What must the supervising physician actually do in Ohio?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Before a nurse applies a vascular laser, the physician must confirm eight hours of light-based education, fifteen observed procedures of that type, and twenty performed with the physician in the room — then supervise on site at all times.
Before a nurse may apply a vascular laser, the physician must ensure they have completed eight hours of basic education covering light-based procedure physics, tissue interaction, safety and proper safety equipment, clinical application, pre- and post-operative care and adverse event reporting; observed fifteen procedures of that specific type; and performed twenty procedures of that type under the physician’s direct physical oversight — meaning the physician in the same room, observing.
Ohio Admin. Code 4731-18-03(A)(7) · verified Sep 1, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Ohio rules
For hair removal the default is on-site supervision — the physician physically in the same location, though not necessarily the same room. Since HB 377 took effect on 26 August 2026 there is an OFF-SITE pathway: the physician need only be continuously available for direct communication, but only for an ESTABLISHED patient, and only where the delegate has qualified for it.
Ohio Rev. Code §4731.33(F)(1), (F)(2), (G)(1), (G)(2); definitions at (A)(6) and (A)(7) · verified Sep 1, 2026
And “on-site supervision” has a physical threshold: the physician must be present in the same location as the unlicensed person — the rule’s own example is the physician’s office suite — while the delegated task is performed. It does not require the physician to be in the same room, and being reachable by phone is not on-site.
Ohio Admin. Code 4731-23-01(C) · verified Sep 1, 2026
How other states answer this
- Alabama
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- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Related Ohio questions
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← All Ohio 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).