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Does a med spa have to register or hold a license in Montana?

Facility · part of The Practice Perimeter

MONTANA LICENSES THE PRACTITIONER AND, ON THE COSMETOLOGY SIDE, THE PREMISES; IT HAS NO MEDICAL-SPA LICENSE. Nothing in the medical practice act or the Board of Medical Examiners’ rules licenses a facility. A salon or shop where esthetics is practiced needs a license from the department, may open on a provisional license once licensure and inspection fees are paid, and may not house another business outside the board’s scopes of practice unless that area is separated by a full-length partition. The Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists sets the fees in a rule, in dollars: $100 for a practitioner license, $125 for a salon or shop license, $150 for a salon or shop inspection, and $95 for a booth rental license. The Board of Medical Examiners’ physician license application fee is $375, and a physician assistant’s is $375. A practitioner who wants to dispense drugs to the practitioner’s own patients must register with the Board of Pharmacy, dispense only at the practitioner’s office, only to the practitioner’s own patients, with an offer of counseling, and only drugs necessary to the treatment; the registration is $240 with a $150 annual renewal, and a registrant who compounds must do so under the pharmacy compounding rule. A medical practitioner OTHER THAN A PHARMACIST may not own a community pharmacy, and that prohibition does not stop a practitioner dispensing a drug the dispensing statute permits; the rebate ban is not carved out that way — no medical practitioner may solicit or receive a rebate, refund, discount, commission, or other valuable consideration from a community pharmacy based on drug sales to the practitioner’s patients.

Drawn from 12 verified rules in this section · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice

The rest of what Montana says on this

Every other rule we have verified under med-spa registration & licensing, each linked to its primary source.

  • The department may issue two kinds of licenses, a physician's license and a resident license. Those are the only licenses Title 37, chapter 3 of the Montana Code Annotated creates; nothing in the chapter or in the Board of Medical Examiners’ rules in Title 24, chapter 156 of the Administrative Rules of Montana licenses a facility, and Montana issues no license or registration specific to a medical spa. A place where esthetics is practiced for compensation is licensed as a salon or shop under the cosmetology chapter.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-3-301(2) (Title 37, ch. 3 and ARM Title 24, ch. 156 surveyed) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • The Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists sets its license fees in a rule, in dollars. (1) Original and renewal license to practice barbering, barbering nonchemical, cosmetology, electrology, esthetics, and manicuring $100. (2) Original and renewal teacher license $115. (3) Original and renewal school license $220. (4) Additional courses within a cosmetology school $70. (5) School/course inspection $200. (6) Original and renewal salon or shop license $125. (7) Salon or shop inspection $150. (8) Original and renewal booth rental license $95.

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.121.401(1)-(8) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • A person may operate or manage a salon or shop with a license or a provisional license as provided in 37-31-312 . (5) A person may not manage or operate a booth without a booth rental license. (6) A person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity desiring to operate a salon, shop, or booth shall apply to the department for a license. The application must be accompanied by the license fee. (7) A license may be issued when the inspection fees required in 37-31-312 have been paid.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-31-302(4)-(7) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • Fees for licenses must be paid to the department in amounts prescribed by the board by rule. (2) The license fees must be paid in advance to the department unless otherwise prescribed by the board by rule. (3) Other or additional license fees may not be imposed by a municipal corporation or other political subdivision of this state to practice under this chapter.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-31-323 · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • No other businesses or services outside the scopes of practice licensed by the board may be conducted or provided in any licensed premises unless that area is separated by at least a full-length partition.

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.121.407(2) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • Initial and active license renewal application fees: (a) Dietitian $75 (b) Dietitian privilege to practice via compact 75 (c) Physician license application fee 375 (d) Physician letter of qualification for interstate compact 300 (e) Resident 75 (f) Podiatrist 375 (g) Podiatrist ankle surgery certification 75 (h) Nutritionist 75 (i) Physician assistant 375

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.156.409(1) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • a medical practitioner may dispense drugs if the practitioner: (a) registers with the board of pharmacy provided for in 2-15-1733 ; and (b) complies with the requirements of this section. (2) (a) Drugs dispensed by a medical practitioner must be: (i) dispensed by the practitioner at the practitioner's office or place of practice; (ii) dispensed only to the practitioner's own patients; (iii) dispensed with the offer of counseling from the practitioner; and (iv) necessary in the treatment of the condition for which the practitioner is attending the patient.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-2-104(1)-(2)(a) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • A medical practitioner registering with the board of pharmacy shall pay a fee established by the board by rule. The fee must be paid at the time of registration and on each renewal of the practitioner's license.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-2-104(6) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • (17) Drugs dispensed by a medical practitioner initial registration - $240. (18) Drugs dispensed by a medical practitioner annual renewal fee - $150.

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.174.401(17)-(18) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • A Montana medical practitioner registered to dispense must, when dispensing, also compound only as the pharmacy rules allow. A registrant shall comply with all federal and state statutes and regulations regarding dispensing of prescription drugs, including all requirements for the registrant to: (e) compound drug products, including non-sterile and sterile products, pursuant to ARM 24.174.841 ;

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.174.1802(2), (2)(e) · verified Sep 8, 2026

  • It is unlawful for a medical practitioner other than a pharmacist to own, directly or indirectly, a community pharmacy. This subsection does not prohibit a medical practitioner from dispensing a drug that the medical practitioner is permitted to dispense under 37-2-104 . (2) It is unlawful for a medical practitioner, directly or indirectly, to solicit or to knowingly receive from a community pharmacy or for a community pharmacy knowingly to pay or promise to pay to a medical practitioner any rebate, refund, discount, commission, or other valuable consideration for, on account of, or based upon income received or resulting from the sale or furnishing by the community pharmacy of drugs to patients of a medical practitioner.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-2-103(1)-(2) · verified Sep 8, 2026

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← All Montana rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference, not legal, medical, or compliance advice. Verify against the linked primary source and consult qualified counsel before acting — rules change and turn on your specific facts. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).