NJ Massage Licensing Law

Hopefully all of you know by now "the Massage and Bodywork Therapist Licensing Act (the Act) (N.J.S.A. 45:11-53 through 79) was approved on January 13, 2008."  The Law went into effect back on Sept 4th, 2012.  We had 6th months to be grandfathered in if you were not certified under the previous bill.  The new law now requires that anyone doing massage be licensed.  You would think that that was all there was to it, but there is a lot more.  Many people have no idea that there are restrictions or what we can do.  I am going to ask you all to review the Bill.  I have listed a link below to make this easy.  I also included a just a few very important notes under the link.  In the text of the article on the link, you will notice a summary of the bill first, then the actual bill after it.  You need to read both.  The summary misses a few points that could come back and bite you if you are not aware of them.

http://www.nj.gov/lps/ca/proposal/maspro_110711.htm

Just a couple of things for example I quote:

> "A licensee is limited to practicing those methods of massage and bodywork therapy that he or she learned or developed.

>13:37A-5.1   Advertising and solicitation practices

(e) All advertisements shall include:
 
1. The licensee's first name, or first initial of the first name, and the licensee's full last name;
 
2. The licensee's address or telephone number; and
 
3. The terms "N.J. Lic. #" followed by the licensee's license number.
 
(f) If an entity advertises under a professional name the entity must identify at least one licensee's first name, or first initial of the first name, and the licensee's full last name, license number and telephone or address.
 
(g) A video or audio tape, or other permanent recording for an internet advertisement, of every advertisement communicated by electronic media shall be retained by the licensee and shall be made available for review upon request by the Board or its designee. A copy of any advertisement appearing in the print media shall also be retained by the licensee and made available for review. The tapes and print media copies required to be retained under this subsection shall be kept for a minimum period of three years from the date of the last authorized publication or dissemination of the advertisement."

End quote!

Now from what I have saw, no one has been including a license number on ads or meeting the other requirements in full.  This is just my observation, but we as professionals need to step up to the plate and act like professionals.  There are many segments to the law, but we need to review all of them, not just the ones that allow us to practice.  

Any place that advertise massage need to be registered with the board of massage.  There are exemptions to this rule and I quote:

"Proposed new Subchapter 6 deals with the registration of businesses that offer massage and bodywork therapies. Proposed new N.J.A.C. 13:37A-6.1 requires registration of individuals or entities that employ licensees to provide massage and bodywork therapies. Schools and health care institutions are exempt from this registration requirement. The rule sets forth the information that must be submitted to the Board in order to register. Registration must be renewed every two years. Proposed new N.J.A.C. 13:37A-6.2 requires the Board to suspend or revoke registration if an individual or entity submitted false information in its registration application or failed to demonstrate that every employee performing massage services is licensed by the Board."

One of the attributes you may like is the fact that under this law, we can "Treat" an injury. Before we were not allowed to "diagnose, treat or prescribe."  Under the new law, if someone comes into tour practice with a prescription and wants to be treated for something you can.  I recommend at that point, that you keep it within your scope of practice.  Example: "massage for low back pain do to a fall"

It could be anything, but keep your soap notes on this one. If it involves an insurance company, be sure and do everything by the book.  Not that you wouldn't ordinarily of course.

I find it somewhat a problem as I talked with other massage practitioners, that no one knows anything about the law.  Please spread the word!  We are professionals, but we will loose credibility if we do not act responsibly.  We are classified and licensed as "therapist," and that means a lot.  The new "treat" option we have should not be taken lightly.  We worked hard to establish credibility in the medical and professional fields.  This designation and ability to treat is reserved for professionals only, so lets act like it.

If you got this far reading this, Thank You!

Bill Curry