Must someone be on site while a patient is treated in Hawaii?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
The cited rules do not settle this generally — only for physician assistants, whose supervision must be continuous but need not always be in person, at a degree the board sets; nothing cited fixes on-site presence for nurses, their delegatees or estheticians.
(5) Prohibit services rendered by any person licensed under part II of this chapter to provide emergency medical services, or any physician assistant, when the services are rendered under the direction and control of a physician or osteopathic physician licensed in this State except for final refraction resulting in a prescription for spectacles, contact lenses, or visual training as performed by an oculist or optometrist duly licensed by the State. The direction and control shall not be construed in every case to require the personal presence of the supervising and controlling physician or osteopathic physician. Any physician or osteopathic physician who employs or directs a person licensed under part II of this chapter to provide emergency medical services, or a physician assistant, shall retain full professional and personal responsibility for any act that constitutes the practice of medicine when performed by the licensed person or physician assistant;
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 453-2(b)(5) · verified Sep 8, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Hawaii rules
the practice of medicine by a physician or an osteopathic physician includes the use of drugs and medicines; surgery; manual medicine; water; electricity; hypnotism; telehealth; the interpretation of tests, including primary diagnosis of pathology specimens, medical imaging, or any physical; osteopathic medicine; any means, method, or agent, either tangible or intangible, to diagnose, treat, prescribe for, palliate, or correct disease, or prevent any human disease, condition, ailment, pain, injury, deformity, illness, infirmity, defect, physical or mental condition in the human subject.
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 453-1 · verified Sep 8, 2026
Except as otherwise provided by law, no person shall practice medicine or surgery in the State, either gratuitously or for pay, or offer to practice medicine or surgery in the State, or advertise or announce one's self, either publicly or privately, as prepared or qualified to practice medicine or surgery in the State, or append the letters "Dr.", "M.D.", or "D.O." to one's name with the intent to imply that the person is a practitioner of medicine or surgery, without having a valid unrevoked license or a limited and temporary license obtained from the Hawaii medical board.
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 453-2(a) · verified Sep 8, 2026
How other states answer this
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
Related Hawaii questions
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← All Hawaii rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).