The Massage Pundit

I get at least two or three questions a week from massage therapists who intend to move to another state–or horrors–have already moved and found out that they can’t practice massage in their new destination. It’s a sad state of affairs. That’s particularly so when the person has been practicing 20 years or so, but they either a) don’t have the proper amount of education, b) haven’t taken the exam required in that state or c) both of the above. As a former state board member who served on the license standards committee, I also spent a lot of time reviewing those applications for “licensing by endorsement,” a procedure that we had in place to address that issue. Sometimes people get licensed; sometimes they don’t.

We have kind of  a weird situation in North Carolina. Our state no longer accepts the National Certification exams for entry-level licensing. We exclusively accept the MBLEx, unless you’re moving in from out of state and you’re already Nationally Certified. In that case, you don’t have to take the MBLEx, but you do still have to prove that you’ve had the proper amount of education. It’s strange to me that the NCBTMB exams are considered okay for citizens from out of state, but not our own citizens.

There are still many states that have the minimum 500-hour education requirement. My state does. However, we’re picky about how that’s broken down. If your 500 hours from out of state doesn’t match up to the breakdown of our 500 hours, you can be refused a license until you bring yourself into compliance by taking additional classes at a community college or through continuing education. While moving is a choice for most people, I feel particularly bad for those therapists who are moving with a military spouse and not able to get licensed in their new state without jumping through a lot of hoops and going to a lot of expense. READ MORE…

Florida SB 1860,  introduced on January 17 by Senator Negron, will remove the right of massage therapists and acupuncturists to bill PIP (Personal Injury Protection) insurance for those who have been injured in auto accidents. I don’t have any statistics regarding how many FL therapists currently file these types of claims, but based on my interactions on social networks, I would estimate that it’s quite a few. I suggest a mass protest is in order. You can find your legislators here. Contact them immediately and ask them not to support this bill.

In Tennessee, HB 2387/SB2249 seeks to remove the massage therapy board from under the auspices of the Department of Health Related Boards and move them to the Department of Commerce and Insurance. What this does is basically reclassify massage therapy from being a health profession to a “trade.” Insurance companies don’t pay tradespeople; they pay health care professionals.You can find your TN legislators here.

I cannot urge you enough to pay attention to this, no matter where you are. When something detrimental like this happens, it just paves the way for other states to follow the leader.

Even the acts of searching for, and reading legislation or proposed legislation, is a tricky thing. A prime example is that when you search for the bill in Tennessee, this is the description: READ MORE….

As usual, the opinions on my blog are my opinions and not to be construed as the opinions of anyone else.

I  haven’t had much to say on the legislative front for a few months…when the legislators go home for the summer, not much is happening; then there tend to be shorter sessions in the fall before they take a break for the holidays and not much happens then, either. Well, the break is over, and how.

I received a press release from the NCBTMB yesterday announcing what amounts to a win for them in the state of WV. Here it is:

The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) is pleased to share the news that Nationally Certified Massage Therapists in West Virginia will continue to have their services covered by the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA). Initially, the PEIA Finance Board considered discontinuing massage therapy coverage altogether as a cost-savings measure, but with input from NCBTMB, the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) and practicing therapists, it will still cover active employees and non-Medicare retirees who visit massage therapists with national certification.

The new financial plan goes into effect July 1, 2012. Certified therapists must also carry $2 million in malpractice insurance as well as follow treatment guidelines of the AMTA.

“NCBTMB commends the Public Employees Insurance Agency for providing their employees with access to nationally certified massage therapists who commit to a code of ethics, standards of practice and pass a national credentialing exam,” said NCBTMB CEO Mike Williams. “We see this as a win-win situation for both PEIA employees and Nationally Certified Massage Therapists in the state of West Virginia.”

