Florida oversight starts with the services you provide
A medical spa is a business description, not a single professional license. Build the plan around each procedure, the treating professional and the setting. A medical director agreement does not expand a provider’s scope or replace required orders, evaluations or facility approvals. This guide is general information reviewed November 2, 2026; your clinicians and Florida healthcare counsel must apply it to your practice.
Ownership and clinic licensure are separate questions
Florida’s Health Care Clinic Act defines the clinics it regulates and provides specific exemptions. Ownership, services and billing arrangements matter. Do not assume that every med spa must be physician-owned, that an RN-owned business qualifies for a practitioner exemption, or that hiring a director resolves licensure.
Have counsel assess the entity, payor model and any exemption before opening or changing ownership. Clinics subject to the Act have statutory director responsibilities, including practitioner licensure, records and billing oversight. An exemption from that Act does not exempt clinicians from their own practice laws.
§400.9905: clinic definition and exemptions · §400.9935: clinic responsibilities · AHCA Health Care Clinics
Match each clinical role to Florida authority
Physicians: verify an active Florida license, relevant competence, availability and the responsibilities actually accepted. Physicians must not delegate work to someone unqualified by training, experience or licensure.
PAs and APRNs: review the applicable supervision or protocol, prescribing authority and practice setting. APRN autonomous registration is limited by statute to primary care and certain midwifery functions; it is not blanket authority to practice elective aesthetic medicine independently.
RNs: Florida nursing law includes medications and treatments prescribed or authorized by a qualified practitioner. It does not give an RN independent diagnosing or prescribing authority. Cosmetic injections require particular care: Board of Nursing declaratory decisions address individual training and supervision facts, not universal permission for every RN or procedure. Review the actual arrangement before delegating.
For example, the Board’s Cremeans order, DOH-24-0637-DS-MQA, allowed the particular petitioner to administer Botox Cosmetic with physician delegation and physician visualization of the injection, with her participation identified in informed consent. This is a fact-specific decision, not blanket permission for all nurses or an assumption that APRN-only supervision is sufficient. Locate the order in the DOH declaratory-statement listing when assessing your arrangement.
DOH declaratory statements — search order DOH-24-0637
§458.331: physician duties and delegation · §458.347: PAs · §464.003: nursing scope · §464.012: APRN protocols · §464.0123: autonomous practice · Board of Nursing declaratory dispositions, October 25, 2023
Off-site aesthetic supervision has specific limits
For the MD/APRN/PA arrangement in §458.348(3)(c), and the parallel osteopathic physician arrangement in §459.025(3)(c)—primarily dermatologic or aesthetic skin-care services at an office away from the physician’s primary location without on-site physician supervision—the statute specifies dermatology or plastic-surgery board certification or eligibility, office-address reporting, geographic limits and only one additional office. It also addresses posted physician schedules and exceptions.
Assess the precise facts and applicable allopathic or osteopathic authority. A video connection or an “on-call” title alone does not establish that a proposed arrangement meets these rules.
§458.348: MD supervisory relationships · §459.025: DO supervisory relationships · Florida Board of Medicine · Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine
Evaluations and telehealth depend on the care
Florida permits telehealth within the provider’s scope and the same prevailing professional standard used for in-person care. A sufficient telehealth evaluation may be appropriate; services must be documented and prescribing restrictions still apply. Do not assume a brief remote screening authorizes every treatment or satisfies procedure-specific supervision.
We use “good-faith exam” to describe participating-practice clinical evaluations. Our $10 offering and up-to-three-services format are business policies, not a universal Florida exam mandate or permission to proceed without clinical judgment.
Review lasers, medications and IV services separately
Lasers and light-based devices: match the operator’s license to the exact device and procedure. Florida DOH identifies specific training, facility and physician-supervision requirements for electrologists providing laser/light-based hair removal; telehealth supervision is allowed only under the applicable rule’s conditions. Hair-removal rules should not be treated as permission for every laser procedure.
Medical weight management: assess the prescriber, evaluation, follow-up, medication source and current obesity-drug rules before offering a program. Controlled medications add state and federal requirements. This website does not promise a prescription, a specific drug, compounded medication or remote-only eligibility.
IV therapy: identify who evaluates and orders treatment, who may administer it, the medication-handling requirements and the response to complications. A wellness label does not remove clinical responsibilities.
DOH electrologist requirements · Rule 64B8-56.002 · Rule 64B8-9.012: MD obesity-drug standards · Rule 64B15-14.004: DO obesity-drug standards
Protect records and review financial arrangements
Document the records owner, authorized access, patient requests and a transition plan. Florida law protects medical-record confidentiality and restricts use of patient information for marketing without the required authorization. HIPAA may also apply depending on the entity and activities.
Have counsel review advertising claims, management fees, referral arrangements and compensation. Florida prohibits patient brokering and kickbacks; physician discipline also addresses misleading advertising and referral-based split fees. Describing a payment as “marketing” does not determine its legality.
§456.057: patient records · §456.054: kickbacks · §817.505: patient brokering and exceptions · §458.331: advertising and physician discipline
Distinguish enacted law from proposals
The Florida Senate record shows that the 2026 medical-spa licensure proposal, SB 1728, died in committee on March 13, 2026. Its proposed Board of Pharmacy med-spa license should not be presented as enacted by that bill. Existing professional, clinic, drug and facility requirements still need review.
Bring these questions to your planning meeting
- Which entity provides and bills for care, and what licenses or exemptions apply?
- Who evaluates, prescribes, treats and handles complications for each service?
- What on-site coverage, protocols, notices and geographic limits apply?
- Who controls records, clinical decisions and patient communications?
- What must be confirmed before a new treatment or location begins?
Use our professional inquiry form to discuss your practice. Please do not send patient information.