California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer
California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, The Right Choice. Named a Top Lawyer 13 Years in a Row and Today With Over 45 Years of Experience.
When contemplating forming a medical corporation to operate a California med spa and an MSO to provide staffing and other administrative services, with the additional cost of outfitting a coach to serve as your California mobile med spa, you need California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson who specializes in California mobile med spas and mobile IV hydration infusion therapy med spas to advise you and guide you through the laws and regulations that govern these services in California.
When you call California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson for a free consultation, California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson will provide you with an easy to understand overview of what’s required for a med spa, or mobile IV hydration infusion therapy business. In just a short phone call, you’ll learn how we’ve helped registered nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants and other medical professionals like you from all over California. And don’t worry about needing to come to our office. We handle everything with emails and mail to save you the need to come see us.
We can provide the legal advice, assistance and legal agreements to get your med spa or IV hydration business up and running quickly and in compliance with California law and California Medical Board requirements whether you’re in San Francisco, Santa Rosa, San Jose or Santa Barbara. We’ve helped clients throughout California in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Palm Springs as well.
California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson can take you through the steps that need to be followed in order to be in compliance with California law not only before you see your first patient, but what procedures are required once you are operating your California mobile med spa.
When you consider the time and costs you will need to spend to be in compliance, the corporate structures, documents, trademark protection and documentation of your medical services, you need to ensure all your efforts are not in vain.
At the Law Offices of California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, we provide legal advice, draft contracts and business agreements and provide the right corporate structures for mobile med spas, trademark and copyright protection and we can help you understand the differences in what is allowed to be performed by the California Medical Corporation and the Medical Services Organization (MSO) which are part and parcel of a California mobile med spa.
California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson offers California mobile med spa owners with more than 45 years of representing business and corporate clients and is ready today to assist you today in your endeavors to grow and prosper without legal worries.
When you work with California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, you’re working with with an attorney who has been named a 2023 Top Lawyer in the prestigious Palm Springs Life Magazine year after year, now for 13 years in a row, and who’s been named a “Superb” Lawyer, their highest rating, by Avvo, which rates attorneys all across the U.S. California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is one of those rare attorneys with experience not only representing small and medium sized businesses in California, but a lawyer who has also represented multi-national corporations internationally as well while working in London and one who has been named a Top Lawyer year after year.
With over 40 years of experience as a highly acclaimed attorney with law degrees in both California and in Great Britain and named as a Top Lawyer for the last 13 years in a row, California Mobile IV Hydration Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is also the lawyer to call for your mobile IV hydration business or med spa.
Choosing The Right California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer
If you have a mobile med spa, or are in the process of creating a California mobile medical spa, you need to ensure you have the proper licensing, the right people who are both qualified and required by California law to be involved in the formation of a med spa and a California med spa lawyer for your entity is essential.
You not only need to the right business entities in California, but a complete understanding of the laws and regulations which not only govern medical spas but the separate regulations which govern mobile med spas in order to avoid being in violation of the law and subject to investigation by the California medical board.
California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has been recognized by the prestigious Palm Springs Life Magazine as One of the Top Lawyers of 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011. He’s been called “Brilliant” and “A Legend.” If you want a top lawyer on your side for your mobile med spa in California, call Sebastian Gibson today at (760) 776-1810.
If you want your California mobile med spa set up correctly from the start, call the Law Firm of California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson and put a top-rated law firm on your side protecting your best interests and your assets from claims for medical malpractice and your licenses from revocation.
Mobile Med Spa Regulations
A mobile med spa may operate as an adjunct to a licensed health facility or to a licensed clinic or as an independent-freestanding clinic.
They must be licensed but no additional license fee is imposed solely because a service is to be provided in a mobile med spa vehicle.
The mobile med spa vehicle must comply with the applicable requirements of the Vehicle Code, have a vehicle identification number, and bear an insignia issued by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Before operating a mobile med spa it must be licensed separately or as an addition to another med spa license. It is not required that each site where the mobile med spa operates be licensed or approved by the California Department of Public Health unless the mobile med spa will be operating outside of the proposed area or areas specified in the application for its license.