“PEIA has an obligation to state employees to cover necessary medical treatments, but also an obligation to the state of West Virginia to be fiscally responsible,” stated PEIA Executive Director Ted Cheatham. “We stand behind the PEIA Finance Board and its decision to only accept massage therapy claims from therapists who meet the new criteria.”  READ MORE…

As I look back over 2011, it was a very good year. For the 8th year in a row, since I first opened my business, I am going to finish the year with a growth in sales and in my bottom line. That’s rather miraculous, considering the unemployment rate in my county has been between 14-16% for most of the year. Many businesses have closed. The foreclosure notices in the paper have far outweighed the job listings for the past couple of years. And still, we have thrived, and we had zero staff turnover. I’m very grateful to be blessed with such wonderful staff members and clients.

This year started out with a bang when we made a trip to Miami to participate in the Massage School Makeover organized by Angie Patrick of Massage Warehouse. What started as a little project of Angie’s snowballed into one of the most magnanimous displays of generosity throughout the massage world. The Educating Hands school ended up with over $80,000 worth of equipment and supplies donated by industry partners. As they were moving into a brand-new building at the time, it was just a fresh start for their well-respected school. It was a joy to participate in it and to see so many of my friends from the profession at the festivities. I also got to visit my youngest brother on that trip, and got to see a dear friend who used to live here in NC that I  hadn’t seen for several years. That one was bittersweet since her husband, who was also a friend and former business partner with Champ, had passed away suddenly a few months before, but it was a wonderful visit.

I was honored at the American Massage Conference this year as the Massage Therapist of the Year…and that wasn’t even the highlight of the conference. Getting up to play a few tunes with Errol N Schroeder at the dinner dance was the high point for me. I had a blast! Scott Dartnall and the rest of those Canadians came out of the gate running and made their first American event a resounding success. READ MORE…

If you’re an employer of massage therapists, or you are a massage therapist who’s is employed by someone else, who “owns” the client? The short answer is, no one. People have the right to go where they choose, and to patronize whatever massage therapist they choose to patronize. The long answer is a little more complicated.

A friend of mine who employs other therapists in her practice was upset last week when an employee gave clients a reminder call from her own cell phone on her day off, instead of calling them from the office. The issues there were ownership of the client’s information and a concern about HIPAA violations…and two clients actually called the office to ask why they were being called from the therapist’s cell phone, since previous calls had always come from her office.  She not only fired the employee, she also went to the police about data theft and filed an ethics complaint with the NCBTMB. The business is in an unregulated state, or she would have filed an ethics complaint with the state board, as well. She had plainly stated in her policies and procedures manual that taking the phone numbers and or other information of clients was prohibited, and discusses that fact with each new person she hires. The therapist had done more than just take the phone numbers; she had also downloaded all the treatment notes, etc–including those sessions performed by someone else that she was not involved in. The owner was perfectly within her rights to fire the employee and take the other actions, based on that policy.

I run things differently in my office. Nearly all of the half-dozen therapists who work at my clinic as independent contractors have the phone numbers of their regular clients in their cell phones (remember, my friend’s staff members are employees). It’s our procedure to ask clients if they would like a reminder call or a text message, and it’s my own desire for the therapists to make those calls personally instead of depending on me to do it. I’m the office manager and chief bottle-washer at my place of business, and in addition to the therapists, I also have an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, a clinical herbalist, and an aesthetic nurse there. I make the reminder calls for the chiropractor. I expect everyone else to make their own.

Some people would say that I am making it easy for them to steal clients, in the event they were to leave my practice and go elsewhere. That’s true, but I choose not to look at it that way.  First and foremost, my staff is what has made my business successful. I’m just the ringleader. Everyone there genuinely likes, supports, and refers to each other; it’s a family atmosphere. Staff turnover has happened so rarely that in 8.5 years of owning my business, I can count on one hand the number of people who have ever left. READ MORE….

Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT, Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, announced last week that he will be stepping down from that position effective November 30.

