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Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards: All Talk and No Action?
I hear through the grapevine ...
National Small Business Week
The 50th anniversary of the ...
A Change for the Better at the Massage Therapy Foundation and AMTA
This past week the Massage ...

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Alternative Health News
Repeating Bone-Density Tests
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women older than age 65 undergo bone-density testing. However, organizations in general have not stated when repeat bone-density testing should be done.

Evidence-Informed Practice?
In a previous column, I discussed the history and definition of evidence-based practice (EBP), and expressed concerns with how the concept has been narrowly construed by some academics and payers.

Healing Leaders

Energy is a hot commodity. Society pays dearly for it and for the expertise of those who know how to cultivate it.


Helping Patients Through Pregnancy Loss
There is a lot of focus in the acupuncture world on fertility and helping women get pregnant. It's exhilarating to hear the news that a patient is expecting a baby. The other side of that is pregnancy loss. That includes abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth.
Calcium Supplements and Mortality
When the National Institutes of Health's AARP Diet and Health Study reported that men who took calcium supplements had a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared those who didn't, it was the third large cohort in six months with alarming findings regarding calcium supplements.

Covering Chiropractic as a Profession, Not a Single Service
Recently Dynamic Chiropractic published a front-page article about various state essential health benefits and referred to Oregon and four other states not currently providing chiropractic as a covered benefit.
Spinal-Cord Injuries: Saying No to Steroids
With steroids, epidural and otherwise, in the news lately for their overuse when treating back pain (and their danger when tainted by fungal meningitis), it was high time for a policy change, and we've got one, from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Medical Payola (Part 2)
Not only has Medtronic made billions selling expensive screws and hardware for highly controversial spine fusions, but a Senate investigation also found Medtronic felt compelled to write and edit medical journal articles attributed to outside physicians that downplayed the risks of the company's best-selling bone graft, Infuse.
News in Brief
Cancer Treatment Centers of America Continues Support of Chiropractic; ACBOH Announces 2013 Practical, Written Exam Dates; PCORI Approves Funding for Research on Spinal Stenosis; Macquarie University to Cease Offering Chiropractic Program.
Wisconsin Exam in the Spotlight
You've passed your national boards with flying colors, including Part IV, the practical examination, at a combined cost of more than $3,000.
Telecommuting and Technology: Ergonomic and Worker's Comp Considerations
As our world becomes more and more reliant on technology, equipment becomes more dependable and we become increasingly more comfortable with e-mail, the fax machine, the Internet and the smartphone, it is becoming easier and easier to work away from the office.
The Pallof Press for Core Stability Evaluation
Many people become injured because of instability, weakness and poor neural-sequencing patterns in the core. Lack of bracing and support from the inner core cylinder during coronal and transverse movements makes the body vulnerable to compensation injuries.
History Repeating Itself in Wisconsin?
Thirteen years ago, the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association (WCA) "agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that [the association] orchestrated a conspiracy among WCA members to increase prices for chiropractic services and to boycott third-party payers to obtain higher reimbursement rates."
Helping Infertility Patients with the Spirit Essence
As many of you know, when it comes to treating infertility, we are dealing with a patient population that is, generally speaking, in emotional turmoil. These patients often experience fear, anxiety, despair, hopelessness, grief and anger.
Economics of Complementary/Integrative Care
Although this column doesn't usually feature a book review, we're going outside of our usual public health format to discuss a new book written by Patricia Herman ND, PhD.
Happenings in Our Evolving Profession
Good things seem to be happening for our profession and recent developments show we are all on board. Talking about being on board, this September The Veterans Express-Purple Heart Tour is expected to make its way out of the station.
Herbal Medicine: Go Mainstream
When it comes to practicing herbal medicine in a mainstream setting, there are a number of important points to understand when it comes to prescribing formulas. Some important questions to ask are - what method of prescribing and dispensing is most effective in this setting?
A Freebie
Let's face it – patient evaluation takes time. Unless you are really into the diagnostic evaluation game, you probably have found the formal exam protocol tedious if not downright annoying.
The Spirits of the Points: The Gall Bladder Official
The Gall Bladder is known as The Official of Decision Making and Judgment. In any given day, this Official makes countless decisions – conscious and unconscious, which influence every aspect of our being.
Chiropractic Research: A Moral Issue
This year I've had the opportunity to go to three great chiropractic research conferences; the ACC-RAC, the Fédération Internationale de Chiropratique du Sport (FICS) Congress and the World Federation of Chiropractic Congress.
Business Building: What's Your Strategy?
I know some in our profession love to debate about whether or not spinal curvatures change as a result of our chiropractic adjustment, but I have a question that hits a little more close to the belt than that: Are chiropractors capable of change?
You are What You Eat Part II: Integrative Protocols
In the previous installment of this article I discussed important ideas concerning gastrointestinal health and foundational ideas from TCM, which can provide key insights into creating effective protocols for healing the gut.
Exercises for Back Pain: Low-Compression Training Program
This program is intended for two groups of people: 1) those who want to engage in resistance exercises for the major regions of their body without developing back pain in the process; and 2) those who already have back pain and want to do resistance exercises, but consistently re-irritate their back when trying to do so.
We Get Letters & E-Mail
Passing Over a Fertile Niche; I Treat Segmental Dysfunction.
There Are No Secrets: Treating Complicated Conditions with TCM
Including standardized extra points, there are just over 400 acupuncture points on the body. You get 400 and I get 400 - same. Yet, time and time again treatment protocols are coveted as if they were some secret formula only intended for the right and privileged.
Peer Points: Stories of Practice Success
When patients go see Arizona-based acupuncturist Jing Liu, it is to get top care from an practitioner well versed in all aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

