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Long-term Cosmetic Use of Botulinum Toxin Type A
In the United States, the cosmetic use of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) has continued to grow over the last 15 years, according to multispecialty...
Noninvasive cosmetic surgery procedures continue to increase in number, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Furthermore, these procedures are being performed in the offices of a growing number of physician specialties. As demand increases and offices become busy, there is increased delegation of these procedures to nurses, physician assistants, aestheticians, and medical assistants.
Austin et al (Dermatol Surg. 2015;41:827-832.) performed an Internet-based survey of physician members of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery to evaluate the delegation practices among the various specialties. The survey asked for physician training, age, gender, residency, and geographic location, as well as a breakdown of how much of their practice involved cosmetic procedures. Respondents were asked if they delegate procedures, to whom do they delegate (eg, registered nurse, physician assistant, MAs), and which procedures they delegate. A point system was used to give a score based on the perceived level of education and/or training of the person delegated to perform a procedure: do not delegate (1); physician assistant or nurse practitioner (2); registered nurse (3); and MA, aesthetician, or other (4).
Respondents included 823 physicians: 521 dermatologists and 302 nondermatologists. Of the respondents, 291 of dermatologists (55.9%) and 223 of nondermatologist physicians (73.8%) delegated cosmetic procedures. Procedures most often delegated by dermatologists compared to nondermatologists included chemical peels, neuromodulator and filler injections, laser hair removal, pulsed dye laser, tattoo removal, intense pulsed light, nonablative factional laser, and sclerotherapy.
The outcome of this survey shows that delegating certain cosmetic procedures is common, with more than half of all survey respondents delegating at least 1 cosmetic procedure. Dermatologists, as a whole, delegated less frequently than nondermatologist physicians, and when they did, dermatologists delegated to higher-level providers compared to nondermatologists. Medical practices in which the focus is primarily cosmetic and in those in which the physician is older also were more likely to delegate procedures.
What’s the issue?
There is tremendous variability between states about who is competent to perform many of the noninvasive cosmetic procedures. Some state medical boards specify the type of provider and the procedures allowed, while other states have no policy. However, this rule is changing, and there are more regulations being brought before the state medical boards with the goal of ensuring patient safety. As the demand for noninvasive procedures continues to grow, there will be an increase in the number of nonphysician providers performing these procedures. Patient safety should be at the forefront of all legislation, but at the same time there should be training courses and oversight boards to allow for safe delegation. Do you see yourself delegating more of these noninvasive procedures in the future?
