HB 25-1024 requires additional consumer disclosures when a licensed physician or advanced practice registered nurse delegates medical-aesthetic services to an individual who is not a licensed health-care provider. The bill defines “medical-aesthetic services” as therapeutic procedures used in aesthetics and requires the supervising licensee to post a visible notice at the service location, identify the licensee by name and license number, provide contact and complaint information, and disclose on the unlicensed individual’s website and advertising that the services are delegated. It also requires a signed informed consent form for each patient and retention of that consent for at least seven years.
The bill also makes related statutory updates to Colorado’s definitions and recordkeeping provisions. It amends definitions in the physician and nursing practice statutes, clarifies that telemedicine records are part of a patient’s medical record, and updates a rural provider grant program definition to match the revised telemedicine language. The bill expressly does not apply to facilities regulated under Title 25, which limits its reach to the delegation relationship described in the bill rather than broader facility-based care.
Impact
HB 25-1024 adds new disclosure and informed-consent requirements to the Colorado Medical Practice Act and the Nurse Practice Act for delegated medical-aesthetic services performed by unlicensed individuals under a physician or advanced practice registered nurse. It creates new sections in the statutes governing physicians and APRNs, and it amends related definitions in the health-care records and rural provider access statutes to conform telemedicine terminology. The practical effect is to impose notice, advertising, consent, and record-retention duties on supervising licensees and to give patients clearer information about who is providing aesthetic procedures and under whose authority.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have had generally favorable support in both chambers. It advanced out of the House Health & Human Services Committee unanimously, passed House third reading by a wide margin, and then cleared the Senate Health & Human Services Committee and Senate third reading with comfortable majorities. The vote pattern suggests broad agreement on the need for transparency in delegated aesthetic services and little organized opposition in the recorded votes.
Contention
The main policy issue reflected in the bill is consumer transparency versus the existing practice of delegating aesthetic procedures to non-licensed personnel. Supporters appear to favor disclosure, informed consent, and clear identification of the supervising clinician to protect patients and reduce confusion about who is responsible for care. Any potential concern would likely come from providers or businesses that use delegated aesthetic services and may view the notice, consent, and advertising requirements as added administrative burden or as a constraint on their business model, but the recorded votes show limited overt contention.