a community of practitioners

Medical Massage & Insurance

Considering going to Vegas in November to get certified for Medical massage and start networking with doctors and PTs and take insurance. Does anyone do this currently? Is it worth the time and expense? I have a lot of clients that ask about me taking insurance and I am getting some referrals from a chiropractor so I thought it was something worth looking into.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jody C. Hutchinson on September 10, 2012 at 9:40am

Kim

What state are you in? Taking insurance can be complicated and even though your clients want you to. Being certified in Medical Massage is not the only way. There are folks who teach insurance billing and it is possible to do this without being certified in anything.

It is a lot of time; one hour face to face with client, at least 30 minutes chasing the payment and waiting for 30,60 or 90 days to be paid.

Best of luck,

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on September 11, 2012 at 2:58am

Well usually you can bill for auto and work comp. directly to the insurance companies if you have a doctors referral... An MD. , Chiropractor or Osteopath. You would need a valid State License... Well that's the way it was when I billed insurance companies....a while back. So you wouldn't need more certification then that. And I think that would be true if massage is covered at all under any health insurance plan. Now if you want that certification for yourself.. Then that's different... Or if you need continuing educational credits. But if you don't need that... There are lots of good DVDs out there. Cheaper then a live seminar. You can learn a lot.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kim Galliher on September 11, 2012 at 6:18am

Thank you guys. I am leaning towards a cheaper insurance billing course instead of the live seminar. I already work with a Chiropractor down the road from me but many of his referrals don't come because I do not take insurance. I am thinking that the added time will be worth the added clientele but maybe I will take the course and feel differently. I'd rather be out a little money than a lot though if I end up feeling it is not worth the trouble.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on September 11, 2012 at 6:50am

I just sent a bill along with the referral from the physician to the insurance company.. I had a software program that kept track of the accounts and printed out statements that I sent to the insurance company... They were all work and auto related accidents... I did that for about ten years I think. No course required...

Kim Galliher said:

Thank you guys. I am leaning towards a cheaper insurance billing course instead of the live seminar. I already work with a Chiropractor down the road from me but many of his referrals don't come because I do not take insurance. I am thinking that the added time will be worth the added clientele but maybe I will take the course and feel differently. I'd rather be out a little money than a lot though if I end up feeling it is not worth the trouble.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sean Vierra on September 11, 2012 at 8:14pm

Hi Kim,

I would recommend a great book if you're just getting into insurance billing. It's called Hands Heal: Insurance Billing & Documentation for Manual Therapists. It is AMAZING. If you want to get paid the first time, every time, get this book. No I don't work for the company...haha. I really do give it my total stamp of approval if you want to start off on the right foot. Best of luck! :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sean Vierra on September 11, 2012 at 8:17pm

I would also note that, depending on each state and each insurance policy, "wellness visits" are sometimes covered. I'll also say that these are few and far between. One major medical provider in my area covers wellness visits-meaning that a client may have "X" number of visits each year NOT requiring them to have had a car accident or injury. It is pretty much impossible to "sum it up" in reference to insurance billing for LMTs because there are SO many variables with situations, jurisdictions, and insurance providers. Do your homework, take each client with a deep breath, and just go a day at a time. It's overwhelming at first. If you want to make it work, you can.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kim Galliher on September 12, 2012 at 5:56pm

Thanks, I'll look for the book now.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Julie Onofrio on September 12, 2012 at 8:28pm

I just wrote a book on it too - Insurance Billing 101 for Massage Therapists. I still recommend getting Diana Thompsons book too because it focuses more on chart notes.

You don't need to take a technique class or become a 'medical massage therapist'. You just have to be able to show improvement in clients and learn the lingo and how to work with ins. companies. My book teaches you the very basics and then what you need to know to ask insurance companies. Each state, company and plan are different in each state so you just need to know what to ask the companies you are working with.

You can see the intro and table of contents at

http://thebodyworker.com/ins-billing-intro.htm

also figure out if taking insurance will help your business be more profitable by figureing out your cost per client first.

http://thebodyworker.com/ins-bill-cost-per-client.htm

You can ask any questions on my fan page also - www.facebook.com/MassagePracticeBuilder