Fall Rubdown

Topics:

• Healwell News 0:44
• State and National News 2:44
• Massage Envy Settlement  2:49
• Association News 7:20
• AMTA, MPPR, and Veteran's Affairs 9:58
• Upcoming Live and Online events 14:30

Healwell's Glossary of the Massage Therapy Profession

Opening to the Mystery with Cal Cates (21 CEUs for most healthcare)

Department of Justice
AMTA's Letter to Veteran's Affairs
MTF Grants
IMTRC Registration
ABMP News
AMTA News

Chapters

• 1:19 Healwell News
• 3:19 State and National News
• 3:24 Massage Envy Settlement
• 7:55 Association News
• 10:33 AMTA, MPPR, and Veteran's Affairs
• 15:05 Upcoming Live and Online events

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:42

Welcome to the Rubdown, a news update about massage therapy. I'm your host, kori Rivera, licensed massage therapist and correspondent. The Rubdown brings you news from the world of massage therapy. Today's Rubdown will include news from September, october and November 2024, because this fall was the longest year ever, don't forget. The HealWell blog has a helpful glossary of terms. You can find the link to this guide in the show notes. If we've missed any, please let us know by emailing us at podcast at HealWellorg.

Speaker 1: 1:17

First up HealWell News. September saw HealWell Homecoming our first live conference event. Attendees participated in classes on fascia ethics, lymphatics and pregnancy. Shout out to Sakina Irizarry and Meg Ballinger for teaching their first classes ever and knocking it out of the park. We then had a keynote speech by HealWell Executive Director, kyle Cates, followed by a roundtable World Cafe-style conversation about big topics in massage therapy. Thank you to our gold sponsor, the American Massage Therapy Association, for helping this event happen and for enthusiastically participating in the discussions. In other HealWell news, the HealWell Service Department has provided 9,747 massages so far in 2024 in the DC, maryland, virginia area. Stay tuned to learn if we break 10,000 massages this year.

Speaker 1: 2:05

The new HeWell community will open December 28th. The community is shifting focus and, in addition to being a supportive environment for massage therapists, we are working on helping massage therapists improve both their practice and the profession of massage therapy. We have live meetings once a week that focus on topics like practice support, understanding, research and discussing podcasts. There are recommendation lists for books and academic articles, as well as a variety of educational resources and a monthly topical theme. The theme for January will be Forging New Things, because we could all use some new things. The community platform itself has also been redesigned for easier use. Community members get exclusive discounts on Heelwell classes and first-to-know news updates and class offerings. Members can vote on ideas they'd like to see in the community, such as mentorship opportunities, ethics practice sessions and writing groups. Members who register for the community before January 31st will also get a founding member badge. Membership in the community is only $19 a month. Once you sign up, your membership price will be locked in. As long as you remain a member, your subscription price will never go up. If you have big ideas but need help making them happen, the HeOL community would love to have and help you Up. Next state and national news Recently, massage Envy has agreed to settle a case against Providence, rhode Island in March of 2021.

Speaker 1: 3:31

The complaint stated that a Massage Envy franchise quote discriminated against individuals with disabilities who, because of disability, needed assistance transferring to and from the massage or facial table. The complaints alleged that such individuals were required to bring their own third party to assist them with transferring or be denied services. The US Department of Justice concluded that requiring a disabled person to bring a third party to help with assistance is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department of Justice also concluded that the franchise location failed to reasonably modify its transfer assistance policy. The policy requiring a third party quote imposed eligibility criteria that screened out, or tended to screen out, individuals with disabilities. Because the parties involved have agreed to a settlement, massage Envy is not required to admit any wrongdoing and has denied liability. The settlement Massage Envy is not required to admit any wrongdoing and has denied liability. The settlement requires Massage Envy to pay the aggrieved individual $10,000 and to modify its service provider standards to practice policy to state that Massage Envy franchise employees will not deny services to people on the basis of their disability, will provide transfer assistance to customers with disabilities and will not require customers to bring a third party for transfers. If you'd ever like to search the Department of Justice website for cases involving massage therapy. You can do that at the link in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 4:50

The Department of Human Services in Arkansas published a proposed rule that would make licensed massage therapists mandated reporters. Mandated reporters must immediately notify the child abuse hotline or law enforcement if they have reasonable cause to suspect a child has experienced maltreatment, a child died from maltreatment or a child is experiencing conditions or circumstances that could reasonably result in child maltreatment. The mandated reporting rule already in place includes other professions such as dentists, nurses, mental health professionals, osteopaths and physicians. Delaware has passed two bills regarding their licensing. The first bill changes the state's minimum hours of massage therapy education for students from 500 to 625 hours and revises curriculum for each subject. The second bill changes the tiered licensing system in Delaware. After December 31st, the Board of Massage and Bodywork will stop issuing initial certifications to applicants to practice as a certified massage therapist or CMT. This news comes from ABMP and they have stated that their understanding is that schools that have a 300-hour certification course will stop offering such programs. Therapists holding a CMT will remain certified as long as they continue to renew that certification. If a CMT allows their certification to lapse, they will have to meet the current requirements to obtain a license.

