Pennsylvania good-faith exam for med spas
Requirements for the good-faith examination before treatment. Below are the Pennsylvania rules that govern it, each linked to its primary source. Monitoring and reference, not legal advice.
Good-faith examination in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania approaches the pre-treatment question from the delegation side rather than through a standalone examination rule: the physician has to make a patient-specific judgement before anyone else touches the patient, and some services cannot be handed over at all.
A medical service may not be delegated where it is sufficiently complicated, difficult or dangerous that it requires knowledge and skill possessed by medical doctors but not commonly held by non-physicians, or where potential adverse reactions may not be readily apparent to someone without medical doctor training.
49 Pa. Code §18.402(b) · verified Aug 17, 2026
A physician may not delegate a procedure they are not themselves trained, qualified and competent to perform. The ceiling on what can be handed to staff is the delegating physician’s own competence, not the staff member’s.
49 Pa. Code §18.402 · verified Aug 17, 2026
The physician must determine that no undue risk exists for the specific patient before the delegated service is performed — a patient-by-patient judgement, not a standing clearance for a class of procedure.
49 Pa. Code §18.402(a) · verified Aug 17, 2026
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