Med Spa Good-Faith Exam Requirements by State

Before a delegated non-ablative treatment the physician must ensure the patient is adequately informed and has SIGNED a consent form setting out Risks, Benefits, Alternatives and Complications — including reasonably foreseeable side effects, and the name of the device and the procedure.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 540-X-11-.05(3) (Written protocols — patient selection) · verified Sep 4, 2026

AS 08.64.364 reaches the pre-treatment examination from the opposite direction to most states: rather than requiring an exam, it tells the Medical Board when it may NOT discipline a physician or physician assistant for prescribing without a physical examination.

AS 08.64.364(a) (Prescription of drugs without physical examination) · verified Sep 5, 2026

Arizona states a condition: a prescription-drug injectable needs an order from an authorized prescriber acting within the standard of care.

A.R.S. §32-1401(27) · verified Jul 26, 2026

Within that laser rule, before a delegated minor procedure the physician must PERSONALLY diagnose the condition of the patient and prescribe the treatment and procedure to be performed.

17 CAR § 140-3201(a) (Telemedicine — patient/provider relationship) · verified Sep 4, 2026

California requires an appropriate good-faith exam before prescriptive drugs or devices are used — and it may not be delegated to an RN.

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §2242(a) · verified Jul 26, 2026 · read at Public.Law — California Codes

ARTICLE 240 imposes no pre-treatment examination requirement — but the Colorado Medical Board’s rules (3 CCR 713) are published on a host whose robots.txt disallows the rule-display endpoint, so WE HAVE NOT READ THEM and claim no absence about them.

Colo. Rev. Stat. art. 240 of tit. 12, surveyed in full; the examination provisions are at § 12-240-125 · verified Sep 2, 2026

Connecticut requires an initial IN-PERSON physical assessment of every person before a cosmetic medical procedure is performed at a medical spa, and it must be performed by the physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse the spa employs or contracts with.

Conn. Gen. Stat. §19a-903c(c) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Delaware puts its telehealth rule in a chapter of its own.

24 Del. C. §6003(a) · verified Sep 3, 2026

The District permits the practitioner-patient relationship itself to be established through telehealth, but ties it to the standard of care and the practitioner’s competence and scope — and expressly reserves to the Mayor the power to add requirements for specific health professions, INCLUDING an initial in-person…

D.C. Code §3-1201.05(b) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Florida has no statute literally titled “good-faith exam.” The requirement is built from prescribing-practice and standard-of-care law.

Fla. Stat. §458.331(1)(q) · verified Sep 1, 2026

Where an assistant laser practitioner treats the patient, Georgia requires a prior examination by a consulting physician, a PA-cosmetic laser practitioner or an APRN-cosmetic laser practitioner — and then names the exception explicitly: Hair removal and pulsed light treatments are carved out of both the examination…

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-35-.05(1)(b) · verified Aug 17, 2026

Telehealth services must include a documented patient evaluation, including a history and a discussion of physical symptoms adequate to establish a diagnosis and to identify underlying conditions or contraindications to the treatment recommended.

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 453-1.3(e)-(f) · verified Sep 8, 2026

Idaho’s Virtual Care Access Act permits virtual care where a provider-patient relationship already exists, where the patient has that relationship with another provider in the same provider group, where the provider is covering calls for a provider who has it, or where the provider is performing activities set out…

Idaho Code §54-5705 · verified Sep 3, 2026

The physician has to examine the patient and set a course of treatment before any laser procedure — with one carve-out, new in 2025, letting a non-ablative laser proceed on an APRN examination and a physician reachable by phone.

68 Ill. Adm. Code 1285.336(b) · verified Aug 17, 2026

Indiana states the prescribing condition directly: a prescriber may issue a prescription without a prior in-person examination only where the standard of care is met, the prescriber is acting within scope, and a valid provider-patient relationship exists.

Ind. Code §25-1-9.5-7, §25-1-9.5-8 · verified Jul 26, 2026

The director must ensure that each patient gives appropriate informed consent for every medical aesthetic service, performed by whoever performs it, and that the consent is timely documented in the medical record, and that accurate and timely medical records are kept for each delegated service.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—655.6(5)(j) (Supervision — informed consent) · verified Sep 4, 2026

Kansas permits telemedicine to establish the relationship, and then holds it to the in-person standard.

