Must someone be on site while a patient is treated in Virginia?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
The cited rules settle this only for laser hair removal — there the supervising doctor need only be readily available, not physically present, but must personally see and evaluate any patient whose treatment caused complications before it continues.
⚠️ supervision means readily available, not present — with one thing the doctor must DO personally. a doctor may delegate laser hair removal to a properly trained person under the doctor’s direction and supervision, which the rule defines as the doctor being readily available at the time it is performed. The doctor is NOT required to be physically present, but IS required to see and evaluate any patient whose treatment has resulted in complications BEFORE that patient’s treatment continues.
18 Va. Admin. Code § 85-20-91(E) · verified Sep 2, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Virginia rules
⚠️ and the rule stops at hair removal. 18vac85-20-91 governs the practice and supervision of laser hair removal and nothing else. Virginia publishes no counterpart rule for cosmetic injectables, for intense pulsed light, or for other energy devices, so a practice cannot read the ten-case training standard or the “readily available” supervision definition across to those services.
18 Va. Admin. Code § 85-20-91 (scope of the rule) · verified Sep 2, 2026
A doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine may perform or supervise laser hair removal only on completing training in six named subjects: skin physiology and histology; skin type and appropriate patient selection; laser safety; operation of the laser device to be used; recognition of and response to potential complications; and a minimum of ten proctored patient cases with demonstrated competency in treating various skin types.
18 Va. Admin. Code § 85-20-91(A) · verified Sep 2, 2026
How other states answer this
- Alabama
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- Georgia
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- Illinois
- Indiana
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- Michigan
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- Montana
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- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
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- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington
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