> Watch Dr. Carney discuss top procedures and see before-and-after images.
Dr. Patrick S. Carney, a board-certified dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon, opened his fifth clinic in 2003. But it was different than any of his previous offices. It had a different name, and a very different look.
The lobby of Skin Speaks Spa MD in Burnsville looks less, well, medical and more like a beauty spa, with bright pink walls, a grand stone fountain, and a stylishly curvilinear reception desk. It welcomes visitors to a local example of one of the fastest-growing types of clinical facilities in the country—the medical spa.
Medical spas aren't to be confused with day spas, which offer services like facials, massages, and body wraps intended to refresh and revive the skin. Few medical spas provide these services. What they do offer are cosmetic procedures, many of which involve the use of medical devices—particularly lasers used to permanently remove hair, reduce fine lines and acne scars, and tighten skin. Medical spas also offer injections of Botox, a muscle relaxant, and appearance-enhancing "dermal fillers" like Restylane and Juvederm.
While many of these procedures have long been performed by plastic surgeons, cosmetic facial surgeons, and dermatologists within their medical practices, some physicians, like Carney, have now entered into a whole new arena by offering such services in swank spa-like settings.
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| Dr. Patrick S. Carney and Queenie Dahlin (right). Photograph by Sara Jorde. |
Typically, the procedures offered at medical spas are elective and thus not covered by insurance. But that hasn't stopped aging baby boomers and even young professionals from flocking to medical spas for treatments that promise to erase or prevent the ravages of time. Currently, a dozen or so medical spas, owned by plastic surgeons and dermatologists, are scattered throughout the Twin Cities. Another 50 are owned by registered nurses, aestheticians, entrepreneurs, and others who aren't MDs. Unlike some states, Minnesota doesn't require that medical facilities be owned by physicians. (Medical spas, since they use lasers and other devices, are considered medical facilities.)
Now some of the state's "core physicians"—dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and cosmetic facial surgeons, whose practices fit most closely with the medical spa service model, and who often oversee procedures, or at least determine procedure protocols, at these facilities—want to require medical spas to have supervising physicians on site at least some of the time. They also want to limit the performance of certain treatments to physicians and nurse practitioners.
Many medical spa owners, particularly (though not solely) non-MDs, believe
that the additional expense is unwarranted, and that certain physicians are
trying to keep the medical spa business largely to themselves. The Minnesota
Medical Association has staked out a position of its own. So far, no legislation
has been introduced. But many in the industry expect the state to tighten
regulations on medical spas.
