TL;DR:
Starting an IV hydration business is an exciting opportunity, especially for healthcare professionals, but it requires thorough preparation. Key steps to establish a successful IV hydration therapy business include understanding state regulations, finding a medical director, ensuring comprehensive documentation, and developing a business plan. You can create a compliant and effective IV hydration clinic by focusing on these areas.
Perhaps you’ve been invited to join a business partnership, or you’re looking for a new business opportunity; either way, an IV hydration business can be an interesting and exciting career option. The good news is that if you’re a healthcare practitioner, you are well qualified to start an IV hydration business and, with a little research and hard work, you can open a successful business. As with any business, there is much to prepare for when considering an IV hydration therapy operation. Here’s a look at what you need to know to start a successful IV hydration business.
Do you need a medical director for your IV hydration business?
What is IV Hydration?
IV hydration is a medical procedure that involves the delivery of fluids that contain water, salts, sugar, and nutrients directly into a patient’s veins through an intravenous (IV) catheter to help replenish the body’s fluids and electrolytes.
Traditionally a medical procedure used to treat dehydration, IV hydration may also be used to manage electrolyte imbalances, such as low potassium or sodium levels, and to provide nutrition to patients who cannot eat or drink orally.
In recent years, IV hydration has been a popular mode of replenishing electrolytes in athletes, celebrities, and on social media for health promotion or to rehydrate quickly after a night of drinking.
Who Can Administer IV Hydration?
Like MedSpa settings, IV hydration is a service provided in a medical-style spa setting. Therefore, a licensed healthcare provider must perform the treatment and use sterile equipment with proper infection control measures.
IV hydration therapy with water-soluble vitamins is generally administered by nurses (RN), nurse practitioners (NP), physician assistants (PA), licensed practical nurses (LPN), or licensed vocational nurses (LVN). Some states allow the administration of IV fluids by other non-physician clinicians, such as paramedics, so make sure to check the state-specific regulations.
While virtually anyone can start an IV hydration business, you must be sure to have a licensed professional on staff to deliver your primary service.
4 Items You Can’t Neglect When Starting an IV Hydration Business
An IV hydration business encompasses all of the necessary business elements of a medical business. If you’re eager to start, here is what you need to know and what you can’t neglect when starting your own:
1. Research Medical Regulations, Legal, and Compliance
Before you consider any other important steps for starting your own medical business, check out the regulatory requirements. IV hydration may operate like a spa, but it is still a medical business, and it, therefore, needs to follow the necessary compliance requirements, local licenses, and permits.
Medical or healthcare compliance for IV hydration may differ from state to state. Still, in general, an IV hydration clinic must comply with all relevant healthcare regulations and standards, such as those set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and state licensing agencies.
In most places, you must be a licensed healthcare provider to start IV hydration. This means you must have the appropriate certification, training, and education. If you are not a healthcare provider, you can start IV hydration under the supervision of a licensed healthcare provider. This includes a licensed healthcare professional to administer the service, including nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, or other healthcare professionals authorized to administer IV fluids and electrolytes.
2. Find a Medical Director
A medical director with the skills and knowledge for clinical oversight and policy should oversee an IV hydration clinic. A medical director is a licensed physician who serves as a healthcare organization’s leader and chief medical officer. Their primary responsibility is to oversee the medical operations of the organization and ensure that patient care meets best practices, ethical standards, and regulatory requirements.
Areas where your medical director will help include: providing clinical oversight, managing your medical staff (such as the licensed healthcare providers administering the IV fluid), ensuring your business is compliant with the necessary regulatory measures mentioned above, risk management, and strategic planning.
3. Complete Your Medical Documentation
Documenting your standard medical procedure will go a long way in preparing you for your IV hydration business. Accurate and thorough documentation is essential for ensuring that patients receive safe and effective IV hydration therapy and for protecting the clinic and its staff in the event of any legal disputes.
While your medical director can help you with this, you will want to do your research and prepare this part, as the medical director will not be doing all of the heavy lifting for you.
Equipment and supplies: You will need the appropriate equipment to start IV hydration, including IV catheters, IV bags, IV tubing, and other accessories. You should ensure that all equipment is sterile and properly maintained.
Patient assessment process: Before starting IV hydration, you should thoroughly assess the appropriate type and amount of fluids to administer. This may include evaluating the patient’s medical history, vital signs, and laboratory values.
Patient informed consent: It is important to obtain informed consent from the patient before starting IV hydration. This means the patient understands the procedure’s risks, benefits, and potential complications and agrees to receive it.
Description of IV administering service and monitoring: You should monitor the patient closely during IV hydration, including vital signs, fluid intake and output, and signs of complications such as fluid overload or infection. If you notice anything of concern, you should stop the procedure and notify the healthcare provider.
Overview of documentation for medical compliance: You should document the IV hydration procedure in the patient’s medical record, including the details of the fluids administered (i.e., type and recommended dosage), complications or adverse reactions, and the patient’s response to the procedure.
4. Develop Business Skills and a Business Plan
Every successful business starts with a business plan. By developing an in-depth business plan, you will have worked out some of the challenges presented by running a business and show investors you’re capable of following through.
Business plan templates are readily available online. Yours should outline your goals, target market, services, pricing, financial projects, and marketing strategies.
This plan is a detailed list outlining what you need to start your IV hydration business. Other items in your business plan will be:
- Staff requirements and how you’ll hire them
- The location description
- A marketing plan
- Necessary liability insurance to protect against malpractice claims
The good news is that your business plan will also include all the items before this point. So by working through these items, you’ll have a very comprehensive and realistic plan moving forward.
Find Medical Directors with GuardianMD
For many, finding a medical director or physician collaborator is a complicated piece of the puzzle. At GuardianMD, we can help.
Guardian Medical Direction is an invaluable tool for the modern healthcare provider. We provide healthcare business owners access to a certified remote medical director so you can start your IV hydration clinic compliant and with safety measures.
Contact us to learn more and get your IV Hydration business up and running!