Mobile Med Spa Licenses
An application for a license must include (1) The proposed service to be provided;
(2) The expected hours and days of operation; (3) The type and the manufacturer of the mobile vehicle contemplated; and (4) The proposed area or areas where the mobile med spa will be providing services.
Prior to obtaining approval to operate a mobile med spa, an onsite inspection is performed, including, but not limited to, a review of policies and procedures. Mobile med spa vehicles are also periodically inspected and reviewed for compliance.
Any officer, employee, or agent of the Department of Public Health may enter and inspect any mobile med spa vehicle and may have access to and inspect any document, file, or other record, of a mobile med spa vehicle or of a parent facility operating a mobile med spa, at any reasonable time to assure compliance with, or to prevent violation of, California law.
Services offered by a mobile med spa vehicle is then listed as approved services on the license granted.
Licenses issued authorizing operation of a mobile med spa as an addition to existing parent facility license must be posted at the parent facility. Licenses authorizing operation of an independent mobile med spa must be posted at the administrative headquarters of the licensee. A true copy of the license must also be posted within the mobile med spa vehicle.
Mobile Med Spa Vehicles
Mobile med spa vehicles must be of sufficient size and arranged in a manner that is appropriate for the provision of those medical spa services it is licensed to provide.
It must be equipped with appropriate utilities for the comfort and safety of patients, and it must be maintained in good repair and in a clean and sanitary manner.
Any proposed modifications to previously approved services and procedures must first be reviewed and approved before they are implemented. Modifications to the mobile med spa vehicle or coach must also be approved.
The licensee of the mobile med spa must be report the location of the site at least 24 hours prior to the operation of a mobile med spa at any site for the first time.
Required Written Policies of Mobile Med Spas
There must be written policies established by the licensee which govern the services that the mobile med spa provides. The policies shall include, but shall not be limited to, policies related to patient care, personnel training and orientation, personnel supervision, and evaluation of services provided by the mobile med spa.
There must be written policies regarding patient selection criteria.
The med spa licensee must develop and implement the written policies and procedures for the mobile med spa in consultation with other appropriate health care professionals and ensure that the written policies and procedures are consistent with the policies and procedures of the parent facility, if any.
The licensee must ensure that the policies and written procedures shall be approved by the governing body, administration, and medical staff of the licensee, where appropriate.
Written policies and procedures include, but are not limited to (1) Scope of services; (2) Procedures for the performance of the services provided; (3) Quality assurance; (4) Infection control; (5) Medical record documentation of services provided, as appropriate; (6) Transport of patients, including, but not limited to, method, special equipment, necessary personnel, and protection from inclement weather; (7) Emergency services and evacuation plan for the mobile med spa including but not limited to, provisions for communication with, and transportation to, one or more nearby hospitals and other health facilities as needed to meet medical emergencies and procedures that include personnel needed to assist in the transfer, as well as provisions for meeting medical needs to accommodate the emergency transfer; (8) Location; (9) Schedule of mobile med spa services;
A mobile med spa must also maintain clinical records on each patient, in accordance with regulations, and maintain a mobile med spa services log that shall include, but shall not be limited to, the patient chart or identification number, the name, age, and sex of patient and the site, date, time, and as appropriate, duration of procedures.
Procedures and services to be provided in the mobile med spa shall be in accordance with recognized acceptable standards of practice.
A mobile medical spa must have supplies and equipment to meet the needs of the patients served.
Any mobile med spa X-ray equipment must be in compliance with the requirements in the California Radiation Control Regulations.
The mobile med spa shall have fire safety equipment as specified by the fire authority having jurisdiction, including but not limited to, at least two fire extinguishers of 2A:20 BC rating.
The licensee must have documented evidence of preventative maintenance and calibration procedures of mobile medical spa equipment shall conform to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Use of the equipment in mobile medical spa vehicles shall conform to the manufacturer’s specifications.
And the mobile medical spa vehicle must have a telecommunications device.
Mobile IV Hydration Treatment Med Spas
Mobile IV hydration med spas are now being formed to operate all across California without the use of med spa vehicles such as Airstream coaches. IV infusion therapy treatments are commonly provided to treat colds, migraines, the flu, hangovers, food poisoning, low energy, fatigue, jet lag, and chronic illnesses. The cost of an IV drip hydration therapy in a person’s home can range from less than $200 to more than $500.
