Is an exam required before a patient can be treated in Pennsylvania?
Intake · part of The Practice Perimeter
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.
49 Pa. Code §18.402(b) · verified Aug 17, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
The rest of what Pennsylvania says on this
Every other rule we have verified under good-faith examination, each linked to its primary source.
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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← All Pennsylvania rules and changes · Med Spa Radar 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).