Speaker 1: 6:11

Illinois has added training requirements for abnormal skin growth education to their licensing. Practitioners need to provide proof of completing a course approved by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in abnormalnormal Skin Growth Education, including training on identifying melanoma. This law includes massage therapists, cosmetologists, barbers, hair braiders, estheticians, nail technologists and electrologists. Massage therapy is licensed as a service profession in Illinois. A practitioner referring a client to a medical profession regarding abnormal skin growth will not be considered to be acting outside of their scope of practice. Also, the practitioner and their employer cannot be held criminally liable for acting in good faith.

Speaker 1: 6:50

Illinois has also amended their massage therapy misconduct laws. A massage therapist who is charged with misconduct is required to have a chaperone in the room while practicing. The chaperone must be a licensed massage therapist or other licensed healthcare workers. Misconduct could mean an offense that may result in registering as a sex offender, sexual misconduct of a minor battery or sexual misconduct against a patient, or a forcible felony, which is a felony that earns special penalties because force was involved, such as murder. The massage therapist who is accused will receive an administrative order about the chaperone requirement. The chaperone must provide a written notice to clients before the treatment that explains why there is a chaperone present Quote the client notice must state in 14-point font the massage therapist is presumed innocent until proven guilty of the charges. Clients must sign the notice as an acknowledgement that they have read and understood the information. Failure to comply with the administrative order, including the use of the chaperone or the client notice, will result in a temporary license suspension until the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

Speaker 1: 7:56

Our next segment is news from the Massage Therapy National Associations. Stephanie Rodriguez, founder of the United States Organization of Licensed Massage Therapists, or USOLMT, has officially resigned her position and has chosen to leave the massage therapy industry completely. The director of membership, anne Elliott, will be taking over as managing director. The Massage Therapy Foundation has announced the award of four community service grants for the 2024 cycle. Community service grants help bring the benefits of massage therapy to people who would otherwise not have access. Awards were granted to programs that supported individuals of color who were experiencing homelessness, training for hospital-based pediatric massage therapy, massage therapy to low-income families, at-risk youth and survivors of gender-based violence in Limpopo, south Africa, and training programs covering essential massage techniques, anatomy, physiology and hygiene practices in Moshi, tanzania. There are six awards available for 2025, and they're all currently accepting submissions. The Research Support Grant awards up to $30,000 and has a deadline of February 1st. The Research Award grants up to $300,000 and has a deadline of March 1st. There are several community grants which have a deadline of March 1st. There are several community grants which have a deadline of March 3rd and the Practitioner and Student Case Report Contest have a deadline of June 1st. The Bob King Community Service for Schools Award is held quarterly and its next deadline is March 1st.

Speaker 1: 9:24

The International Journal for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork has put out a call for papers for a special issue on mental health and manual therapies. The IJTMB is seeking papers showcasing the potential for massage to impact the management and care of mental health conditions, as well as quality of life and wellness. The submission deadline is December 31st and if you can write a whole paper between now and then, bless you. If you're interested in submitting to the IJTMB but do not hold a PhD, you should check out the recent editorials by Editor-in-Chief, dr Amanda Baskwell, titled the Pillars of the IJTMB. They discuss a variety of valuable topics related to massage practice and education that you could contribute to. If that piques your interest, you should also join the new HealWell community, because we will be discussing these editorials in early 2025. The new HealWell community because we will be discussing these editorials in early 2025.

Speaker 1: 10:15

The National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, or NCBTMB, would like to thank everyone who completed the job task analysis survey. They're working with the data now and they are so thrilled to get the response they did, especially when you consider how long the survey was. That last part was a note from the NCB, not a comment from me. The American Massage Association had a busy fall.

Speaker 1: 10:33

Amta recently responded to the Department of Veterans Affairs' request for input on creating a national standard of practice for massage therapists who work with the VA. When an agency is thinking of changing a policy or creating a new one, there will often be an invited period of comment from stakeholders. Or creating a new one, there will often be an invited period of comment from stakeholders. In their response, amta emphasized that these standards are vital to ensure safety, professionalism and integrity in massage therapy. However, their response also mentions the MPPR. If you don't know what the MPPR is, don't worry. I didn't either until I started writing this news update. But to talk about it, we first have to talk about how massage therapists interact with the VA.