While it is a gray area in California as in other states such as Arizona as to whether IV drip hydration can be administered in a person’s home rather than in a medical facility such as a med spa in a building, mobile IV hydration infusion therapy med spas are springing up all over California and other states as well.
A Mobile IV Hydration Med Spa must still have a medical director who oversees and supervises the registered nurses who administer IV drip hydration and who prescribes the IV infusion therapy treatment for a client in their home.
This requirement means that a Professional Medical Corporation must be formed with the Medical Director owning at least 51% of the shares and the remaining 49% owned by one or more other medical professionals, commonly the registered nurse who will be administering the IV therapy.
Because the rendering of fluids and vitamins is the practice of medicine, lay persons may not obtain any profits from the Professional Medical Corporation.
A lay person’s involvement in a mobile IV hydration infusion therapy med spa can only consist of being employed by an MSO to handle administrative matters without any possibility of partaking in the profits of the IV hydration professional medical corporation.
California Mobile IV Hydration Med Spa Legal Requirements
California mobile IV hydration infusion therapy med spas require a great number of legal documents. It is common to not only have a medical director agreement, stock purchase agreements, a buy-sell agreement, and if an MSO is formed as well as a Professional Medical Corporation, an MSA agreement as well.
In addition to all of the legal contracts and time involved in forming both a Professional Medical Corporation for the medical director and the registered nurse or other medical professionals and the MSO’s LLC, creating organizational minutes, issuing shares, and creating Articles of Incorporation, an Operating Agreement and other matters, there are also licenses and permits to be obtained as well as an application to the California Medical Board for approval of the use of a fictitious name by the mobile med spa.
Mobile Med Spa Services – Medical Treatments
Med spas may evoke images of candles and soothing music, but in reality they are in the business of the practice of medicine. It is incumbent that med spas operate in accordance with all the provisions of the law and the regulations set forth by the California Medical Board.
Med spas provide services which include laser treatments, Botox and cosmetic filler injections and there is a tendency for the public to believe they are cosmetic rather than medical treatments.
The use of prescriptive drugs and devices, however, in the view of the Medical Board of California which licenses and disciplines physicians, surgeons and certain allied healthcare professionals in California, the practice of medicine and the same laws and regulations apply to these types of treatments.
What this means is that the standards for informed consent, delegation to health professionals, as well as responsibility and liability apply to physicians and “medical directors” associated with med spas.
California law also governs who is allowed to set up a California med spa and a mobile med spa. Lay people absolutely may not.
Supervision by Mobile Med Spa Physicians
Physicians associated with a med spa or a mobile med spa remain responsible for ensuring the experience, training and education of those performing delegated functions. It remains the responsibility of the physician to examine a patient before delegating a task to a registered nurse when prescriptive drugs and devices will be used whether the med spa is mobile or not.
Mobile Med Spa Emergencies
A nurse must operate under guidelines which describe the circumstances under which a nurse must immediately communicate with the patient’s physician concerning the patient’s condition. That means the mobile med spa physician must be immediately reachable and be within a geographical distance that enables them to effectively provide supervision and support when needed. If a mobile med spa operates too far from the mobile med spa physician to be able to provide assistance in an emergency, the mobile med spa could be operating outside the law.
Mobile Med Spa Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners are granted more autonomy than registered nurses in med spas and mobile med spas. In cosmetic procedures they may be delegated the task of providing the appropriate prior examination and ordering the drug or prescriptive device when operating under appropriate guidelines and procedures.
Mobile Med Spa Physician Assistants (PAs)
The regulation of PAs are much more specific. PAs may only be delegated tasks that are part of the physician’s customary practice. If cosmetic medicine is not part of the physician’s customary practice, the physician may not supervise a PA providing cosmetic procedures.
PAs may be delegated the task of an appropriate prior examination of the patient, but there are further rules on how physicians must provide their supervision and evaluation.
Supervision of All Mobile Med Spa Health Professionals by the Mobile Med Spa Physician
Physicians must actually and in reality supervise, not simply lend their license to a mobile med spa. A supervising physician who does not give direction, oversee or inspect, is not performing the task of supervising and is in violation of the law.
