Massage Therapy Insurance Directory Audit
WSMTA has informed the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, the House Health Care and Wellness Committee and the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee of our results, along with our concerns regarding network adequacy. Are there truly enough in-network massage therapists at Regence to provide timely care to their members? We are hopeful this effort will provide an invitation to WSMTA from the OIC and our state representatives involved in healthcare decisions to discuss all our concerns about what is happening to massage therapists and our relationships with the medical insurance industry in Washington State. If you are interested in the findings of the audit and our highlighted concerns regarding network adequacy, our complete letter to our government representatives is found in the link below.
What can you do? Write your own letter to our healthcare committee state representatives about your experiences as an LMT with medical insurance providers. Representatives on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee are Marcus Riccelli, Chair; Jessica Bateman, Vice Chair; Joe Schmick; Spencer Hutchins; Stephanie Barnard; Dan Bronoske; Lauren Davis; Jenny Graham; Paul Harris; Nicole Macri; Jacquelin Maycumber; Gina Mosbrucker; Tina Orwall; Tarra Simmons; Monica Jurado Stonier; My-Linh Thai and Steve Tharinger. Representatives on the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee are Annette Cleveland, Chair; June Robinson, Vice Chair; Ann Rivers; Ron Muzzall; Steve Conway; Manka Dhingra; Jeff Holy; Mike Padden; Emily Randall and Kevin Van De Wege. Recent Clinical Practices News
CALLING ALL MASSAGE THERAPISTS The Clinical Practices Committee has a plea and request of every Massage Therapist in Washington State who works with Medical Insurance Companies or who have patients/clients seeking Massage treatment covered by medical insurance.
Stop assuming making a complaint won’t matter. Stop assuming your patients won’t make the effort to file a grievance. Stop assuming your voice doesn’t make a difference. We can’t make change happen unless every WA Massage Therapist who wants to be available to patients with insurance explains and communicates to the insurance companies and patients why medical insurance is a barrier. Please help the Clinical Practices Committee get to the table with medical insurance companies. If we can do this, we can open the communication channels for all massage practitioners. REGENCE LEGAL REVIEW
Some Regence contracted LMTs had concerns about the latest contract that was sent out a few months ago by Regence. A respected and highly experienced healthcare attorney, John Conniff, provided the Washington State Massage Therapy Association (WSMTA) a legal review of the new Regence agreement. We all know that legal services are expensive, and this lengthy contract and regulatory filings (228 pages) required many hours of work and resulted in a thirteen page legal review that details the commitments that therapists enter into, the inconsistencies, and the conflicts with Washington statutes that exist in the contract. The review is available to members for $100 – the cost of one massage. If you are not currently a WSMTA member, you can go to our website, become a member for $40 and then be eligible to purchase the review for $100. Your payment helps us to continue to provide services like this in the future. CONTINUING EDUCATION AUDITSEvery month the Department of Health audits 2% of the license renewals which have continuing education due. A shocking 50% of therapists fail the audit. This is not always due to a lack of education hours, but can also be due to not having hours in the required categories. The Board of Massage has developed a handy tracking form which lists the requirements and space to enter your continued education classes. Print out the form, write in any classes when you take them, attach your certificate, and you are ready for a successful audit. There will likely be some changes to CE requirements in the near future. We will let you know when the regulations become effective and supply you with the link to the updated form. | WHAT CLINICAL PRACTICES DOES FOR YOUIn Washington State, massage therapists are in a unique position, licensed by the state and credentialed by insurance as health care providers. LMTs are included in insurance provider networks. The Clinical Practices Program (CPP) mission is to be a communication portal (conduit) to address issues that impact clinical practices at the state level, while bringing best practice information to individual massage therapists and clinics. We bring our voices, our knowledge, our experience and collaborative approach to Washington State's regulatory, legislative and insurance arenas. We also prioritize effective communication with our members as well as other professional organizations in the healthcare field, particularly rehabilitation therapy. Our current and ongoing focus is to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information for Best Clinical Practices and for compliance with our massage laws as well as other regulations that apply to healthcare providers. We seek and participate in opportunities to work with networks and insurers on behalf of Washington LMTs to address issues including but not limited to credentialing, improving access to provider networks, network adequacy, prior authorization requirements, payers compliance with reimbursement regulations. COVID-19 FORMSClinical Practices Program is providing a variety of examples of forms from active WA massage practitioners to use as templates for resumption and provision of in-person healthcare treatment during the COVID-19 public health crisis. These may include:
These are provided as a starting point. They do not reflect any legal requirements or the only way these forms could be created. They should be customized so it reflects your actual practice and process.The purpose of these forms is to:
Whether they are sent in a pre-appointment email, reviewed at time of service or posted on the website, the key is to communicate your practice has changed its delivery of services to optimizing safety and health. Obtaining signatures or initials on the forms will hopefully assure they have read it, but it is not a liability waiver or legally binding agreement. The documents below are in MS Word format for easy modification to your practice needs. We hope you find them helpful. COVID 19 Integrated Form (.docx) COVID 19 Symptom Check (.docx) COVID 19 Office Protocol (.docx) VOLUNTEERSOur Board and Committee members are all unpaid volunteers working for you. Our little group could use individuals willing to take on jobs big and small. It allows you to connect with other LMT professionals, receive mentorship, find out the latest discoveries in our profession, receive CE hours for certain activities and support other up and coming LMTs. We are looking for volunteers interested in helping with, but not limited to:
Our Board and Committee members are all unpaid volunteers working for you. If you have a story idea, an educational experience or ideas to share, please contact us. Please specify your interest in the Clinical Practices Group, our coding subcommittee or if you are looking for volunteer opportunities. |
The WSMTA Clinical Practices Committee member, Julie Johnson, conducted an all-volunteer audit of the Regence Provider Directory from all over Washington. We wanted to have a focused effort to confirm what we’ve been hearing for years from our members and clients/patients – the medical insurance directories are inaccurate. With seventeen LMT volunteers (THANK YOU!), we could only confirm 176 individual licensed massage therapists out of 1078 directory listings were actively taking Regence in November of 2022.