Speaker 1: 11:12

In order to work with veterans through the VA system, massage therapists contract with the VA through the Community Care Network. These massage therapists are not employees of the VA. Medicare pays for the service, but a separate entity does the billing and reimbursement. This entity varies based on where you live in the country. These entities have recently chosen to apply the MPPR to massage therapists working in the VA's community care network. Mppr stands for multiple payment procedure reduction and it is part of a Medicare reimbursement policy that was established in 2002. When therapies like physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology bill insurance, they do it in 15-minute increments. Until, the MPPR, providers would be paid the same amount for each increment, even when the code used to define the service was the same. After the MPPR, the first 15 minutes are now billed at a rate that is higher and a smaller amount is paid for the rest of the repeated codes. The reasoning used is that most medical procedures have pre and post-tasks that are included in the billing, and if you bill several of the same code, you aren't doing the pre and post-work every time. As of late 2023, massage therapists who work for the VA through the Community Care Network are now being reimbursed under the MPPR policy Because massage therapists use the same code for each 15-minute increments. This means they are getting paid less for the same work. In January 2024, new Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas, who is a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, asked the VA to reverse the change. He wrote Massage therapy is an effective and non-invasive form of treatment for various physical and mental health conditions commonly experienced by veterans, including chronic pain, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Speaker 1: 13:02

Recognizing as an integral part of holistic care for veterans, massage therapy addresses not only physical ailments, but also contributes to mental and emotional well-being. In their letter to the VA, amta stated quote Unlike other forms of therapy, massage therapy is currently treated as a single service, regardless of the number of units provided in a session. We believe this is a misapplication of a policy designed for other therapies, such as physical and occupational therapy. Massage therapy is one of the most requested treatments by veterans, and reducing reimbursement rates in this way risks exacerbating existing workforce shortages and further limiting veterans' access to necessary care. If you would like to read AMTA's full letter to the VA, check out the link in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 13:47

The AMTA government relations team attended a celebration recognizing the enrollment of one million veterans in the Million Veteran Program, a research study initiative started by the VA in 2011. The program focuses on advancing personalized medicine for veterans, studying the complex interplay between genetics, lifestyle factors and military experience. Amta has been accepted into the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health Coalition for Whole Person Health. Amta joins 70 other nonprofit organizations to emphasize the influence research has on producing integrative, patient-centered health care. Size the influence research has on producing integrative patient-centered health care. The coalition was established this summer to advance awareness of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the National Institutes of Health and the transformative potential of whole person care. And lastly, in October, amta was the leading sponsor of the Paine Collaborative's inaugural meeting. The mission of the Paine Collaborative is to connect key stakeholders and experts, identify gaps in their shared work, develop resources and promote innovation and progress. The Pain Collaborative focuses on the whole health biopsychosocial model that the VA also focuses on. This event brought together experts and advocates and discussed topics like equitable pain care, addressing low back pain and policy changes that are affecting pain management.

Speaker 1: 15:05

And lastly, here are the massage therapy events coming up for 2025. Live events for HealWell include the HealWell Oncology Massage Workshop in Virginia March 21st through 23rd. The Pediatric Stewardship in Washington DC April 2nd through 5th. Two SCAR classes with Kathy Ryan, one in Indianapolis May 3rd through 4th and one in Salt Lake City October 3rd through 4th. And lastly, the Hospital-Based Massage Therapy Adult Stewardship in Washington DC October 29th through November 1st.

Speaker 1: 15:40

Other live conferences include the Massage Therapy Foundation's IMTREC or International Massage Therapy Research Conference, which is Sunday April 27th to Tuesday April 29th. Early bird tickets will be available until January 3rd. This event is held every three years and brings together massage therapy field leaders, clinicians, educators and researchers to discuss the practice implications and applications of current research. A note for all our listeners IMTREC is much more like a traditional conference than the other massage therapy events. There's a lot of sitting, listening, answering questions and having conversations. There is also a lot of massage nerds. So if you're a massage nerd looking for your people, they'll be in Virginia in April. The AMTA's annual school summit will be in Anaheim, california, february 13th through 14th. Some of this year's education sessions include discussions of generational diversity in the field, the four pillars of building a great CE course, retention, marketing strategies and enhancing massage therapy education through technology For virtual events.

Speaker 1: 16:43

Healwell's Opening to the Mystery is Monday, january 27th through Saturday, february 1st, from 5 pm to 8.30 pm Eastern, every day. It is a live online retreat with HealWell Executive Director Cal Cates. It invites you to deeply consider and even befriend, your own mortality. Opening to the Mystery is approved for 21 CEs, for both massage therapists and many other healthcare practitioners. This class happens once a year. It always sells out, and then some, so if you're considering attending at all, you should register soon. Afmt is having a think tank meeting on how to be a strong teaching assistant. December 30th from 5 30 pm to 7 30 pm. Amta has a free Medicare Advantage 101 webinar. This webinar explores the ins and outs of Medicare Advantage plans, with a focus on how massage therapists can best integrate Medicare Advantage into their practice. It teaches about massage benefits that are offered under Medicare Advantage payment plans and how to identify and research Medicare Advantage plans in your region.

Speaker 1: 17:46

If you have any state or national level news about massage therapy you would like to share, please send an email with your news and a link to your source at podcast at healwellorg. You can always join us in the Heal Well Online community and I am so excited about our new launch. I might do a little dance after I finish making this podcast. You can always text the show by clicking the link in the show notes. In each update I'll be asking a question and reading any responses I get the following month. Please respond. I would love to read your response. This month's question is what is something you dream of doing but don't think you can Writing, teaching, reading that really big book you bought a year ago? This has been your September, october and November news rubdown. Thank you for listening.