Qualifications of the Mobile Med Spa Physician Supervisor
Physicians may only delegate and supervise procedures that they too are capable of performing. While the law does not require board certification to perform cosmetic procedures, the physician must still have sufficient knowledge and training in the procedures being performed.
Business Arrangements With a Med Spa Physician
Under California law, laypersons or lay entities may not own any part of a medical practice. Physicians must either own the practice, or must be employed or contracted by a physician-owned practice or a medical corporation. The majority of stock in a medical corporation must be owned by California licensed physicians, with no more than 49% owned by other licensed health care professionals such as other licensed doctors, registered nurses, and licensed physicians assistants.
Other business arrangements may violate the prohibition against fee-splitting or giving any consideration for patient referrals.
Additionally, the practice of lay-owned businesses hiring medical directors is also prohibited. According to the Medical Board of California, a physician who acts as medical director of a lay-owned business is aiding and abetting the unlicensed practice of medicine.
Physicians who become employees or contractors of lay-owned med spas and violate other provisions of the laws may be disciplined for unprofessional conduct.
Permitted Shareholders in the California Med Spa Medical Corporation
Pursuant to the California Professional Corporation Act, the following persons may own shares in a California Medical Corporation. However, as a licensed medical physician must own 51% or more of the medical corporation, the other shareholders made up of these professionals may own no more than 49 % of it. The allowed types of persons who may own the remaining 49% of the medical corporation include Licensed doctors of podiatric medicine, Licensed psychologists, Registered nurses, Licensed optometrists, Licensed marriage and family therapists, Licensed clinical social workers, Licensed physician assistants, Licensed chiropractors, Licensed acupuncturists, Naturopathic doctors, Licensed professional clinical counselors, Licensed physical therapists, Licensed pharmacists, and Licensed midwives.
Medical Service Organizations (MSOs)
According to the Medical Board of California, “Management Service Organizations” (MSOs) arranging for advertising, or providing medical services rather than only providing administrative staff and services for a physician’s medical practice (non-physicians exercising controls over a physician’s medical practice, even where physicians own and operate the business) are engaging in illegal conduct.”
An MSO is the vehicle by which lay persons can be involved with a California Medical Spa. By forming a corporation or an LLC, the Medical Service Organization (which can be owned by non-medical professionals) can provide staffing to the California Medical Corporation and the Medical Director. It can lease office space, provide back office staffing (with the Medical Director still having sole responsibility in the choice of all licensed personnel), provide equipment rentals, provide input for advertising, marketing and branding without actually arranging or approving advertising, work with vendors, and provide administrative services such as billing and handling accounts payable by unlicensed persons.
The management service organization is thus the structure or entity generally utilized by lay persons which permits unlicensed persons to participate in a medical practice without being afforded a profit share. The physicians and other permitted and experienced licensed personnel as described herein on the other hand provide patient services through the professional medical corporation that they own in its entirety. A contract between the California Medical Corporation and the Medical Service Organization is then utilized to provide the terms of compensation for the involvement of the Medical Service Organization in the Medical Spa.
However, compensation for services, goods and office space must be at fair market value so as to ensure there is not any for-profit sharing in the med spa. The California Med Spa is prohibited from paying any percentage of its profits, gross or net, to the MSO in order to ensure that non-licensed persons are not enjoying any ownership in the medical spa which is in reality another form of a medical practice. The whole purpose of the laws governing Medical Spas in California are to ensure that unlicensed persons do not have ownership in a medical spa nor are acting in partnership with the licensed persons, the medical practice, the Medical Director or the Medical Corporation.
Mobile Med Spa Physician Responsibility and Risks
There is no legal scheme which allows physicians to collect fees for signing their name to an improper business arrangement to lend their license to an entity to practice medicine. Legally, the clients of a med spa are patients of the physician, and that arrangement comes with all the responsibilities and liability that goes with any other doctor-patient relationship.
Risks Involved for Medical Directors
First, there can be malpractice. If malpractice has occurred, the practitioners including the Medical Director may be liable in damages if a patient gets injured and files a lawsuit. Worse than that, if that’s not bad enough, the medical board for the practitioners can pursue disciplinary proceedings against the practitioners responsible.
