I've been offered the opportunity to become spa director of a medspa owned and managed by a physician . Pros? Cons? Typical compensation for doing this?

Why isn't the other doc the director? Is there a problem with her skills or credentials?

If you are not there supervising medical procedures and something goes wrong with a patient , guess whose medical license is now in jeopardy?

Oh yes, and why would you need to be the director if it is being "run by another physician"? That sounds really odd, really strange and is causing 100s of warning alarms to go off in my head. Would you provide more clarification regarding the physician who runs the med spa? What to they actually do there and why would you be needed as a medical director anyway? Who made contact with you about this position to start with?

I am amazed that so many docs are willing to RISK it all without checking the laws about what you are doing.

If your name is used for anything it is because YOU MUST HAVE ALLOWED IT. Whoever is using it wants to attract more business by assuring a client that they have a doctor because NO DOCTOR WOULD BE INVOLVED WITH A SCHEME THAT PUTS A PATIENT AT RISK UNNECESSARILY. No mention is made of the fact that there is no doc on site to review the history and supervise the procedure or that the doc is not a plastic surgeon or dermatologist Cases are in the books that cover this. The name on the door and the one with the HIGHEST degree of training is the one who usually bears the risk as someone has to be liable The one with the training should know better.

DO NOT EVER TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT SEEING THE PATIENT AND ISSUING A SPECIFIC ORDER TO A PERSON YOU KNOW TO BE CAPABLE, OR ELSE.... IS IT REALLY WORTH IT? There are much too many people who NEVER see a doc and have serious medical problems for which certain procedures are contraindicated.

There's an aesthetician in my little town who is employing a local doctor as her medical director. I advised him to run for his life. She can't open a med spa without an MD. Why would any doc work for a freaking aesthetician?

NO REASON!!
He may think by being in contact with many women who are interested in cosmetic surgery he will get some fall out for himself. If he has been in practice for a while and has time to SPARE.... to me that indicates business is slowing dow or he would NOT have the time to do it.

He wil. find out that patients who are thinking about any procedure are now checking things out. Computers are partly responsible for this, thank goodness. The educated patient is easier to talk to. Not all procedures end up the way the patient IMAGINES. We had pictures of Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly in the office. Women came in and pointed to one of them and said,"That's the model I want". Just like being in a SUPERMARKET AND CHOOSING A CHICKEN. Sometimes we had to talk her out of it OR WE WOULD NOT DO IT.

Pam the answer is doctors are basically stupid. They know medicine but in general business practice they miss the big picture. When offered a position such as a medi spa they get a few thousand dollars a month for what they believe is very little work. They never really think about the consequences or that if the medical community and the law says someone can not buy a medical laser without a medical license or run an office that in essence they are offering their license up to persons not qualified to do so themselves. Often when the S hits the fan they try to run.
In essence what they are doing is granting medical privledges to persons who dont have the qualifications and by the way doctors do not have the authority to extend that, I can not take a lay person and teach them medicine and then say okay go out there and fire up that laser.

The laughable thing is when I hear plastic surgeons cry that their money is drying up. I always say remember when you charged $500 for your chemical peel well that cute little spa you lent your license to is now offering it for $125 take that $3000/month and kiss the rest of your practice good bye.

So Pam its simple stupid greed.

The spa is run by a nurse and the owner is a dentist not an M.D.. I do have a reason for considering this but I probably won't do it as I have the same concerns as those voiced above. She wants to buy a laser and can't of course without a medical director ....I know...I know.

M. Wilkins- I guess it depends on just about everything-lol!

My medspa is partly owned by a dentist and he brings a lot to the table. If the MedSpa is currently offering cosmetic dental procedures- it would be very easy to piggyback onto that and have a nice pool of potential patients to market to.

Can you look at their books? How much are they doing now (profit) what are they looking to make with you? Based on that look at either a flat rate of pay (ie: flat 5K per month) and maybe ramp up to a % based on how much business will be attained based on this new model.

the cons would be of course: The liability for a patient's adverse reactions to laser treatments. As in a burn.

You must have a clear cut plan for patient care if you are not on site, and it must be enforced with chart audits etc. Get everything upfront and in writing and have your attorney look over each and every document. You should probably have an escape clause to dissolve the relationship should you need to and explicit directions on who the patient's charts "belong" to in the event you leave the MedSpa.

If you do sign on and she buys a laser- I would insist that you are trained alongside with her on *this* new laser- you should know all the settings etc. to audit her charts and be able to manage the patients expectations. Set parameters for who she can treat ie: Skin type 5 & 6? Would you be reviewing each medical history before treatment or leave it to her to delay treatment if there is a medical contraindication?

have you checked with your malpractice provider for what their insurance covers in regards to MedSpas?

I think it sounds like an interesting opportunity, but there are a lot of logistics to handle.

Yes, the compensation's good. But will you risk your license for that money?