Who can collect adipose tissue for banking?

Written by Oscar Tellez, founder of Regen Med Academy. Oscar is not a clinician. This post is education for licensed providers and is not medical advice. Last updated November 6, 2026.

A licensed provider can collect adipose tissue for banking only if their own state license and board allow it. That is true for doctors, nurse practitioners and PAs alike, because collection is a tissue harvest procedure and state scope decides it. Your board also decides who must supervise and where the work may be done. No course, certificate or lab changes that answer, so this post gives each license its own list of questions to ask.

Why is adipose collection scope a state question?

Collection is a tissue harvest procedure. A provider numbs an area, passes a tool under the skin and takes out a small amount of fat. That is a different kind of act from a blood draw, and you should expect your board to see it that way.

So who decides? Your state does. The Federation of State Medical Boards, or FSMB, says in its guide to medical regulation that each state and territory “has formally adopted a Medical Practice Act, which defines the requirements for the practice of medicine within their borders and gives authority to a medical board to enforce the act’s provisions.”

FSMB has also written about what counts as surgery. Its 2002 report on office-based surgery says surgery includes the “excision or resection, partial or complete, destruction, incision or other structural alteration of human tissue by any means.” That report is a model for boards and not a law, so your own state’s wording is what counts. It still shows you how wide the word can be.

And what is scope? FSMB defines scope of practice as “the activities that an individual health care practitioner is permitted to perform within a specific profession.” Notice the word permitted. Scope is what your state lets you do, and it is not what you were shown in a class.

If you are new to the subject, read what adipose banking is first. Banking is preservation, not treatment, and this post is only about who may do the collecting.

Does FDA decide who may collect?

No. FDA does not license providers, and it does not set your scope. FDA’s part is the device and the tissue.

The device comes first. You collect with a legally marketed, FDA-cleared liposuction system, and you use it inside its cleared indications and its labeling. Read the labeling of the system you own for anything it says about the user and the setting. Whether collecting fat for storage is inside those indications is a question for the company that makes your system, in writing, and we do not answer it for any system.

The tissue comes second. FDA’s rules for human tissue are in 21 CFR Part 1271, and one line in them speaks to the person who collects for a lab. We get to that line further down.

FDA has also written about fat itself. Its 2020 guidance on minimal manipulation and homologous use treats processing that breaks adipose tissue down to isolate its cells as generally more than minimal manipulation. It treats using adipose tissue for musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis or tendonitis as generally not a homologous use.

Mechanical processing avoids enzymatic digestion, but that does not settle the question by itself. Homologous use and the device’s cleared indication still apply. Our banking course teaches how to collect and how to do the paperwork, and it teaches nothing past that.

Can a physician collect fat for banking?

Doctors are the place to start, and the same FSMB report shows why. On liposuction it says, “Liposuction procedures should be performed by physicians with appropriate training following national professional guidelines.”

Read that line twice, because it has two parts. The first part is “physicians.” The second part is “with appropriate training.” Even in a model written for medical boards, a medical license alone was not the whole answer.

Keep the limits of that source in mind, too. The report is from 2002, it is a model for boards and not a law, and it was written about liposuction as a whole. Its next sentence says procedures “should be within the scope of practice of the health care practitioner and capabilities of the facility.” Your board may have written its own rule since then, and that rule is the one you follow.

So a doctor, MD or DO, still has questions to ask:

• Does my board have a rule or a policy on office-based surgery, and does it reach a small fat collection?
• Does my board say anything about liposuction by name?
• What training will my board or my carrier want me to show?
• Will my carrier cover this work in my office, and will it say so in writing?
• Which parts of the work, if any, may be handed to someone else on my staff?

Can a nurse practitioner do fat collection?

It depends on the state, and the broad labels will not tell you. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, or AANP, sorts states into three practice environments: full practice, reduced practice and restricted practice.

In a full practice state, AANP says NPs work “under the exclusive licensure authority of the state board of nursing.” In a reduced practice state, the law “requires a career-long regulated collaborative agreement with another health provider” or limits the setting. In a restricted practice state, the law “requires career-long supervision, delegation or team management by another health provider.”

Here’s the problem. Those labels describe NP practice as a whole. They do not tell you whether a tissue harvest is inside NP scope in your state, and that holds even in a full practice state.

So an NP takes sharper questions to the board of nursing:

• Is a small fat collection, done with a liposuction system under local numbing, inside NP scope in this state?
• Does a written agreement or protocol with a doctor have to name it?
• Does that doctor have to be trained in it, or be on site while it is done?
• Does the board have a position paper or a decision tool for new skills?

