Hi,

Below are extracts from an email received from Soft Tissue Therapy Australia, a PA, like STO.

Patients who use Remedial therapists who are suitably qualified are able to claim back a certain value of each treatment from private health companies and Medibank, this being the largest.

As you read through you will see that due to 'therapists' obtaining 4 day diplomas etc Medibank have made a stand which, as usual, affects those that strive to learn and provide the best for their patients. In essence they have stopped patients reclaiming fees, this having a massive knock on effect to therapists.

'Firstly for those that were scathing of your associations lack of information (some associations did not provide this info at all and some announced the dates and what would happen but nothing explaining why) we have some very interesting information for you. Thanks to Kirsty and Kelly at No More Knots in Brisbane for spending so much time on the phone collecting this information. Without such troopers in our profession (none association people - therapists only) we would struggle to gather vital information that directly affects our future. See below.

- Last year in October Medibank called a meeting with all the associations to get clarity around the issues of inconsistency in the remedial massage industry, both from an educational and service delivery level
- This process involved getting a definition for remedial massage therapy and discuss potential solutions for the issues of inconsistency.
- Associations clearly understood the chances of remedial massage being removed from the rebate services for health funds at this stage
- Since this meeting Medibank have undertaken a large review to ensure this definition was being upheld, this involved secret shopper calls and visits to both clinics and education facilities, the review found:
o 90% of the clinics (30-40) across two states were not meeting the criteria of what a remedial massage therapist should be providing (he mentioned things like assessment, treatment style, treatment planning & treatment notes)
o They found educational facilities that were issuing Remedial Diplomas in 4-6 week periods and then these students/graduates getting membership approval with our industry associations
o They have had clinics abusing the system in several ways, mostly putting through high volumes of rebate claims, in one case 82 claims made under 1 therapists name in 1 day
Peter stated that something needs to change, he knows that this decision is going to ruffle a lot of feathers in our industry and that Medibank may not be seen in a positive light here. However this is a decision they feel they were forced to make so that something is done about the problems and inconsistencies. He feels that Medibank and health funds are not responsible for policing the standards of our industry and in this case our associations are responsible for making some changes to rectify the problems we are facing. He is hoping that come the time of the governments review of remedial services after the election, that they will see that our industry has started to make a change and this will be seen favourably come decision time.
What was the most interesting part of the conversation was that he firmly stated this IS NOT A PERMANENT decision. This part of the information is certainly not clear in the emails that have come from the associations that I have read. I asked him what they would need to see happen for the decision to be reviewed or changed. Peter stated that they would need to see some very clear and evidence based changes made from an association level. They want to see clear restrictions made by associations with regard to approving member applications paying particular attention to their education and qualification gained. He stated changes to their decision could happen as early as Christmas but there would have to be a lot of quality information provided to them for this to happen.
I think we can all understand his reasoning and rationale behind this decision a little better now. I certainly can. However, now we need to do something about it. I appreciate associations have some restrictions around what they can do here with regard to their members, but someone has to find a way around this to become stricter. If our associations cannot find a way to create a quality level of consistency in their approved members, eventually, they simply will not have any members to look after if other funds follow suit. One of our associations has to find a way to make a change, if someone doesn't step up, our industry runs a very strong risk of slowly disappearing. We don't plan on allowing that to happen.

And then this from our counterparts in New Zealand.

As a comment to your Medibank private discussion.. .. If you guys don't watch out you will end up in the same situation we are here (and have always been in) in NZ .. no recognition from private health insurers or our state funded injury and accident system (ACC) which basically means ALL your clients are privately paying... and good luck with that !!!
Southern Cross Health Insurance is the only health insurance company in NZ that will actually fund massage treatment (no questions asked) from remedial members of Massage New Zealand but only to the tune of $400/year (to be clear this rebate is only for the most expensive premium policy holders which are usually paid for by corporates not private members), so the vast majority of massage treatments delivered in NZ every year are totally client funded.
You guys have been in an unenviable position for many years with your massage treatments being rebated by health insurers and if you give that away without a fight you are crazy!!! You know what they say.. you don't know what you have had until it is gone!
Trust me, you don't want to be in our position which is essentially one
1. of no recognition for what we have to offer
2. where you are open to vagaries of the economic downturn
3. where the therapy for most is available only as a luxury or when the discretionary dollar allows for it.

Where are we with this?

In essence we have gathered that our associations were warned last October that our profession was grossly inconsistent with regard to education delivery and service delivery. After a further review 8 months later they saw no change and hence have reduced our standing with their company.

From our point of view at STT, we and most other forum goers have repeatedly stated our disgust at weekend warrior certificates and diplomas and how it depreciates our weakest link to basically disgraceful. But what can we do about this? Consider this:
Our profession does not have a definition for Remedial Massage. I repeat, our profession does not have a definition for Remedial Massage. Moreover, our profession does not have one association that reads 'association of Remedial Massage' - our highest current agreed competency. How can we defend ourselves when we don't even have a definition or an association that represents 'Remedial Massage'. We have bantered on like idiots about this for more than a decade. How embarassing.
We are not a registered profession therefore we are not governed by law like physio, chiro, etc. If one of their members does something wrong or doesn't meet standard, they can via law kick them out. We have no legal option to remove someone from our profession. We can remove them from association membership but we can't stop them from working. And frustratingly, many associations simply don't care about the level of education their members have, they simply want their money. These so called associations are killing us - killing us!
To become a registered profession and clean up our back yard, we have to convince the government to register us.'

All the above applies to us in the UK, if we could have a recognised level of competence and cpd then it may be possible to persuade health providers to approve therapy treatment, we can hope!

By chance I have the Partner of an Australian therapist staying with me, consider this;

* Elite sports pay a proper rate of pay, no interns, equal to the therapist hourly rate, a recent advert working with Wasps RFC, £15K, £8.25 p/h BEFORE TAX, unsocial hours etc, think about this £8.25 this is what they value your skill AT
* Insurance Companies, at present, cover a % of the treatment to a certain value per year
* Thus treatment is a lifestyle choice not a 'as needed choice'
* She was amazed that essentially we are the behest of our Clients, socio-economic position

If we, as an industry could work together to set a defined standard, even if it meant additional study/qualifications for some the profile of the industry would increase.

Points to consider;

* One governing body, one voice, more power
* Imagine the increase in business if a % could be reclaimed, even if it was 50%
* Educate the public to the type of qualifications