Compliance with the rules governing medical spas and the obligations of the licensed practitioners and the medical director is essential. If a physician experienced in performing all the procedures actually performs them, the medical spa is more likely to be in compliance with California law. But if the Medical Director is never present at the site of the Medical Spa and personnel are performing procedures they are unfamiliar with or have little experience performing, the medical spa and the Medical Director are likely at risk for allowing such a situation to occur.
In terms of contracts, agreements and directives for a California med spa, there should be an overall operational plan for the spa as well as a compliance plan to remove some of the risk to a Medical Director. Safe levels of physician supervision to ensure proper patient care is critical. There should be understandable and standardized procedures for nurse practitioners and registered nurses that will be followed and not simply set forth on paper and then ignored. The physicians assistants should have a delegation of services agreement to protect the PA as well as the Medical Director and rules need to be set forth and followed regarding the dispensing of medications, and in particular any controlled substances.
In the event a medical spa is investigated, the scope of practice of every person who’s part of the Medical Director’s staff needs to be clear as to what procedures they’re allowed to perform and what to do in the event of a problem. It needs to be clear not just to any investigators but also to patients that a doctor is in charge of the medical spa and that the spa is not a front for selling services for which they are unauthorized to perform or in the practice of selling or hawking unnecessary procedures.
False or misleading advertising by a medical spa is another area of concern in this field. Making unsubstantiated or false claims about products is yet another way a medical spa can step over the line and find themselves in trouble.
Finally, the Medical Director must ensure that everyone involved with the medical spa is aware of anti-kickback statutes and fee-splitting rules, what they prohibit and understands the consequences if they violate them.
The Medical Director Has Ultimate Responsibility for Medical Decisions, Not Lay Persons In A Mobile Medical Spa
The laws and regulations which govern California Medical Spas are set up to ensure that the Medical Director who is the supervising physician must have sole control over all health care decisions. Such decisions include when referrals must be made to other physicians, not only when there’s a problem, but also when greater knowledge and experience are required, decisions involving hiring and firing of staff such as physician assistants and technicians based on their competency, coding and billing procedures, hours, medical equipment purchases or leases, advertising and other issues which affect the quality of service. Because the Medical Director has ultimate responsibility for medical decisions, it is the Medical Director’s license that’s on the line in a California Medical Spa.
California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, the Right Choice
California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has been chosen one of the Top Lawyers for the past 13 years by Palm Springs Life Magazine for good reason. The author of thousands of articles on the internet, California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has also written for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal newspapers and is a published book author with sales throughout the U.S.
With law degrees in both the U.S. and the U.K., California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has over 40 years of experience in California and in England. He’s been frequently interviewed on radio and TV for his expertise and is widely followed on Twitter and the internet.
Choosing the right mobile health care attorney for your mobile med spa can make all the difference. California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is known for his wit and humor, and has also been named as a “Superb” Lawyer by Avvo, which rates attorneys throughout the U.S.
How We Can Help With Your Legal Matters In Your Mobile Med Spa Operation
From Palm Springs and Palm Desert, to Orange County and San Diego, our mobile health care expertise can be of assistance to you. California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson can assist you in your mobile med spa legal matters from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, from Santa Barbara to San Diego and from Orange County to San Francisco. We assist clients in a wide range of business matters from Newport Beach to Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine, from cities up and down the coast of California and inland as well as to business clients in other parts of the U.S. and internationally.
Set Up A Consultation Today
If you have legal questions of how to get started as a mobile med spa in California and need a business lawyer to draft agreements or to set up your corporate structure, let us assist you and draft the agreements which will best serve your needs.
If you need assistance setting up your California mobile med spa, you’ll want to take advantage of our expertise. Simply call the number at the top of this page and talk directly with California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson.
With offices in California in Palm Desert and Newport Beach and years of experience in London, California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson can assist you with your mobile med spa legal matters throughout California.
When it matters most and you need a California mobile med spa lawyer for your endeavor, call California Mobile Med Spa Lawyer Sebastian Gibson at (760) 776-1810 to discuss how we can best assist you with your legal matters and protect your mobile med spa and mobile IV hydration med spa business.
