By: Chase Howard
Over the last few months, there has been a significant uptick in investigations in the “medical spa” space. The biggest points of enforcement have been in regards to supervision and scope of practice.
The various governing bodies have taken a more active role in ensuring that providers are providing services within their scope of practice as wells as enforcing the various supervision statutes.Continue reading
By: Zach Simpson
A question that I am frequently asked is do I actually need a Massage Establishment License for my chiropractic practice? The answer is it depends on the employment status of licensed massage therapist, and whose patients the massage therapist is treating.
Chapter 480, Florida Statutes, regulates the practice of massage therapy in Florida. Pursuant to this law, the facility where massage therapy is administered must be licensed separately as a massage establishment license unless it is the residence or office of the client. Under the Chiropractic Medicine Act, a chiropractic physician prescribing massage therapy for his or her patients in the chiropractic physician’s office does not need to have a massage establishment license. However, the office, does need a massage establishment license if the massage therapist is permitted to bring his or her own clients into the office for massage therapy.
In addition, the key question that many offices need answered is if your Licensed Massage Therapist is an Independent Contractor do you need to have a massage establishment license? The answer is yes, because the operative sentence of the exemption reads: “This section does not apply to a physician licensed under… chapter 460 who employs a licensed massage therapist to perform massage on the physician’s patients at the physician’s place of practice.” Be aware that an independent contractor is not an employee, and therefore the exemption will never apply if the massage therapist is an independent contractor.Continue reading