Providers tell us that NPs, PAs and naturopathic doctors get left out of many programs. We do not leave them out of training. But a seat in a course is not a right to do the work at home, and only your board can give you that.

Can a physician assistant collect adipose tissue?

A PA’s first job is to find out which board to ask. FSMB notes that “In many states, other health care professionals are also licensed and regulated by medical boards in addition to physicians. Examples include PAs and acupuncturists.” So in many states a PA’s question goes to the same board as the doctor’s.

Then come the questions themselves:

• Which board holds my license, and does it have a rule that reaches a fat collection?
• Does my practice agreement have to list it?
• Does the doctor on that agreement have to be trained in it, and be there while it is done?
• What does the practice’s carrier say about a PA doing it?

Ask for each answer in writing. A phone call is a fine place to start, but a phone call is hard to show anyone later.

What about nurses and other licensed providers?

Registered nurses, chiropractors, physical therapists and naturopathic doctors each hold a different license from a different board. We cannot tell any of them yes, and we will not tell any of them no. The board that issued the license is the only one that can.

A registered nurse should ask whether a nurse may do this on a doctor’s order at all, and who must be in the room. Any provider whose license does not reach a tissue harvest should hear it plainly: a course will not add it.

What about staff with no license? In our training, every licensed person in the room performs within their own scope. What other staff may do around the collection, such as labels, packing and records, is also a question for your board.

How do supervision and delegation work for a collection?

Start with the word itself. FSMB’s scope paper defines supervision this way: “To oversee or direct professionally a body of work, directly or indirectly, within specified rules and regulations.” Look at the end of that line. Your state writes those rules, and they are not the same in each state.

Delegation is the other half, and it means handing a task to someone else on the team. FSMB’s office-based surgery report says, “All personnel assisting in the provision of health care services must be appropriately trained, qualified and supervised and sufficient in number to provide appropriate care.”

So if someone other than the doctor will collect, or will help, get these answers in writing:

• May this task be handed off at all, and to which license?
• Must the doctor in charge be in the room, in the building or on the phone?
• Who writes the order, and who signs the note?
• Does the doctor in charge need to be trained in it too?
• Whose policy answers if there is a claim?

And who is at fault when a task that was handed off goes wrong? That is a legal question. It belongs to your attorney, your board and your carrier, and we do not answer it.

Does it matter where the procedure is done?

It can. Many boards have rules for surgery done in an office, and those rules differ from one board to the next.

FSMB keeps a board-by-board list of office-based surgery statutes, regulations and policies, last updated in September 2024. Some boards on it point to a state law, some to a board rule and some to a policy. For some boards the list shows none found.

FSMB itself warns that the list is “not intended as a comprehensive statement of the law on this topic, nor to be relied upon as authoritative.” So use it to find your board’s rule, and then read the rule or ask the board.

Here is what to ask:

• Does my state have a rule for surgery done in an office, and does it reach a small fat collection under local numbing?
• Does the rule turn on the kind of numbing, the amount of tissue or the type of site?
• Does the office have to be registered, inspected or accredited for this?
• Does the rule say who must be in the room?

State law in this field changes, sometimes more than once a year. Our reading of each state, with its sources and the date we checked, is on the rules by state page. It is a starting point, not legal advice.

What will the laboratory ask for?

Banking is performed by a third party laboratory, and a lab has its own reasons to know who is collecting. We cannot speak for every lab, so ask yours to put what it needs from you in writing.

FDA’s tissue rules show why a lab would care. One line in 21 CFR 1271.15 speaks to a person who collects for a registered lab: “You are not required to register or list your HCT/P’s independently, but you must comply with all other applicable requirements in this part, if you are an individual under contract, agreement, or other arrangement with a registered establishment and engaged solely in recovering cells or tissues and sending the recovered cells or tissues to the registered establishment.”

HCT/P is FDA’s short name for human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products. In plain words, the line is about an individual who has an agreement with a registered lab, and who only collects tissue and sends it to that lab. That person does not have to register with FDA on their own, and the other rules that apply to that person still apply.

Does that line fit your own setup? That turns on facts we do not have, such as whether your lab is registered, so it is a question for the lab and for your attorney.

So have these ready when a lab asks:

• your license type, your license number and your state
• the name and license of each person who will collect
• the name of the doctor in charge, if your state calls for one
• your training record
• the address where you collect
• the system you collect with
• your signed agreement with the lab

If a lab does not ask who is collecting, ask it why.

