Utah gave up on restricting who owns a med spa and instead wrote down, in unusual detail, what a cosmetic procedure is, who may supervise it, and where it may happen.
The definition sits at § 58-67-102. A cosmetic medical procedure includes the use of cosmetic medical devices to perform ablative or nonablative procedures. It excludes treatment of the ocular globe including refractive surgery, superficial procedures as defined at § 58-1-102, the application of permanent make-up, and photo therapy or lasers used for neuromusculoskeletal treatment by a licensee acting within scope.
The supervisor is a defined role
Under § 58-1-505, a cosmetic medical procedure supervisor is a physician holding an unrestricted licence under the Utah Medical Practice Act, or an advanced practice registered nurse holding an unrestricted licence under the Nurse Practice Act, in each case acting within their own scope. An individual authorised to perform a cosmetic medical procedure shall be supervised by a supervisor when performing it.
Note “unrestricted”. A licence carrying conditions, probation or restriction does not put someone in this role, which is a question worth asking before you appoint anyone.
And then the venue requirement
Cosmetic medical procedures may only be performed in a cosmetic medical facility.
Most states regulate the act and the actor. Utah adds the place. That has consequences operators rarely anticipate: pop-up events, treatments delivered at a client’s home or office, a treatment room added to a business whose primary use is something else, mobile services. Each of those raises the question of whether the location satisfies the definition, and the answer is not something to work out afterwards.
Where this bites in practice
- Mobile and event work. Convenient, popular, and squarely implicated by a venue requirement.
- Adding a room to a salon, gym or retail space, where the premises were never designed around this definition.
- Multi-use spaces shared with non-medical services.
- Expansion, where a second site is assumed to inherit the first site’s status.
Read it alongside the delegation groups
Utah also sorts who may perform what into statutory delegation groups, and imposes a hard limit on ablative procedures: a physician may not delegate an ablative cosmetic medical procedure to an individual not licensed under the Medical Practice Act or Osteopathic Medical Practice Act, subject to limited APRN exceptions.
Taken together, Utah asks three questions where most states ask one: is this a cosmetic medical procedure, who is permitted to perform it, and is this a cosmetic medical facility?
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
What is a cosmetic medical procedure in Utah?
Under § 58-67-102 it includes the use of cosmetic medical devices to perform ablative or nonablative procedures, with specific exclusions for ocular treatment, superficial procedures, permanent make-up and certain neuromusculoskeletal uses.
Who may supervise?
A physician with an unrestricted licence under the Medical Practice Act, or an APRN with an unrestricted licence under the Nurse Practice Act, acting within scope.
Where may cosmetic medical procedures be performed?
Only in a cosmetic medical facility. Confirm that your premises — and any mobile or event work — satisfy the definition.
Can ablative procedures be delegated?
A physician may not delegate an ablative cosmetic medical procedure to someone not licensed under the Medical Practice Act or Osteopathic Medical Practice Act, subject to limited APRN exceptions.
General information about Utah cosmetic medical procedure rules, not legal advice. Statutes change. Confirm your obligations with healthcare counsel licensed in Utah.