I apologise for the lateness of this Journal. I am writing this report and putting together the last pieces of the Journal from a hospital bed, waiting for a brain tumour to be removed - as horrible as that sounds. Upon reflection I will not be continuing to produce the journal as it is now presented and written. A newsletter will have to replace it.
Our Members need to ask about their provider status with a particular Fund, and the health funds constantly enquire about a particular member's status with ARM. They are always checking if fees have been paid and all the required certification is up to date. So - Health Funds! Health Funds!! Health Funds!!! Every day it's all about Health Funds! One member complained that we spent too much time attending to health fund needs, rather than paying attention to the majority of our member's needs, who don't chase the rebates for their clients.
We are definitely catering to our members needs, and it is abundantly clear, if you spend 1 hour in the Head Office, that the vast majority of ARM members definitely want their clients to be able to take full advantage of their rebates, and so do their clients. With the previous government's push for private Health Insurance and the present financial squeeze we are all feeling, everyone understandably wants to make every dollar count.
If clients can't get a rebate from one therapist they are likely to look for another who can deliver rebates for them. It would be helpful to our members and their clients if there was a list of funds they provide for in their waiting room. If clients are satisfied with the treatment, they may well decide to change funds. It's difficult to find a therapist you trust and work well with.
After much negotiation Medibank Private has accepted ALL ARM members as providers and all our members will receive a letter from them, stating their provider number. For any members who haven't received it yet, we urge them to contact Medibank Private immediately.
I am currently negotiating with HCF and MBF for the same deal. My argument is that ARM already screens out unqualified and inappropriate applicants. We want to assure that all our members, even our long standing members with older qualifications, have their qualifications accepted by the Health Funds.
Our mature members have a much desired quality and qualification that no HLT course can teach, and they have a deep awareness of their responsibilities. Not only are they properly qualified, they have years of experience, and worked without incident for their entire career not to mention all the CPE they have accrued.
I was recently invited to speak to two classes of HLT Diploma students. Though no fault of their own they are young, new to the profession, and have little life experience to bring to their practice. They are being well trained in every sense, and we are proud to now count them among our student members - but nothing speaks louder and clearer than experience - as they will find out once they start working.
It still amazes me that HCF and MBF prefer young people fresh out of college, in preference to well qualified, mature, experienced therapists, with years of unmarred experience and accumulated CPE. It doesn't even appear logical, or in their clients best interest.
I have closely checked the qualifications, experience and CPE of members that have been previously accepted as providers by health funds, as they have been brought to my attention, and there is nothing outstanding in their background that sets them apart from our long-standing members who never applied and got accepted as a provider. In fact the previous providers have sometimes been less qualified, not as broad in their approach, and don't have as much CPE history.
Both HCF and MBF maintain that these members should have applied before the cut off date, when changes took place on the first of July 2009, and ARM had to send regular reports that now form the sole source of ARM provider information to the funds.
I argued that ARM was never informed of a cut off date for our members to apply privately, and to implement one after the date has passed sounds like an unfair trading practice, and needs to be lifted. Of course, blanket acceptance of all our members would correct the whole problem.
Being a previous provider, and not having the most recent HLT diploma, is currently causing a problem for everyone. A difficulty arises when a member has been a previous provider for some funds, in particular HCF, who have difficulty identifying who their previous providers are. It has been difficult getting the relevant information updated, without giving away every ARM members information, with or without provider recognition. Of course ARM has a duty to protect the privacy of every member's information. The insurance companies have no right to private information about members they do not have a working relationship with.
The solution is simple, all HCF and MBF has to do is recognise all ARM members as providers, like Medibank Private has done (after much consultation), and decided to grandfather our well qualified, long standing members. All funds need to realise ARM has already screened out unqualified and inappropriate applications for membership. Everyone who is a member has already been scrutinised and accepted on their merits.
Thanks to a suggestion from WA, I have spent many hours locating RTO's who were willing to provide ARM members with an affordable bridging course, to upgrade their Qualifications to a HLT Diploma. The most promising RTO has offered to put together an option that involves a competency based assessment, not re-education, as previous ARM educational standards are an accepted benchmark. The assessment can be done in our member's own work place and takes into consideration all acquired and assessable skills that have been developed as an experienced practicing therapist. I was promised a formal proposal by the end of November. This has been offered at an affordable rate to our members.
Some RTO's maintained our members would have to pay the full price for the HLT Diploma course and only have recognition for prior learning.
Of course this is a long term alternative solution to the problem of being a previous provider without the current, accepted qualification, and maintaining that status without difficulty or disruption. Well deserved blanket acceptance of our membership is required.
I have included a helpful Ireen and I sat through a long day of discussion with other Associations at the ongoing meetings regarding the concepts of self-regulation, co-regulation or Government-regulation. Some of the regulation models put forward at the meeting have colleges only determining the regulation of our industry and there is no mention of Associations having a valid input at all. This means the profit driven, often privately owned Colleges get to help determine our industry and we, the workers within the industry, are completely left out, without any input to the rules and regulations that govern our lives and our livelihood.
It became clear to me the Massage Associations need to come together, under one umbrella registering body, that we have an influence and an impact on, to determine the fate of our own industry. Much like Arrow is for homeopaths. This regulatory body could represent our interests at many levels of discussion and decision making, but not replace us. We will be stronger united; divided we are easily broken or overruled and we may falter and lose our grip on the industry we represent and maintain.
It became abundantly clear the Massage Associations need to unite under one Registering body for all massage therapists. This will bring uniformity in dealing with complaints, disciplinary procedures, industry standards and a standard for registration and requirements throughout the Massage industry. We can maintain better control and influence over our industry.
The national Committee support this concept, and when presented to the General meeting in August it was met with enthusiastic and unanimous support. The development of a nationally recognised register for massage Therapists will help eliminate the unqualified, unprofessional "back-yarders" and prevent the lowering of massage therapist standards and standing in our community.
The massage industry clearly has different needs to other modalities within the complementary health care industry, because we are not involved in ingestive or invasive treatments. Our rules, regulations and type of education need to be distinctive and separate from other modalities. We need to insure the regulation of our industry is determined by the Associations, who ultimately represent all Massage Practitioners and the industry we work within; not by unrelated bodies with different and private agendas. If we have one registering body, one set of rules, which we determine, we are protecting the very industry that is our livelihood; that we represent and support. If all Massage therapists are required to be registered, it is an effective way to inhibit the presence and use of the "Backyard" workers that undermine our credibility in the community, and our industry standards.
I have included an article on HICAPS in this edition, as signing up for this system is well worth considering. All you have to do is have your provider number from Medibank Private or any other Health Insurance fund, and submit your application. When your application is processed you will receive a small eftpos terminal for your use. The great value of these gadgets is their multi tasking ability. They swipe your clients' health Insurance card, so the transaction is processed immediately for them. They double as an eftpos machine. This means your clients can pay for their consultation with their credit card or debit card, and the payment is deducted from their account and transferred into your account immediately. It's a great service to provide, it's easy and swift.
Melissa Page, one of our volunteer members, has offered to do all our website updating and will take up her duties ASAP. We are very grateful for her generosity. Melissa also volunteered to help Ireen and I man the ARM stall at the recent Healthy lifestyle expo at Meadowbank TAFE. There is another Expo at the North Ryde TAFE on November 18th. All and any available members, who need to earn CPE points, or want to contribute to our associations, heighten their own professional profile and their own practice are very welcome to join us - it's a great opportunity, very social and enjoyable.
Remember these colleges are not restricted to finding students, teachers and admin staff from the surrounding suburbs; they come from all over Sydney.