MedSpaRadar™
Get the Brief

Does a med spa have to register or hold a license in Tennessee?

Facility · part of The Practice Perimeter

Tennessee REGISTERS medical spas — uniquely in this corpus. An application, a fee, a named medical director who accepts responsibility in writing, and annual renewal. And the definition reaches a physician’s own practice once more than half its patients come for elective cosmetic work.

Drawn from 10 verified rules in this section · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice

The rest of what Tennessee says on this

Every other rule we have verified under med-spa registration & licensing, each linked to its primary source.

  • TENNESSEE BINDS STERILE COMPOUNDING TO USP AND SAYS SO TWICE. “ALL STERILE PRODUCTS SHALL BE PREPARED IN COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE USP STANDARDS FOR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOUNDING”, and separately “ANY FACILITY THAT COMPOUNDS STERILE PRODUCTS SHALL COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE USP STANDARDS.” Compounded injectables are sterile products, so USP is the operative standard behind any compounded GLP-1 a Tennessee practice administers.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1140-07-.02(1); 1140-07-.04(1) · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • ⚠️ AND THE STANDARD IS WAIVABLE — BY THE BOARD, NOT BY THE PRACTICE. “The Board of Pharmacy, UPON A SHOWING OF GOOD CAUSE AND IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE, MAY WAIVE THE REQUIREMENTS OF ANY APPLICABLE PORTION OF USP STANDARDS”, and “ALL WAIVER REQUESTS … SHALL BE SUBMITTED IN WRITING”. A supplier claiming an exemption should be able to produce the Board’s written grant of it.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1140-07-.02(2) · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • ⚠️ READ THE APPLICABILITY CLAUSE BEFORE ASSUMING THIS REACHES YOUR PRACTICE. The chapter applies “TO ALL PHARMACY PRACTICE SITES AND PHARMACISTS, PHARMACY INTERNS, PHARMACY TECHNICIANS AND SUPPORTIVE PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN THE COMPOUNDING AND DISPENSING OF STERILE PRODUCTS.” It governs the pharmacy that supplies a med spa rather than the med spa itself — which is precisely why the diligence question in Tennessee is about the supplier.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1140-07-.01 · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • Any medical spa offering cosmetic medical services in Tennessee MUST REGISTER with the Board of Medical Examiners, before operation or within sixty calendar days of the rule taking effect. Registration is by application to Board staff with a non-refundable Medical Spa Registration Fee.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.24(1) · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • The application must give the name and physical address of the medical spa; the NAME AND TENNESSEE LICENSE NUMBER of the medical director or supervising physician responsible for services; the name and physical address of THAT PHYSICIAN’S PRIMARY PRACTICE; their certification information; and AN ATTESTATION that the medical director or supervising physician registering the spa ASSUMES AND ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY for the cosmetic medical services provided there.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.24(1)(a)–(f) · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • ⚠️ THE DEFINITION CATCHES PRACTICES THAT DO NOT CALL THEMSELVES MED SPAS. A “medical spa” is ANY ENTITY, HOWEVER NAMED OR ORGANIZED, offering or performing cosmetic medical services — excluding an individual physician’s office or practice owned by a physician, UNLESS that office either (1) advertises or holds itself out as a medical spa, or (2) primarily performs elective cosmetic services such that MORE THAN 50% OF THE PATIENTS seen in the preceding twelve months received an elective cosmetic medical service.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.01(11) · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • Registration lasts TWELVE MONTHS. Before it expires the medical spa must complete a NEW Application for Registration and pay the fee again — it is a renewal by re-application, not a rolling license.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.24(2) · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • The duty sits on a named person. The medical director or supervising physician responsible for the spa must provide the Board with that information, ENSURE THE ANNUAL REGISTRATION, and comply with the signage and advertisement requirements of T.C.A. § 63-1-153. They must also be a medical doctor or osteopathic physician holding an ACTIVE TENNESSEE LICENSE AND AN ACTIVE MEDICAL PRACTICE IN TENNESSEE — an out-of-state or non-practicing physician cannot fill the role.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.24(3) and (4) · verified Sep 2, 2026

  • ⚠️ AND OPERATING UNREGISTERED IS THE PHYSICIAN’S PROBLEM. Operation without current registration CONSTITUTES UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT on the part of the medical director and of any supervising physician providing services — including supervision services — at that unregistered spa, and is grounds for disciplinary action by that physician’s licensing board. The business is unregistered; the license at risk is the doctor’s.

    Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.24(5) · verified Sep 2, 2026

How other states answer this

All 51 states side by side →

Related Tennessee questions

Every Tennessee question we can answer →

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, 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).