Washington ownership & cpom for med spas
Corporate-practice-of-medicine limits on who may own an aesthetic practice. Below are the Washington rules that govern it, each linked to its primary source.
Ownership & corporate practice of medicine in Washington
Washington channels ownership through the Professional Service Corporation Act: shares may be held by the people licensed to render the service the corporation was organized to render.
⚠️ Washington’s rebate ban reaches the sale of the drug itself, not just referrals. It is unlawful to pay or allow, or for a licensee to request or receive, “directly or indirectly, a rebate, refund, commission, unearned discount or profit by means of a credit or other valuable consideration in connection with the referral of patients … OR … on the sale, rental, furnishing or supplying of … drugs, medication, or medical supplies, or any other goods, services or supplies prescribed for medical diagnosis, care or treatment.”
Wash. Rev. Code § 19.68.010(1) · verified Sep 2, 2026
⚠️ owning an interest is permitted, but the disclosure has three parts and one of them is a promise. a financial interest is not prohibited where the referring practitioner “affirmatively discloses to the patient in writing” that interest, and “provides the patient with a list of effective alternative facilities, informs the patient that he or she has the option to use one of the alternative facilities, and assures the patient that he or she will not be treated differently by the referring practitioner if the patient chooses one”. a list, an option, and an assurance — not a line in a consent form.
Wash. Rev. Code § 19.68.010(2) · verified Sep 2, 2026
An individual or group of individuals duly licensed or otherwise legally authorized to render THE SAME professional services within this state may organize and become shareholders of a professional corporation for the purpose of rendering professional service, and one or more of those legally authorized individuals must be the incorporators. The qualification to hold shares is the license to do the work.
Wash. Rev. Code 18.100.050(1) · verified Sep 2, 2026
The Act names its own exceptions rather than leaving them to be inferred: registered architects and engineers may share one professional service corporation, and licensed health care professionals serving enrolled participants of a registered health maintenance organization may own stock in and practice through one professional service corporation. Professionals may also organize a nonprofit nonstock corporation under the chapter.
Wash. Rev. Code 18.100.050(2), (3) and (4) · verified Sep 2, 2026
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