How to Open a MedSpa: Licenses and Qualifications

Learn How to Open a MedSpa of Your Own

The med spa industry is one of the most rapidly growing and exciting industries globally. According to the global medical spa market, med spas are projected to grow annually at 12.2% between 2018 and 2025.

Opening a med spa can be a lucrative business idea, and a great source of income for entrepreneurs. However, is anyone allowed to open a med spa in Tampa, Miami, or any other place?

Who Can Open a MedSpa?

A med spa is a type of spa that features both an aesthetic medical center and a day spa. It aims at providing an experience you would get in a day spa together with nonsurgical medical services and anti-aging treatments.

Procedures you can expect at a med spa include non-invasive treatments such as Botox injections and spa treatments like massages and body scrubs.

Here is the part most people get backwards: Florida does not have a corporate practice of medicine doctrine. Unlike California, Texas, or New York, a non-physician can legally own the business entity behind a Florida med spa.

What Florida requires instead is medical oversight. A licensed physician has to serve as medical director and supervise the clinical work, and depending on your ownership structure and whether you bill for medical services, the business may need to register as a Health Care Clinic with the Agency for Health Care Administration under Fla. Stat. ch. 400, Part X. Ownership rules and thresholds turn on your specific facts, so confirm your setup with a Florida healthcare attorney before you commit to a structure.

If you are in Tampa or Miami and want to see a working med spa up close, Arviv Medical Aesthetics is open for consultations.

What Are the Advantages of Owning a Medical Spa?

If you are wondering how to start a medical spa in Tampa or Miami, or any other place, these are the kind of benefits you should expect to get.

Profitability

Since insurance agencies don’t cover injectables such as Botox, your business will be cash-based. You won’t have to deal with things like medical billers or hire staff to verify the insurance benefits or other additional administrative needs. Your facility will collect all payments after every service.

Opportunity to Offer Quality Services

Owning a spa means every responsibility rests on your shoulders. Since most of the treatments at med spas involve offering aesthetic services and skin health, you have the opportunity to provide your clients top-notch services and foster great relationships with them.

You can use a membership-based business to create a personalized relationship with clients, and aim at helping clients achieve their skincare goals.

New Learning Opportunity

Med spas provide learning opportunities. You are expected to be aware of everything that goes on in the world of cosmetology. You need to be aware of emerging treatments such as ultrasonic exfoliation and ionic hydration.

Your clients need to know that the services they are getting are tried and tested. The only way to know that is by staying knowledgeable and up-to-date on treatments.

Requirements & Qualifications to Open a Med Spa

Because ownership is open, the constraint sits on the clinical side rather than the cap table. The treatments a med spa bills for, injectables, laser procedures and prescription skincare, have to be performed by or delegated by appropriately licensed practitioners under Florida’s Medical Practice Act (Fla. Stat. ch. 458) or the Osteopathic Medicine Act (ch. 459). A physician acts as medical director, and any PA or APRN working off the physician’s primary site under a written supervisory protocol falls under Fla. Stat. 458.348.

Surgical work is a separate regime again. Offices performing procedures under anesthesia face registration and standard-of-care requirements under Fla. Stat. 458.328 and Rule 64B8-9.009, F.A.C., scaled to procedure risk level. Routine injectable and laser work generally sits under the delegation rules rather than the office-surgery regime, and the two should not be conflated.

You also need to follow the salon and spa rules and hire staff licensed for the specific procedures you offer.

MedSpa Certifications Your Employees Will Need

There is no single “medical certificate” that covers a med spa team. The credential depends on the role:

• Physicians hold an MD or DO license under ch. 458 or 459.
• APRNs and RNs are licensed under the Nurse Practice Act (Fla. Stat. ch. 464). An RN injecting neurotoxins or fillers needs a documented delegation and supervision arrangement from a supervising physician. LPNs may not inject.
• Physician assistants are licensed under Fla. Stat. 458.347 and supervised under 458.348.
• Aesthetician-level staff hold a facial specialist or full specialist registration from the Board of Cosmetology under Fla. Stat. ch. 477, not a medical credential.
• Laser and permanent hair removal staff need electrologist licensure under Fla. Stat. ch. 478, administered by the Electrolysis Council. Physicians are exempt.

Verify every credential yourself before hiring. Health professions licensed by the Department of Health, physicians, APRNs, RNs and electrologists, are searchable through the MQA license verification portal. Board of Cosmetology credentials are searchable through DBPR.

Where Florida Actually Draws the Line

You will see med spas sorted into tiers such as “aesthetic spa” and “medical aesthetics spa.” Those are marketing shorthand. Florida law does not classify spas that way.

The line that actually carries legal weight is binary:

• Non-medical cosmetic services, basic facials and massage, sit under the Board of Cosmetology in ch. 477.
• Medical procedures, injectables, lasers and medical-grade peels, are practice-of-medicine acts under ch. 458 or 459. They require licensed practitioners and physician oversight.

Facilities performing surgery under anesthesia pick up the additional office-surgery obligations noted above, based on the risk level of the procedure rather than on what the business calls itself.

Meet Our MedSpa Team

When you visit us at either of our offices in Tampa or Miami, you will meet a team of experienced professionals, ready to offer you a great experience that will leave you feeling confident, beautiful, and more empowered. Dr. Tali Arviv, our team leader, has more than ten years of experience in laser technology. Together with our team of medical providers, we will offer you whichever treatment you need.

Opening a MedSpa: What to Line Up First

Owning a med spa business is exciting and stressful at the same time. Besides all the needed qualifications, you must abide by regulations set in place by the medical practitioners’ board to start and operate a spa.

However, it is smoother sailing once you have everything in place. If you are in Tampa or Miami, FL, visit our offices at Arviv Medical Aesthetics to see how a physician-led practice runs day to day. You can also contact our teams in Tampa or Miami to set an appointment, or look at our membership plan as a model for recurring-revenue programs.

Curious how the treatment side works in practice? Request a consultation and see the patient experience for yourself.