Not many people have heard about Colorado Medical Rule 800. This is a statute of the Colorado Medical Board that regulates what type of procedures can be performed without a physician present on the premises, which can be delegated to nurses or physician extenders when the physician is not present in the office.
It was originally designed for medical centers, such as Dialysis Centers, so nephrologists could treat patients in their clinic while seeing them in hospitals and other medical clinics. This system improved patient care and safety, allowing patients to receive the dialysis care they needed and deserved while the physician attended to other sick patients.
Download: Colorado Rule (Word .DOC File)
Is the rule being abused?
Recently, the statute has been abused by cosmetic medispas and free-standing cosmetic clinics that are offering medical procedures, such as laser procedures, BOTOX, and filler injections, supposedly. At the same time, an off-site physician ‘supervises‘ these procedures.
The ‘Ghost‘ physician may be hundreds of miles away, across town, or even out of state, allowing cosmetic chains and medispas to operate unsupervised by physician oversight.
This would all be fine, assuming no complications would arise. Unfortunately, procedures can go awry, and the patient suffers permanent injury or complications that go untreated, and the patient suffers even permanent harm. Many unscrupulous ‘injectors and laser technicians‘ are even afraid to present these cases to the physician supervisor, fearing that the physician will close down the center or not allow the clinic to operate under their medical license. Thus forcing the clinic to find another physician willing to let them borrow their medical license to keep performing treatments and keep these clinics open.
This is clearly practicing medicine without a license in the state of Colorado, and our clinic has seen numerous injuries, laser burns, and improper medical techniques performed by these unsupervised clinics.
Is the rule being violated?
When contacting the medical supervisor, they are often surprised to learn that these complications exist and that the clinic or medspa never notified them of their occurrence, which clearly violates Rule 800.
The supervising physician is often not even trained in cosmetic procedures and has no business lending their license to practice them. A family physician, OB/GYN, Neurologist, Dentist, or Chiropractor may have extensive expertise in their medical specialty. Still, they don’t know the difference between pulse duration or pulse width on a laser procedure performed in a laser hair removal center attached to their medical license.
Is Colorado finally cracking down on unsupervised clinics?
The state is cracking down on these unlicensed and physician-unsupervised clinics. Some are forced to close down or undergo extra training; others are issued cease-and-desist motions.
The Rocky Mountain Laser Center is proud to be at the cutting edge in providing patients with the most complete patient safety setting available. Our Board-Certified Dermatologists are always in the office to answer questions and assess and evaluate all patients before cosmetic procedures are performed.
What can you do?
Before undergoing a laser hair removal procedure, CoolSculpting procedure, or Botox or filler injection, ask to speak to the physician on-site to assure you that you are receiving exceptional medical treatment. Otherwise, you may be out of luck if you undergo a medical complication.