Does training or a certificate change who can collect?

No. Training gives you skill, and it gives you a record that you trained. It does not give you the right to do the work. What you may perform is set by your own state license and board. A Certificate of Completion does not extend it.

Providers ask us who can attend, and whether they can take any course in their state. Anyone legally able to provide the service can train with us. MDs, DOs, NPs, PAs and RNs are examples, and the list is not closed.

The second half of that question is yours to answer first. It is your responsibility to confirm the modality is legal in your state for your license, and you should do that before you book. The authority on your own scope is your licensing board, not us.

Our course is called Adipose Collection for Stem Cell Banking, and the training is private. The hands-on part is with a consenting patient, under supervision, and every licensed person in the room performs within their own scope. We do not promise that a given trainee will perform a given procedure.

We also do not offer CME or credit hours. The certificate says you trained, and it is not a license.

Training is where the work starts. Here is what I tell providers: “Your journey is only getting started. We have the support where you can call us.” You keep ongoing access to our clinicians after the session.

How do I ask my board so that I get a real answer?

A vague question gets a vague answer. So write your question down with the facts a board needs, and send it in writing.

1. Name your license.
2. Say what is done: a small fat collection with a liposuction system.
3. Say what kind of numbing is used.
4. Say where it is done, such as your own office.
5. Say who does it and who is in charge.
6. Say where the tissue goes: to a third party lab for storage, with nothing placed into the patient.
7. Ask if it is inside your scope, and on what terms.

Keep the board’s reply in your files. Then put the same facts to your carrier, and get that answer in writing as well.

Let’s say you are an NP who owns a practice, and a doctor signs your practice agreement. This is a made-up example. You send the seven points to your board of nursing, and the doctor sends the same question to the medical board. You wait for both replies before you book training, and you plan around what they say.

Once scope is settled, the rest of the setup is in our post on how to offer fat banking in a clinic.

Frequently asked questions

Can a medical assistant collect fat for banking?

We cannot answer that for your state, and a course cannot either. In our training, every licensed person in the room performs within their own scope, and people with no license do not collect. What an assistant may do around the collection, such as labels, packing and records, is a question for your board. Ask it in writing along with your own.

Can a chiropractor or a physical therapist collect fat for banking?

That is a scope question for the board that issued the license, and we will not guess at it. Collection is a tissue harvest procedure, so ask your board if it is inside your license in your state. What you may perform is set by your own state license and board. A Certificate of Completion does not extend it.

Can I take the course if my state does not let me collect?

Sort out the scope question first. It is your responsibility to confirm the modality is legal in your state for your license, and you should do that before you book. If your board says the work is outside your license, a course will not change that answer. Bring your board’s written reply to any talk about training.

Do I need my own malpractice coverage to collect?

You are responsible for your own coverage. Ask your carrier whether a fat collection in your office is included, and get the answer in writing. Talk to us and we will help you work out what to ask your carrier. We will not tell you that you are covered, because only your carrier can say that.

Does the answer change from state to state?

Yes. State law in this field changes, sometimes more than once a year. Our reading of each state, with its sources and the date we checked, is on the rules by state page. Use it to find the right board and the right rule, and then check the answer with the board itself.

Which board do I write to first?

Start with the board that issued your license, because that board owns your scope. For a doctor that is usually a medical board, and for a nurse or an NP it is usually a board of nursing. If two boards are involved, write to both and keep both replies. A reply from one board does not speak for the other.

Key takeaways

• Collection is a tissue harvest procedure, so state scope decides who may do it.
• Doctors still have questions to ask about office surgery rules, training and coverage.
• NP practice labels do not settle the question, so ask the board of nursing directly.
• PAs and nurses need written answers on who is in charge and who must be in the room.
• Where the work is done can matter, and office surgery rules differ by board.
• A lab may ask who collects and under what license, so have your records ready.
• Training and a Certificate of Completion do not extend your scope.

RMA disclosure

Regenerative Medicine Academy (RMA) is an education company. We train licensed providers in some of the techniques this post covers. This post is education only. It is not medical, legal, business, tax or financial advice.

Banking is performed by a third party laboratory that you choose, not by RMA.

It is your responsibility to confirm the modality is legal in your state for your license. Do that before you book.

Your next step

Write your question to your board this week, using the seven points above. While you wait, read how we teach the collection on the banking course page. When your board has answered, request a date now, and a person reads it and calls you back within one business day. If you would like to start with the rules, get the free FDA course.