The short answer for Alabama. Physician. An RN performing laser hair removal is expected to have physician presence during the procedure.
A good faith exam is a clinical evaluation by a licensed provider, before treatment, establishing that the treatment is appropriate for that patient. What differs between states is who is allowed to perform it, whether it may happen remotely, and what has to be documented. This page sets out what we have verified for Alabama against primary sources, and says so plainly where a question is unsettled.
Who may perform the good faith exam in Alabama
Physician. An RN performing laser hair removal is expected to have physician presence during the procedure.
Medical director. A designated medical director who is a licensed physician, responsible for written protocols and active supervision of delegated tasks.
Delegation and supervision. A collaborating physician must deliver 10% of a CRNP’s scheduled hours ON SITE while the CRNP is inside the two-year / 4,000-hour window; after it, meet no less than quarterly, and visit remote practice sites no less than twice a year.
The gate that catches operators in Alabama
The 10% arithmetic. A CRNP working 32 hours a week needs roughly three and a quarter hours of on-site physician presence every week. Aesthetic clinics are not among the settings excluded from the minimum presence hours.
That is a staffing commitment, not a retainer. Do the arithmetic before you sign.
What makes the exam defensible
Nobody is ever asked to produce a good faith exam on a good day. The request arrives after a complication, a board complaint, an insurance audit or a buyer’s diligence. Five things decide whether what you hand over helps you:
- A qualified practitioner, permitted in that state, actually performed it.
- A real evaluation happened — history, indications, contraindications, and a decision.
- The treatment plan and the order are specific: drug or device, site, dose or settings.
- Informed consent was taken and recorded before treatment, not after.
- The record still exists, unaltered and retrievable, two years later when somebody asks.
Only the first of those is state-specific. The other four fail in exactly the same way in Alabama as everywhere else, and they are where most exam processes actually break — not on the licence question, but on documentation nobody kept.
How Alabama sits on structure
Corporate practice of medicine. Not strictly prohibited. Non-physicians may own; confirm the entity with Alabama counsel.
The exam and the structure are separate questions and they fail separately. A perfectly documented exam performed inside an entity that may not lawfully deliver the service is still a problem, and a clean entity does not save a rubber-stamped exam. See medical direction in Alabama for the structure side.
What MDside provides in Alabama
- Alabama-licensed physicians performing the exam themselves — not a queue of signatures.
- A written evaluation, treatment plan and order per patient, in a record you keep and can export.
- Protocols and delegation written to Alabama, matched to the services actually on your menu.
- A named Alabama medical director doing the work, where your structure needs one.
- 503A and 503B pharmacy relationships and in-house lab draws where the treatment calls for them.
Book a call and we will read your current exam process against the five tests above, in Alabama and any other state you operate in. The review is free and you are not obliged to use us for the fix.
Read the detail on Alabama
Frequently asked questions
Who can perform a good faith exam in Alabama?
Physician. An RN performing laser hair removal is expected to have physician presence during the procedure.
Can the exam be done by telehealth in Alabama?
That depends on the state rule above and on the treatment. Where we have verified a restriction it is stated on this page; where the position is unsettled we say so rather than guess, and we confirm it with the board before you build a remote funnel.
Does Alabama require a physician medical director?
A designated medical director who is a licensed physician, responsible for written protocols and active supervision of delegated tasks.
What happens if the exam is not documented?
The exam effectively did not happen. In a complaint, an audit or a sale, an undocumented evaluation is treated as no evaluation — which is why the record, not the call, is the thing you are actually buying.
Primary sources for Alabama: Alabama collaborative practice rules (10% on-site presence; quarterly meetings; twice-yearly remote site visits). Last reviewed 2026-09-03. Corrections are welcome and get made: contact us.
General information about good faith exams and practice structure in Alabama, not legal advice. Requirements differ by state and change often. Confirm your obligations with healthcare counsel licensed in Alabama.