In his letter to Alliance members, Rosen stated that he is returning to his full-time duties at the Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, NC. He founded the school in 1983 and has co-owned and co-directed it with his wife, Carey Smith, for the past 20 years. Their beautiful school and 150-acre property is for sale, and they intend to move permanently to their new abode on the Big Island of Hawaii whenever it’s sold.

Rosen has been a massage therapist since 1978. There are very few people in this profession who could claim anywhere near the amount of hours he has spent volunteering his time, and working for the evolution of massage therapy – both on the legislative and educational fronts.

I first met Rosen in 2000 when he was a founding member and the first chair of the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, a position he held from 1999-2003. He was very instrumental in getting massage regulated in our state and in assisting the Board’s legal counsel in drafting the administrative rules and statutes. As a former Board member myself (2006-2011), I appreciate fully the countless hours of unpaid work, and imagine that to be so much more for a start-up Board.

Rosen has always had a fondness for getting in on the ground floor and helping to lay the foundation for the future success of organizations. He also served as the first Executive Director of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (2005-2006), and wrote the Request for Proposal that led to the development of the MBLEx as the licensing exam of choice.

In 2009, Rosen hand-picked some seasoned educators to help launch the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. Under his leadership, the AFMTE has made its mark as the stakeholder for education among the professional organizations. Recently, the ACCAHC Board of Directors invited the Alliance to join its Council of Colleges and Schools as the designated education representative for the massage therapy field, further solidifying the Alliance’s role. Not bad for an organization only two years old. READ MORE….

I was just cruising through my social media sites, and it has reinforced for me something that I’ve known for quite some time about massage therapists: they’re a caring bunch. That’s not exactly a big surprise; after all, our job is helping people feel better. I’d say a certain amount of caring and compassion is a prerequisite for becoming a massage therapist. We all care about our clients…even when I see posts from people who may not be working in their ideal situation, that’s pretty consistent.

I’ve written over the years about why I think it’s important for massage therapists to be aware of and involved in what’s going on around them, and I want to expand on that on several fronts. It’s the 4th anniversary of my blog. Humor me, and I’ll tell you why I think it’s important.

I get a lot of “I’m busy running my business. I don’t have time to think about it,” in reply to something I’ve reported about massage regulation and legislation. If you’re in Alabama, why should you care about something happening in Michigan? Here’s the reality check: When something detrimental happens in the regulation of massage, it sets a precedent and makes it easier for it to happen somewhere else. That could be anything from the consistent referencing of our businesses as “massage parlors” in legislative language, something we’ve all wanted to get as far as possible away from, to crazy zoning laws requiring massage businesses to be located in seedy areas zoned for heavy industry, prohibitions on having a massage therapy business located in a shopping mall, or prohibiting massage being performed after 8 pm. Yes, indeed, those are all realities, but if they’re not affecting you personally, people don’t want to think about it. Based on my questioning therapists in the classes I teach, not even 10% have read the entire practice act in their own state. They don’t know the letter of the law even where they’re practicing. That’s a pretty sad state of affairs. I get questions all the time from therapists wanting to know “is it legal for me to do so-and-so?” and while I pride myself on being a fountain of information, it’s all right there on your board’s website. Read it.

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I spent this past weekend in Los Angeles at the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards meeting. It was a great gathering of regulatory board members from all over the US and Puerto Rico. As my own term as a NC Board member ended in June, I was there as an observer, not as a delegate this time.

The main purpose of this meeting is for board representatives to come together to discuss common challenges and hopefully, find solutions. One of the bigger issues this year was lack of funding for boards, and in fact, the Federation has given grants to a half-dozen boards so they can maintain their membership…no small contribution, since there is usually a flat annual fee as well as a per licensee cost to join or maintain membership.

Another hot topic was human trafficking. The National Certification Board started addressing this issue some time ago, to mixed reception. Some people don’t seem to realize that it is indeed a problem, and those that do realize it don’t always approve of the way their states are handling the issue. No one wants to see a big sign about human trafficking outside their massage business, and who can blame them? The primary problem seems to lie with Asian spas.  It’s doubly sad for these people, because they are brought to America with the promise of making money, charged a big fee for their transport and “sponsorship” and then virtually enslaved when they arrive.

