Not surprisingly, many entrepreneurs and non-medical health professionals see an opportunity on the property of a medical spa, but they are not sure how to proceed. The fact of the matter is that in most US states. In the US, the services provided by medical spas are considered medical. According to a 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 may charge patients' fees for the provision of medical services. 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 do so. States that have independent practice for unrestricted nurse practitioners include Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.
Nurse Practitioners can open their own aesthetic practices and hire and supervise resident nurses to perform procedures in these states. 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. While Med Spas also offer relaxation and pampering in a luxurious setting, they also offer more potent medical-grade treatments that provide lasting improvements to the face, skin and body than those available in a day spa. MRS has argued (and is arguing on appeal) that the State of Michigan wrongly allowed the Oakland IRM to be organized as an LLC, and that medical corporations in Michigan should be organized as professional corporations.
In most cases, the emphasis on day spas is on relaxation, and includes more superficial services such as massages, manicures and pedicures, aromatherapy, less invasive facials, reflexology and wraps. While MSOs give doctors and non-doctors the opportunity to collaborate in a medical spa business with distinct ownership interests, certain pitfalls should be avoided. The CPOM doctrine was first implemented by the American Medical Association, and its principles have been adopted in Michigan through provisions in several state statutes. In Texas, nurse practitioners, beauticians, and other non-doctors cannot own a medical spa, also known as a medi-spa or medical spa.
An interesting case is making its way through the Michigan Court of Appeals involving the question of whether a layman, rather than a licensed doctor, can own a for-profit business that provides medical services. If you are considering opening a medical spa, it is critical that you ensure that you comply with all relevant requirements and that your management services agreement accurately reflects your agreement. Some entrepreneurs, whether they are unaware of the rules or are not willing to follow them, open medspas that violate the corporate practice of the doctrine of medicine. Management fee cannot be a percentage of medical office bills, and a fixed fee structure is ideal; however, it can be difficult to assess the value of management services when office success is difficult to predict.
When deciding between a day spa and a medical spa, if you want longer lasting results and a deeper revitalization of your skin and body, then a Med Spa is clearly the best alternative. The objective of the doctrine is to provide patients with ethics-based care rather than for-profit care influenced by someone with no medical training. Through an MSO, non-medical professionals can help doctors and other healthcare providers with both administrative and non-clinical aspects of medical practice. .