Kan. Stat. Ann. §40-2,212(b) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Separately, a treating physician who provides or facilitates telehealth must ensure the patient's informed consent is obtained before services are provided through telehealth, and that confidentiality of the patient's medical information is maintained; the board is directed to promulgate regulations as necessary to…

Ky. Rev. Stat. §311.5975(1) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Louisiana's licensing section itself points elsewhere for remote care — it requires a license to practice medicine “except as provided in the Louisiana Telehealth Access Act, R.S. 40:1223.1 et seq.” — and that Act is NOT surveyed by these claims.

La. Rev. Stat. §37:1285(A)(6) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Maine’s telehealth subchapter permits a licensee of the medical chapter to provide telehealth services so long as the licensee acts within the scope of the license, within the subchapter’s own requirements and restrictions, and in accordance with standards of practice — and it carries the rest of the licensee’s…

32 M.R.S. §3300-BB · verified Sep 3, 2026

Maryland requires a clinical patient evaluation appropriate to the patient and the presenting condition BEFORE treatment is provided or a prescription issued through telehealth, and requires referral to in-person care where that is clinically appropriate.

Md. Code Regs. 10.32.05.05(A) (Patient Evaluation) · verified Sep 3, 2026

CHAPTER 112 sets no pre-treatment examination rule — the chapter was surveyed in full and contains none.

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, § 5O(a) · verified Sep 1, 2026

PART 161 of the Public Health Code was surveyed via its section index and imposes no pre-treatment examination requirement for cosmetic injectables.

Mich. Comp. Laws pt. 161 — section index (surveyed in full) · verified Sep 2, 2026 · read at Internet Archive snapshot — evidence of a page, not the current rule

§ 151.37 subd. 2(d) makes a prescription INVALID — for a closed list of drug classes — without a documented evaluation including an examination.

Minn. Stat. § 151.37, subd. 2(d) · verified Sep 2, 2026

A valid physician-patient relationship for telemedicine requires verifying the patient’s identity, an appropriate history and physical examination meeting the standard of care, a diagnosis established through accepted practices, a discussion of the diagnosis and treatment options to obtain informed consent,…

Miss. Admin. Code Title 30, Part 2635, Rule 5.4 · verified Sep 8, 2026

A physician using telemedicine must ensure a properly established physician-patient relationship exists, and the statute names the three ways it may be established: an in-person encounter through a medical evaluation and physical examination; consultation with another physician who has an established relationship…

Mo. Rev. Stat. §191.1146.1 · verified Sep 3, 2026

The Code defines telemedicine as the practice of medicine by interactive electronic communications, information technology, or audio-only conversation between a licensee and a patient in different locations, and permits a person licensed under Title 37 to provide health care to do so by telehealth when that is…

Mont. Code Ann. § 37-3-102(14)(a)-(b) · verified Sep 8, 2026

What these claims establish in Nebraska is a therapeutic-purpose and record-keeping standard rather than a pre-treatment examination requirement.

Neb. Rev. Stat. §38-179(11) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Nevada regulates how the patient relationship itself may be formed.

Nev. Rev. Stat. §629.515(4) · verified Sep 3, 2026

New Hampshire defines the physician-patient relationship itself: it requires an in-person exam OR an exam using telemedicine.

N.H. Rev. Stat. §329:1-c (Physician-Patient Relationship) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Where a modality is administered by someone else, New Jersey stacks three duties on the physician: examine the patient before it is applied, see them again before every subsequent scheduled application, and remain on the premises throughout.

N.J.A.C. 13:35-6.14(e)1 · verified Aug 17, 2026 · read at Cornell Legal Information Institute

Before any aesthetic healthcare procedure, an APRN or other licensed independent practitioner must conduct a FACE-TO-FACE assessment, determine a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment plan — and "may never delegate the examination, diagnosis, or treatment plan".

16.12.14.10(B) NMAC (Patient care) · verified Sep 4, 2026

New York builds the requirement rather than naming it.

