Home
Guides for med spa owners
Launching a prescription program at a med spa follows a fixed order. Certification and payment approval come first. The clinical pathway and the pharmacy path follow. Brand and intake run alongside. Certification takes the longest, so it starts before anything else is built.
Every guide on this site
Plain answers to the questions that come up before launch, in the order they usually arrive.
- How to Add Telehealth to a Med Spa (2026)How a med spa adds a prescription program without hiring a clinician or building a pharmacy relationship. What changes and what to set up first.
- How to Choose a White-Label Telehealth PlatformThe eight questions that separate a real operating arrangement from a demo, in the order a med spa should ask them. What to score and what to ignore.
- What Medication Markup Means for a Med SpaA med spa already buys from a compounding pharmacy. What changes when a platform supplies the medication, and what to ask before signing.
- White-Label Telehealth Platforms for Med Spas ComparedTen white-label telehealth platforms for med spas scored against the same criteria. What each costs, which states it covers, and where each one fits.
- Best white-label telehealth platforms for med spasEvery platform on this site, scored against the same criteria.
What is the order of the work?
Four stages, and only the first one sets the timeline.
- Certification and payment approval, started on day one.
- The clinical pathway: which clinicians cover which states.
- The pharmacy path for each medication you intend to offer.
- Brand, site and intake, which can run alongside stage one.
Starting stage four before stage one is the most common mistake. It produces a finished site waiting on an approval.
How long does it take?
The approval work sets the pace, typically 4 to 12 weeks from kickoff to first patient when certification and underwriting both start immediately. A program that begins certification late adds that wait to the end of the project.
What does it cost to launch?
Certification carries an application fee and a renewal. The application fee is $975 per website and the annual certification fee is $2,150 per website. Confirm current figures when you apply, because they change.
Treat those as the smaller numbers. The larger cost is the time between kickoff and the first billable patient, and it is the one a spreadsheet usually leaves out.
Which states can you treat in?
It depends on where your clinicians hold licenses, not where your building is. That is the practical argument for starting with a platform rather than a single local medical director, who covers one state at most.
Ask which states are live for each program before you advertise nationally. A program advertised in a state you cannot treat in creates a patient expectation you cannot meet.
What has to be decided before launch?
- Which programs you are starting with.
- The retail price, which you set.
- Who at the med spa owns the program day to day.
- How the program is marketed, and to whom.
What catches med spas out?
Two things. Marketing rules for prescription programs are stricter than for retail skincare, so copy written for a facial may not be usable. Refunds and cancellations are also worth designing before the first patient, because they decide your dispute ratio later.
Start with the platform
- What a white-label platform runsThe clinical, pharmacy and payment layer, and what the med spa keeps.
- Programs you can offerWeight management, testosterone, hair loss, HRT, peptides and skin.
- What it costsSetup, the monthly fee, and what is not charged for.
Med spa guides
- White-Label Telehealth Platforms for Med Spas Compared
- How to Add Telehealth to a Med Spa (2026)
- How to Choose a White-Label Telehealth Platform
- What Medication Markup Means for a Med Spa
What should be done first?
Certification and payment approval. Both take longer than building the site, and both can run while the brand and intake flow are built.
Can I launch in every state?
Only where the platform's clinicians are licensed. Ask which states are live for each program before advertising it.
Do I need a new website?
No. Programs can run on the site you already have, or on a separate brand if you want to keep them apart.
What is the most common mistake?
Building the site and the brand first, then starting certification. It puts the longest wait at the end of the project instead of the beginning.
Who owns the program operationally?
Name one person at the med spa. Most problems come from a program nobody owns between the front desk and the clinical team.
What rules apply to marketing?
Prescription programs carry marketing rules that retail skincare does not. Copy that works for a facial may not be usable for a prescription offer.
Start the clock on your launch
Certification is the long pole. Tell us about your med spa and we will start it alongside the rest of the build.