Of course the issue of portability for licensing was a focus. At one point during the meeting, Executive Director Debra Persinger posed the question “Who thinks portability is a myth?” I was one of three people in the room to raise my hand. While it’s something I would love to see, I don’t expect it to happen in my lifetime. The states with higher standards are not going to dumb it down for the rest, in my opinion. The MBLEx may eventually be universally accepted among all the member states, but as long as education requirements vary from state to state, total portability is not going to happen. READ MORE…

Last week, the leaders of all the major organizations representing the massage therapy profession came together in St. Louis for a Massage Therapy Leadership Summit.

The executive directors, CEOs, and board chairs of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE), the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP), the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA), the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB), the Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF), and the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork were all in attendance.

I have personally prayed for this to happen for a long time, and was thrilled that it took place. Rick Rosen, Executive Director of the AFMTE, shared a photo on my Facebook page. I of course spread it through my networks, and it prompted a question from Julie Onofrio: “Are these people massage therapists, and have they ever been in practice?” I’ll try to answer that to the best of my ability. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting all these folks, and I know some of them better than others. In the event I get any of the facts wrong here, I’m sure someone can straighten me out!

I will say up front that as for the most part these are organizations that have many members, huge budgets, and myriad issues and details to take care of, I don’t believe that being a massage therapist is a prerequisite for being a CEO or an ED. That is a position that generally requires a college education, and enough expertise to run a multi-million dollar concern. The AFMTE is only two years old–they don’t quite fall into that category yet, but they will someday. Leadership of such an organization doesn’t necessarily require one to be a massage therapist, although it would certainly require an interest in massage. Here’s my scoop on the leaders:

Rick Rosen, the founder and Executive Director of the AFMTE is indeed a licensed massage therapist. In fact, he is the proud owner of the first massage therapy license issued in the state of North Carolina. He is the co-founder, along with his wife Carey Smith, of the Body Therapy Institute in Siler City, NC, which they started in 1983. It is one of only two COMTA-approved schools in the state. He was the founding chairman and a past member of the North Carolina Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy, and was the first Executive Director of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, a national organization for massage schools, teachers and continuing education providers. Rick is a 2010 inductee into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, and was named as one of the Top 10 People in Integrative Medicine/Integrative Health Care in 2010. He also has a degree in advertising from the University of Florida, a master’s in humanistic psychology from West Georgia College, is certified by the Hakomi Institute body-centered psychology, is certified in structural integration, and is a graduate of the Florida School of Massage.

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One of my fondest dreams is coming true! For several years I’ve been preaching the sermon on my blog that I wanted our national massage organizations to play nice together and it is happening! Earlier today I got the news that all seven of our major organizations will come together for a summit meeting in St. Louis on Sept 13-14. St. Louis is centrally located, and it’s neutral ground. None of the groups involved are headquartered there.

The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE), American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), Association Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP), Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA), Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB), Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF), and National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) will be coming together, according to the press release.

Earlier this year, I was fortunate to be included in the meeting hosted by the NCBTMB in Chicago, which was attended by all the organizations, except for the AFMTE. During that meeting, several people (including me) talked about the need for all the organizations to come together for the good of the profession. Bob Benson, Chairman of ABMP, stepped up to the plate as he often does and said that he would assume the responsibility for seeing to it that it happened. All the representatives of the attending organizations agreed that they would participate if such a meeting was convened.

According to the press release, the purpose is “to hold a beginning conversation about major structural issues and impediments to profession progress. The desire is to have candid exchange about core challenges, quality concerns, consumer expectations, and organizational roles. Each participating organization is contributing to creation of the specific agenda, which will be finalized at the beginning of the St. Louis meeting.” READ MORE…