CC PACKET 12131988 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 *the massage therapy would be a natural adjunct to the occupational , 0 2 physical, and speech therapy as well as social, psychological and 3 audiology services the rehab agency provides their clients under 4 Medicare monitoring in their Apache outpatient clinic as well as in 5 the satellite clinics attached to the 16 long care facilities Rehab 6 Dynamics contracts with throughout the state; 7 *although the massage industry itself is not regulated at all, treat- 8 ments in these clinics would be incorporated within a strictly regu- 9 lated "medical modeled" rehabilitation agency where the same .documen- 10 tation would be required for massage patients as are required by 11 prescription from a doctor for the other services provided; 12 *because the major source of their reimbursements come from either 13 state or federal funding, the Rehab Dynamics owners perceived a need 14 to diversify with preventive and wellness programs to include a "med- 15 ically modeled" therapeutic massage for stress management to be paid 16 for by the clients themselves unless ordered by a physician and the 17 costs covered by an insurance company; 18 *any acute type of problem would have to be evaluated and referred to 19 the agency by a physician but in most cases their clients would be 20 people who seek their services for stress management or because they 21 have had muscular problems which they perceive need rehab interven- 22 tion; 23 *any massage client would be handled in the same way as any other • 24 medical patient with a file set up and the same safety, infection, 25 etc . standards applied to the treatment; 26 *because the massage giver would be working out of a medical model and 27 - out of a medical building, there should be little connection with the 28 undesirable connotation attached to some types of massage. 29 Ms. Fessler discussed the procedure for getting a massage in her 30 clinic with Commissioner Werenicz , telling him that since a therapist 31 would only be present to take care of appointments, he would have to 32 make an appointment before he could get a massage in her clinic. She 33 said many of the therapists who had responded to their ad in the paper 34 had told them they preferred working in a Medicare certified clinic to 35 providing the same service in their own homes where they never knew . 36 who might be coming into their home for those services. The rehab 37 owner said they had a medical director and their services were 38 overseen by a group of professionals with degrees on a quarterly 39 basis. Ms. Fessler indicated the American Massage Therapy 40 Association did have a code of ethics and had established a definition 41 of massage therapy which might be helpful in setting standards for 42 future massage permits. 43 Mr. Childs assured her that he didn't for a minute want to leave the 44 impression that he thought this request was anything less than -45 legitimate. However, he perceived that to not address the penalties 11