Texas compliance terms, in plain English
These are the terms that come up when a Texas inspector, a board, or your own paperwork uses language nobody explains. Each definition says what the thing is and which rule it comes from.
Delegating physician
The Texas-licensed MD or DO who authorizes another provider to perform a medical procedure, through signed written protocols reviewed at least annually under 22 TAC Chapter 169. A physician whose name appears on paperwork but who never reviews protocols or sees the operation is often described as a “name-only” medical director, which does not satisfy the delegation requirement.
Standing delegation order
The written protocol that records what a delegating physician has authorized, for which procedure, performed by whom, and under what conditions. Texas does not recognize verbal or informal delegation, so if it is not written down it effectively did not happen.
Good faith exam
The patient evaluation a physician, PA, or APRN performs before a medical cosmetic procedure, which establishes the provider-patient relationship and produces an individualised order for that specific patient. It can sometimes be done by telemedicine if it meets Texas telemedicine standards, but it cannot be delegated to unlicensed staff or reduced to a rubber stamp.
22 TAC Chapter 169
The Texas Medical Board rule governing physician delegation, recodified effective January 2025. It replaced the older delegation provision at 22 TAC §193.17, which has been repealed. Protocols still citing §193.17 are a reliable sign the paperwork has not been updated.
HB 3749 (“Jenifer’s Law”)
Texas legislation effective September 1, 2025 that tightened elective IV therapy provided outside a physician’s office or licensed facility. Administration is limited to physicians, PAs, APRNs, or RNs under physician supervision; ordering may be delegated only to a PA or APRN; and clinics must post the delegating physician’s name and license number with a complaint notice.
HB 300 / Texas Medical Records Privacy Act
Texas’s own health privacy law, codified at Health & Safety Code Chapter 181. It defines “covered entity” more broadly than HIPAA — broadly enough to reach businesses that never bill insurance — and requires employee privacy training within 90 days of hire.
Exposure Control Plan
The written OSHA document required by 29 CFR 1910.1030 wherever employees can reasonably be expected to contact blood or other potentially infectious material. It has to be reviewed and updated at least annually, and for dental practices it must document the evaluation of safer sharps devices.
Biological (spore) testing
Sterilizer monitoring using live bacterial spores to confirm the cycle actually kills organisms. Texas tattoo studios must spore-test every sterilizer each calendar month through an approved laboratory and retain the results; CDC guidance for dental settings, enforced through 22 TAC §108.24, is at least weekly.
Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
The written contract required before a vendor handles protected health information on your behalf — EMR platforms, booking software, billing services, imaging, shredding, and cloud photo storage all typically require one.
Security Risk Analysis
The documented assessment of risks to electronic protected health information required under 45 CFR Part 164 Subpart C. It is expected to be updated as systems and practices change rather than completed once, and it is routinely the first document requested after a complaint or breach.
Scope of practice (the “dermis line”)
The boundary that separates esthetics from medicine in Texas. Services must stay above the dermis; injections, medical needling, deeper chemical peels, and laser or IPL treatments are delegated medical procedures under the Texas Medical Board, not esthetics under TDLR.
TDLR establishment license
The license the physical location must hold, separate from each practitioner’s individual license. Standard, specialty, and mini variants exist. If you rent booths, the establishment must keep a renter list with names and license numbers producible to TDLR under 16 TAC §83.71.
HB 1778 / human trafficking prevention training
Texas legislation from 2025 that added Health & Safety Code §146.0075, requiring every employee of a tattoo or body piercing studio to complete a human trafficking prevention course approved by the HHSC executive commissioner. No employee could be required to complete the training before January 1, 2026, which makes it a recent obligation many studios have not yet documented. At least one approved course is free, the department publishes the approved list, and studios must also post the human trafficking signs required by Government Code §402.0351.
Medical waste manifest
The record showing regulated waste was transferred to a registered transporter. Tattoo studios collect sharps in rigid, biohazard-labeled containers and keep the manifests or receipts as proof of proper disposal under 25 TAC §229.411 and 30 TAC Chapter 326.
Administrative penalty
A civil fine assessed by a licensing agency rather than a court. Across the Texas boards relevant here the ceiling is generally $5,000 per violation, and each day a violation continues typically counts as a separate violation.
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