Pennsylvania Advertising Rules for Med Spas and Health Practices
A sourced summary of Pennsylvania's advertising and practice rules for med spas, dental, chiropractic, medical, and longevity practices. Every rule below was verified against the Pennsylvania Code or an official Commonwealth page on the date shown. Educational summary, not legal advice.
Verified against Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine sources, 2026-07-02
Educational summary for practice owners. Not legal advice.
Deceptive advertising by physicians and Board-regulated practitioners
The State Board of Medicine's unprofessional conduct regulation lists, among disciplinable conduct, advertising of a medical business which is intended to or has a tendency to deceive the public (49 Pa. Code 16.61(a)(5)). A related provision reaches guaranteeing a cure, and another reaches fraudulent practice. The standard is broad: an ad does not need to be intentionally false, a tendency to mislead is enough to support discipline under section 41 of the Medical Practice Act.
49 Pa. Code 16.61 (State Board of Medicine) checked 2026-07-02
Dental advertising: misleading claims, specialist claims, and fee advertising
The State Board of Dentistry's advertising regulation prohibits ads that are false, misleading or deceptive, including material misrepresentations, omissions of necessary facts, unjustified expectations of results, and unsubstantiated comparisons with other dentists. An ad may not hold out or imply that a dentist is a specialist unless the specialty is Board-recognized and the dentist completed ADA-approved specialty training. Fees may be advertised, but a minimum fee must be disclosed as a minimum with a note that actual fees vary by complexity, and advertised fees are binding for 60 days after publication unless the ad conspicuously stated a shorter period. At least one dentist must be named in the ad using the name on the current renewal certificate, and broadcast ads must be retained for one year.
49 Pa. Code 33.203 (State Board of Dentistry, Advertising) checked 2026-07-02
Chiropractic professional advertising
The State Board of Chiropractic's advertising rule permits ads to include office location, office hours, postgraduate degrees, chiropractic specialties, years of practice, and fees for routine services, and requires every ad to indicate the licensee's name and profession. False, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading advertising is unprofessional conduct, including claims that create false or unjustified expectations of beneficial treatment, appeals designed to inflame or play on a layperson's fears or anxieties, false specialty certification claims, and advertising free services while billing third-party payors differently without disclosure. The Board's separate unprofessional conduct rule also lists failure to include the word chiropractor, chiropractic, D.C. or a derivative in advertisements.
49 Pa. Code 5.31 and 5.81 (State Board of Chiropractic) checked 2026-07-02
Med spa ownership and who may perform cosmetic medical procedures
The Commonwealth's official business guidance states that a business performing cosmetic medical procedures is considered a medical practice in Pennsylvania and, as such, must be owned by a physician or physician group. It further states that only a practicing physician, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, or registered nurse may perform cosmetic medical procedures, and lists covered procedures including cosmetic injections, chemical peels, laser hair removal, laser skin resurfacing, IPL treatments, microneedling-type procedures, and class II devices that alter deep skin tissue. Advertising a med spa as if it were a retail wellness business rather than a medical practice sits in tension with this classification.
PA Business One-Stop Hub, Med Spas and Wellness Businesses checked 2026-07-02
Physician delegation and supervision of medical services
The Board's delegation regulation allows a medical doctor to delegate a medical service only where the delegation is consistent with accepted medical practice in the Commonwealth, the delegatee has the education, training, experience and continued competency to perform it safely, the nature of the service and the delegation are explained to the patient who does not object, and the physician remains available as appropriate to the difficulty of the procedure and the risk to the patient. A physician may not delegate a service whose performance, or whose complications, require knowledge and skill not ordinarily possessed by nonphysicians, and the physician remains responsible for the delegated service. Marketing that implies unsupervised non-physician treatment can conflict with these conditions.
49 Pa. Code 18.402 (Medical Doctor Delegation of Medical Services) checked 2026-07-02
What this means by practice type
Med spas
Pennsylvania treats a cosmetic-procedure business as a medical practice that must be owned by a physician or physician group, with procedures performed only by a physician, PA, APRN, or RN. Website and ad copy should reflect physician ownership and the delegation conditions in 49 Pa. Code 18.402, including patient notice of who performs the service. Copy that suggests an aesthetician independently performs injections or laser treatments conflicts with the published guidance.(PA Business One-Stop Hub, Med Spas and Wellness Businesses)
Dental
Pennsylvania's dental advertising rule is the most detailed of the boards reviewed. Practices running promotional pricing should note the 60-day fee-honoring requirement, the mandatory minimum-fee disclosure, the requirement to name at least one dentist in each ad, and the limits on specialist language, which is restricted to Board-recognized specialties with ADA-approved training.(49 Pa. Code 33.203)
Chiropractic
Every chiropractic ad needs the licensee's name and profession, and the Board separately lists failure to include chiropractor, chiropractic, D.C. or a derivative in ads as unprofessional conduct. The rule specifically flags fear-based appeals and free-service offers that are billed differently to insurers, both common patterns in local chiropractic marketing.(49 Pa. Code 5.31 and 5.81)
Longevity and GLP-1 clinics
Weight-loss and longevity claims fall under the general standard in 49 Pa. Code 16.61: advertising with a tendency to deceive the public, and guaranteeing a cure, are disciplinable. Outcome claims for GLP-1 programs should be framed as typical or studied results, not assured ones. Clinics serving patients remotely should also note that practitioners must hold Pennsylvania licensure to treat Pennsylvania patients.
Telehealth posture
Act 42 of 2024 established Pennsylvania's telemedicine framework, and the Department of State's Telemedicine FAQs confirm that licensed practitioners may deliver services within their existing scopes of practice via telemedicine when done according to accepted standards of care. The same standard of care applies as in an in-person setting, and out-of-state practitioners must be licensed in Pennsylvania to treat Pennsylvania patients. Advertising a statewide virtual program therefore presumes Pennsylvania licensure for every treating provider.
PA Department of State, Telemedicine FAQs (Act 42 of 2024) checked 2026-07-02
Markets in Pennsylvania
Common questions
Can a Pennsylvania med spa or practice advertise discounts and promotional pricing?
The State Board of Medicine's published rules do not address discount advertising directly; the governing standard is that advertising may not have a tendency to deceive the public. Dentistry is the exception with explicit rules: advertised fees must be honored for 60 days, minimum fees must be disclosed as minimums, and services advertised as free may not be charged for. Promotional pricing should be accurate, current, and free of hidden conditions.
Are patient testimonials allowed in Pennsylvania healthcare advertising?
None of the regulations reviewed for medicine (49 Pa. Code 16.61), dentistry (33.203), or chiropractic (5.31) address testimonials or endorsements directly. Testimonials are therefore governed by the general prohibitions on false, misleading, or deceptive advertising and on claims that create unjustified expectations of results, so atypical-result testimonials presented as typical carry risk under those standards.
Who can own a med spa in Pennsylvania?
The Commonwealth's official business guidance states that a business performing cosmetic medical procedures is considered a medical practice and must be owned by a physician or physician group, with procedures performed only by a practicing physician, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, or registered nurse. Non-physician entrepreneurs typically need a physician-owned structure rather than direct ownership of the clinical entity.
Marketing that survives your board
The free growth audit includes a compliance read of your current site and ads against your state's advertising rules.