Medical Massage Therapy

Medical Massage is a very controversial topic in the massage profession. The profession is very divided over the issues surrounding being able to bill insurance companies for massage therapy services.

Massage therapy is being accepted by insurance companies more and more these days. Most states allow massage therapists to bill insurance when the case is work related or due to a motor vehicle accident. In WA and FL, massage therapists are able to bill HMO's and PPO's and other states vary by insurance company.

On one hand there is a movement to define Medical massage as a certain technique or method. The other side defines medical massage as just the ability to bill insurance companies for massage therapy services.

Defining Medical Massage as a few different types of massage could lead to certain types of massage not being covered by insurance companies. Medical massage therapists have also taken a stance saying that relaxation massage is not medical massage. In my view relaxation massage is medically necessary for the treatment of tight muscles that is causing a condition or disease. Ruling out relaxation massage would be like shooting off our own foot - it is a part of massage and can be also proven to reduce symptoms and show improvement which is all medical massage requires.

The fight over medical massage and relaxation massage and billing issues will never be resolved until we all start to realize that we are all really just wanting the same thing - to be able to do massage and have it be a part of healthcare.

There are also many other issues involved in this heated debate. The major issues being: -the legalities of billing an insurance company more than you charge your cash clients. - the issues surrounding fixing (which insurance companies require) and healing -the fact that each state defines massage differently and massage therapists are not always licensed as health care professionals

How we define "medical massage" will be one of the most crucial points in our profession and the need to define ourselves is here, now.The issue seems to be is "medical massage" just the ability to bill insurance companies for our services or is it a specific technique?

The "medical massage" movement started out as a way to become more visible in the medical profession and be able to bill insurance companies for our services. There have been a few companies, schools and individuals teaching insurance billing and special so called "medical massage" techniques.

In my opinion, the medical massage division is further separating our profession. To define who and who can't do medical massage will not help our profession.

Who is to say what technique is medical or not?

Will polarity therapy or relaxation massage not be considered medical in nature?

Will other therapies be ruled out of the medical profession and therapists in those disciplines not be allowed to bill insurance companies?

As I see it, "medical massage" is just another way for certain groups to make money teaching classes.When a small group of people start to define our profession without consideration of the effects of doing so, we risk separation.

I believe that every type of massage therapist is a "medical massage" profession. Every type of massage including relaxation techniques are medical massage. The technique has nothing to do with whether or not it should be considered medical massage.

I also think we should reconsider if we actually want to be a part of the medical community and the world of working with insurance companies. MD's, DC's, DDS professionals already know the issues involved with working with them -We will constantly be paid less and less.We will have to do more work for less money.We will have to deal with all the issues of getting paid.Our scope of practice will be limited by the insurance companies.Our sessions will be dictated by the insurance companies.

The more involved we get with the medical model world, the farther we travel from our roots in healing.The medical model creates an agenda for healing. The medical model is based on assessing, diagnosing and fixing symptoms. We are asked to 'fix' clients and create functional goals to get them back to work as soon as possible. Fixing or curing a condition is different from healing.

As Rachel Remen, MD states in her article "In the Service of Life" "Lastly, fixing and helping are the basis of curing, but not of healing. In 40 years of chronic illness I have been helped by many people and fixed by a great many others who did not recognize my wholeness. All that fixing and helping left me wounded in some important and fundamental ways. Only service heals."

What if symptoms such as pain were actually the messenger with a deeper message of healing and our whole frame of reference it to take away that pain is really robbing a person of learning more about themselves?

There are many massage therapists that work under that premise. Would they be eliminated from the being able to bill insurance companies for their services? (On one hand I almost hope so as there is a whole other issue of taking responsiblity for one's health by paying for one's own care.)

As a massage therapist you will see many amazing experiences of healing and come to know massage under the wellness model of healing. You will be able to be a guide for others on the road to health and healing especially after healing yourself first.

I am not sure what the answer to this challenge is. My ideas are to have one unified organization such as a guild that promotes the massage profession as a whole, calling it clinical massage or another name and opting out of the whole medical system and creating a wellness system in some way...

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Thanks!
Julie Onofrio
www.massagetherapycareers.com