Can a non-physician own a med spa in Tennessee?
Ownership · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
The cited rules do not settle this — they bar non-physicians from holding shares in a Medical Professional Corporation, but a med spa may be "any entity, however named or organized," and registration requires only a licensed Tennessee medical director.
Tennessee runs medical practices through Medical Professional Corporations, and its share-ownership rule follows ownership through intermediate entities rather than stopping at the first one.
Drawn from 4 verified rules in this section · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
- Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.20(1)(b) · Sep 2, 2026
- Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.20(1)(b)2.(ii) · Sep 2, 2026
- Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.20(1)(a) · Sep 2, 2026
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-6-214(b)(16) · Sep 2, 2026
Related Tennessee rules
Only two categories may form and own shares in a Medical Professional Corporation doing business in Tennessee: PHYSICIANS licensed under Title 63 chapter 6 or 9, or licensed in another state; and partnerships, MPCs or MPLLCs in which ALL partners, shareholders, members or holders of financial rights are themselves such physicians — or entities directly or indirectly owned by them. The rule follows ownership through the stack.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.20(1)(b) · verified Sep 2, 2026
The exception is a closed statutory list: the health care professional combinations specifically enumerated in T.C.A. § 48-101-610, and professionals authorized by §§ 48-101-610 or 48-248-401 to own shares or hold financial rights. A profession not on that list does not qualify, and a lay investor is on no list.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.20(1)(b)2.(ii) · verified Sep 2, 2026
How other states answer this
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Related Tennessee questions
- What limits does Tennessee place on a med spa's business structure?
- Can a management company run the business side of a med spa in Tennessee?
- Can private equity invest in a med spa in Tennessee?
- In Tennessee, may a non-clinical owner or manager be paid a share of revenue?
Get Tennessee changes as they publish
We scan the Tennessee legislature and licensing boards daily, plus the FDA and the Federal Register. Free weekly Brief — what changed, in plain language, with the source.
Free · unsubscribe in one click · we never sell your address
← All Tennessee 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).