Tennessee good-faith exam for med spas
Requirements for the good-faith examination before treatment. Below are the Tennessee rules that govern it, each linked to its primary source.
Good-faith examination in Tennessee
⚠️ Tennessee has one of the strongest examination rules in this corpus, and it is not optional. Rule 0880-02-.14(7) makes it a prima facie violation to prescribe or dispense ANY DRUG without a documented history, examination, diagnosis, discussed plan and follow-up — and says outright that a questionnaire is not an examination. The telemedicine rules then disclaim any effect on that duty rather than relaxing it.
Tennessee’s telemedicine rules disclaim any effect on the underlying duty: they are not meant to alter or amend the applicable standard of care in any particular field of medicine, nor to amend any requirement for the establishment of a physician-patient relationship. Remote delivery changes the channel, not the threshold.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.16 (scope) · verified Sep 2, 2026
Where a remote evaluation is used the rules put a named person in the room: a FACILITATOR must be physically present with the patient and is responsible for verifying the patient’s identity and location and for the origination, collection and transmission of images or clinical data to the physician performing the evaluation remotely.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.16(1)(a) · verified Sep 2, 2026
It is a prima facie violation of T.C.A. § 63-6-214(b)(1), (4) and (12) for a physician to prescribe or dispense ANY DRUG to any individual — whether in person, by electronic means, over the Internet or over telephone lines — unless the physician, or a licensed supervisee acting under appropriate protocols or medical orders, has first done and appropriately documented all four of: an appropriate history and physical examination; a diagnosis based on those examinations and on diagnostic and laboratory tests consistent with good medical care; a formulated therapeutic plan discussed with the patient along with its basis and the risks and benefits of the options; and assured availability of the physician or coverage for appropriate follow-up care.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.14(7)(a) · verified Sep 2, 2026
⚠️ and a questionnaire is not an examination. The same rule makes it a prima facie violation to prescribe or dispense any drug to a person for whom those four steps have not been completed based solely on answers to a set of questions. An online intake form is expressly not a substitute for the history and physical the rule requires.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.14(7)(c) · verified Sep 2, 2026
The exceptions are narrow and named, and none of them describes a first cosmetic consultation: hospital admission orders; a patient of another physician for whom the prescriber is covering or has verified the medication’s appropriateness; short-term continuation medication for a new patient before their first appointment; and ESTABLISHED patients who, on sound medical practice, the physician judges do not require a new physical examination before a new prescription.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.14(7)(b) · verified Sep 2, 2026
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