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Massage Today
February 15, 2012

Change in Obscure Tenn. Law Targets Profession

By Editorial Staff

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The Tennessee bill currently before the state legislature that previously sought to move the classification of massage therapy from the Department of Health Related Boards and place it under the Department of Commerce and Insurance, has now been amended to remove all references to the massage therapy profession. According to AMTA-TN Chapter President, Maj-Lis Nash, after being inundated with e-mails and phone calls, the Governor's office told her, "it was never the intention of the office of the Governor to imply that massage was not health related, and that the bill would be amended to completely remove the sections pertaining to massage therapy. Our massage board will remain under the Health Related Boards."

A statement released by the national office of the AMTA stated: "AMTA and the AMTA-TN Chapter would like to thank Governor Haslam for his willingness to work with massage therapy stakeholders to ensure an outcome that benefits everyone involved. We applaud the Governor for his commitment to massage therapy as a health-related profession and to protect both the public and our profession."

The state of Tennessee now has a bill before its state legislature that will have a significant impact on the massage therapy profession and its standing with consumers.

The current bills before the Tennessee General Assembly (HB2387/SB2249) would change the current law which classifies massage therapy under the Department of Health Related Boards and move massage therapy under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce and Insurance. The change is difficult to detect if looking to find this information on the General Assembly web site. Even the language in the bill refers readers back to other state codes to hunt for the change.

They key change appears in Sections 11 and 12 of the bill where it states, "Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 63, Chapter 18 is transferred in its entirety to Title 62, Chapter 45." The change is buried beneath other changes and even the summary makes the bill sound harmless. "As introduced, decreases the size of the board of directors for the Duck River Development Agency from 17 to 12; authorizes the commissioner of environment and conservation to appoint an executive to carry out the purposes of the Tennessee Heritage Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2005; revises other various provisions governing certain state agencies, committees, boards and commissions..."

tennessee Kris Bour, a massage therapist and instructor for Anthem Education Group in Nashville believes massage therapists, "need to be regulated by the board of health because we are a health care provider. This devalues us and everything we as a profession strive for. Moving us will make it impossible for us to ever bill for insurance and could have an impact on massage therapists working in hospitals. It may also make us a taxable service, putting massage that much further out of the public's reach and could have a higher attrition rate for therapists who just don't want to deal with getting nickeled and dimed to death anymore."

Laura Allen, who posted this and other important legislative information on the Massage Today Women in Business Blog, believes therapists must communicate their opposition to this bill with their legislators. "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. 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."

At this time, no amendments have been added and the AMTA Tennessee Chapter has posted a sample letter that massage therapists can send to their elected representatives to ask that sections 11 and 12 be removed from this bill. At this time, it's unclear how massage therapy was included in this bill. To find your Tennessee legislator or read the bill summary and text, visit www.capitol.tn.gov/.

Editor's Note: There are additional legislative actions being taken in Iowa and Florida that will impact the massage therapy profession. Look for additional coverage of this legislation in the next issue of Massage Today.

 

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