require a trained and licensed healthcare provider to evaluate patient suitability via a “Good Faith Evaluation”. And the management of a medical spa requires the same oversight (supervision and administration) of medical care as a medical office vis-a-vis licensing rule.

Medical License Violations – Medical Directors and physicians who are somehow linked with the operation of Med Spas should understand the risks to their medical licenses associated with this expansion of their medical practices.

Med Spa offices must conduct a preliminary GFE for patients before they are treated. As of October 11, 2019, the California legislature amended and liberalized Section 2242 to provide that an appropriate prior
examination does not require a synchronous interaction between the patient and the licensee and can be achieved through the use of telehealth, as specified, provided that the licensee complies with the appropriate standard of care.

It is critical to remember that the GFE is an encounter that must occur before a patient receives a treatment to assess their current condition, note their medical history and ensure they are fit for the procedure. The goal of the GFE is to make a diagnosis and determine an appropriate treatment plan for the patient.

What constitutes a good faith exam? The good faith exam proceeds in obtaining a patient’s medical history and performing an appropriate examination of the patient and to determine the procedure is safe for patient.