N.Y. Educ. Law §6521 · verified Aug 17, 2026

Both boards land in the same place from different directions: someone with prescriptive authority has to evaluate the patient and order the treatment before a nurse touches them, and for laser hair or tattoo removal a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner must examine the patient before the first…

NC Board of Nursing, Cosmetic/Aesthetic Dermatological Procedures Position Statement (rev. 9/2022) · verified Aug 17, 2026

Section 43-17-44 opens by holding a licensee to the same standard of care and the same ethical standards whether the practice is traditional in-person medicine or telemedicine.

N.D.C.C. § 43-17-44 (Standard of care — telemedicine and in-person alike) · verified Sep 5, 2026

Ohio’s examination rule in this chapter is delegation-specific rather than general: for photodynamic therapy and for phototherapy for psoriasis, the physician must have seen and evaluated the patient before delegating, and on a report of a clinically significant side effect in those same delegated treatments the…

Ohio Admin. Code 4731-18-04 · verified Aug 17, 2026

Oklahoma states its pre-treatment rule as a disciplinary ground rather than a standalone requirement, and it is easy to miss because it does not use the words most states use.

Okla. Stat. tit. 59, § 509 (Examination and a valid relationship before prescribing) · verified Sep 5, 2026

Oregon permits the provider-patient relationship itself to be established by telemedicine.

Or. Rev. Stat. §677.494(2) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Pennsylvania approaches the pre-treatment question from the DELEGATION side: the physician has to make a patient-specific judgment before anyone else touches the patient, and some services cannot be handed over at all.

49 Pa. Code §18.402(b) · verified Aug 17, 2026 · read at Cornell Legal Information Institute

What they establish is the standard the treatment itself must meet however it is delivered.

R.I. Gen. Laws §5-37-5.1(19) · verified Sep 3, 2026

South Carolina does not lower the standard for remote care: a licensee practicing medicine by telemedicine must meet the SAME standard of care as in-person medical care, failing which is expressly designated unprofessional conduct, and the licensee must hold a South Carolina medical license.

S.C. Code §40-47-110(B)(17) · verified Sep 3, 2026

South Dakota's telehealth chapter states WHO may treat.

S.D. Codified Laws §34-52-2 · verified Sep 3, 2026

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.

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0880-02-.16 (scope) · verified Sep 2, 2026

Before a delegated cosmetic act Texas requires a practitioner-patient relationship to be established — by a physician, or by a PA or APRN acting under the physician’s delegation — and an adequate medical RECORD to be maintained.

22 TAC §169.26 · verified Jul 26, 2026 · read at Cornell Legal Information Institute

Before a treatment protocol or series of treatments begins for a NONABLATIVE cosmetic medical procedure, a physician, a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant — each holding an unrestricted license — must develop the treatment plan for that procedure AND conduct an evaluation of the patient, either in person…

Utah Code § 58-1-506(3)(a) (Supervision of cosmetic medical procedures) · verified Sep 4, 2026

Vermont requires an appropriate examination of the patient — in person, through telemedicine, or by instrumentation and diagnostic equipment through which images and records may be transmitted — before a licensed health care provider prescribes, dispenses or administers drugs, and holds treatment recommendations…

Vt. Stat. tit. 26, §1354(a)(38) · verified Sep 3, 2026

§ 54.1-3303 lets a prescription issue ONLY to a patient with whom the practitioner has a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship, and defines that by four elements — history, risk disclosure, an appropriate examination, and follow-up.

18 Va. Admin. Code § 85-20-29(A)(1) · verified Sep 2, 2026

Washington writes out SEVEN things a physician must do before authorizing a nonsurgical medical cosmetic procedure, rather than naming a “good-faith exam”.

Wash. Admin. Code 246-919-606(5) · verified Sep 2, 2026

West Virginia legislates the telemedicine encounter in detail, and the detail is restrictive at the front end.

W. Va. Code §30-3-13a(c)(1) · verified Sep 3, 2026

Wisconsin imposes an informed consent duty by statute and measures it against a reasonable-physician standard — and its telemedicine rules refuse to lower any of it.

Wis. Stat. § 448.30 · verified Sep 2, 2026

Wyoming defines both halves of the question in the Medical Practice Act. A “physician-patient relationship” means a relationship between a licensee and any person formed for the purpose of the licensee providing medical diagnosis or treatment, whether or not for compensation — a purpose test, with no in-person…

Wyo. Stat. Ann. §33-26-102(a)(xx) · verified Sep 3, 2026