State boards keep an eye on medical spas

A Massachusetts task force may provide a model for other boards to follow.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Dec. 3, 2007.

Some state medical boards are scrambling to regulate services at medical spas across the country to ensure that patients are safe and that physicians perform or supervise certain procedures properly.

Boards are taking action as the number of spas continues to grow. There are more than 1,000 in the United States, offering services such as laser hair removal, chemical peels, Botox injections and microdermabrasion in resort-like settings. Typically, a physician or other licensed health care professional has an ownership interest, is on staff or provides supervision at the spa, board officials said.

Thus far, many boards have approached oversight piecemeal, responding to complaints from patients or physicians on a particular procedure and creating rules on it. One major problem is that different practitioners -- such as aestheticians, cosmetologists and nurses -- do various procedures, and each is regulated by a different board in most states.

But as the number of spas increases, board officials say they are boosting their efforts to keep up with the pace. Massachusetts, for example, has formed a medical spa task force to draft standards and regulations, attracting attention from other boards interested to see what it proposes.

"There is a need because this is a growing area of interest for the consumer, and we have to protect the public," said task force Chair Nancy Achin Audesse, executive director of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. "There is a huge gap in oversight, and it's a huge opportunity for us to make a difference in patient protection."