North Carolina ownership & cpom for med spas

Ownership & corporate practice of medicine in North Carolina

North Carolina is a strict corporate-practice state and says so in plain terms: the Medical Board’s position is that a business practicing medicine must be owned in its entirety by people holding active North Carolina licenses. The Professional Corporation Act carries that into company law — a professional corporation’s articles of incorporation must carry its licensing board’s certification that the shareholding requirements are met.

• The Medical Board’s position is that businesses practicing medicine in North Carolina must be owned in their entirety by persons holding active North Carolina licenses, and that the owners must be licensees of the Board or one of the combinations the Professional Corporation Act permits. This is a board position statement, not a statute — it states how the Board reads the law it enforces.

  NCMB Position Statement 10.1.2 (adopted March 2016, amended September 2025) · verified Aug 17, 2026

• All of the shares of stock of a professional corporation must be owned and held by a licensee or licensees, at least one incorporator must be a licensee, and at least one director and one officer must be a licensee. The articles of incorporation must designate the professional services to be rendered and carry a certification from the appropriate licensing board that the shareholding requirements are met.

  N.C. Gen. Stat. §55B-4 · verified Aug 17, 2026

• The Board’s position is that a licensee who provides medical services on behalf of a business engaged in the corporate practice of medicine may be subject to disciplinary action, and that whether the licensee is an employee or an independent contractor makes no difference to that analysis. The position statement recognizes exceptions for hospital-owned practices, health maintenance organizations, public health clinics and charitable non-profits.

  NCMB Position Statement 10.1.2 · verified Aug 17, 2026

• The Professional Corporation Act lists the licensee combinations that may jointly own one corporation. The ones a med spa is most likely to use are a physician together with a licensed physician assistant, and a physician together with a nurse practitioner, psychiatric nursing specialist or nurse midwife.

  N.C. Gen. Stat. §55B-14(c) · verified Aug 17, 2026

• ⚠️ North Carolina gives referral fees their own article, and it reaches corporations by name. “a health care provider shall not financially compensate in any manner a person, firm, or corporation for recommending or securing the health care provider’s employment by a patient, or as a reward for having made a recommendation resulting in the health care provider’s employment by a patient.” “in any manner” is the operative phrase — the form of the payment does not matter.

  N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-401 · verified Sep 2, 2026

• The same section closes the provider-to-provider direction: “No health care provider who refers a patient of that health care provider to another health care provider shall receive financial or other compensation from the health care provider receiving the referral as a payment solely or primarily for the referral.”

  N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-401 · verified Sep 2, 2026

• ⚠️ but advertising is expressly carved out, with a limit worth reading. “this section shall not be construed to prohibit a health care provider’s purchase of advertising which does not entail direct personal contact or telephone contact of a potential patient.” Buying ads is fine; buying a lead who is then called is where the carve-out stops.

  N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-401 · verified Sep 2, 2026

Recent North Carolina changes

• NC S570: Prohibit the Corporate Practice of MedicineMar 25, 2025