Must someone be on site while a patient is treated in New Mexico?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Yes — for devices delegated to a medical assistant, the certified assistant may use a non-incisive, non-ablative therapeutic or cosmetic device only while the supervising physician is immediately available on the premises.
The use of medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices is the practice of medicine as defined in Section 61-6-1 NMSA 1978. A. Limitations. (1) Medical assistants are limited to using medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices that are non-incisive and non-ablative. (2) Medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices may only be used by a medical assistant who is certified pursuant to Subsection D of 16.10.13.7 NMAC and when the supervising physician is immediately available on the premises.
16.10.13.8 NMAC (Use of medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices) · verified Sep 4, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related New Mexico rules
Licensees may work in an aesthetic healthcare facility only if the facility employs a clinical supervisor who is an APRN or other licensed independent healthcare practitioner reasonably known to possess the appropriate education, training, and skills to safely perform all aesthetic healthcare procedures offered in the facility.
16.12.14.8(B) NMAC (Nursing Practice in Aesthetic Healthcare Facilities, eff. 2024-05-21) · verified Sep 4, 2026
develops or approves and implements written protocols for all aesthetic healthcare procedures performed at the aesthetic healthcare facility. The protocols must provide sufficient and specific details, including guidance on identifying and responding to adverse events, to assure that making independent healthcare decisions does not become the responsibility of individuals without the appropriate scope of practice to make such decisions.
16.12.14.9(B)(5) NMAC (Clinical supervisor) · verified Sep 4, 2026
How other states answer this
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- Tennessee
- Texas
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- Washington
Related New Mexico questions
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- Who may perform the pre-treatment exam in New Mexico?
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← All New Mexico 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).