The Rhode Island Department of Health’s (RIDOH’s) expansive authority includes overseeing health care facilities and health care professionals in Rhode Island. In recent years, RIDOH has seen a steep rise in the popularity of two new healthcare industries—medical spas and IV therapy businesses.

Medical spas offer a broad range of services, from traditional esthetic services (e.g., hairdressing and manicures) to medical procedures (e.g., Botox, fillers, and laser hair removal). IV therapy services may be provided at a medical spa but are more commonly emerging as standalone businesses.

Both types of businesses advertise their panel of services as minimal risk, which typically results in their designation as spa treatments rather than medical procedures. RIDOH notes that this can lead to confusion among healthcare professionals and the public regarding each specialty’s responsibilities in providing these services.

Further, RIDOH uncovered that many businesses in the medical spa and IV therapy space have been operating without proper healthcare facility licensure and/or have providers performing procedures that are not within their scope of practice or aligned with the proper standard of care. As such, patients’ medical treatments in medical spas or IV therapy businesses have a higher risk for complications, including insufficient results (requiring additional procedures), infections, burns, and, in extreme cases, death.

Consequently, RIDOH’s Division of Healthcare Quality and Safety (DHQS), after consultation with the professional boards of licensure and discipline, issued guidance to clarify the licensure, ownership, standard of care, and standard of practice for healthcare professionals staffing medical spas and IV therapy businesses.

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