As a healing art used for thousands of years—with benefits long recognized in many cultures—massage therapy had remained on the fringe of mainstream health care. Now, that’s changing.
In the continual struggle to find alternative revenue streams, Massillon Community Hospital has opened Stark County’s only hospital-based massotherapy department. Convincing patients of the value of a massage isn’t a problem. The challenge has been winning over the doctors, who traditionally frown on alternative forms of medicine, of the need to prescribe such treatment for their patients.
What’s traditional about medicine?
Nearly one person in 10 has used massage therapy. Americans make 60 million visits to 85,000 massage practitioners each year. This has added greater validity to massage therapy as an accepted mode of health and healing. And some insurance plans now cover massage treatment as a medical procedure.
“They will pay if you have a physician’s order in some cases, but it really depends on the insurance company. The insurance companies that are beginning to cover it … It’s a trend working its way from the West,” says Cheryl Lepkowski, complementary therapies manager and accounting manager for the hospital.
To minimize overhead, Massillon Community Hospital’s massotherapy unit does not bill insurance companies for its treatments. “We decided that billing would add to the administrative costs, but because we know that some plans do cover certain things, we use the CPT [current procedural terminology] codes on the receipts for anyone whose insurance will cover massotherapy,” Lepkowski says.
Currently most business comes through word of mouth and from advertising, she says. There are two massotherapists and three treatment rooms. The cost is $15 for 15 minutes, $25 for 30 minutes and $40 for 50 minutes
Does massage rub patients the right way?
After a little research, the hospital realized the market potential.
Research culled for the clinic’s initial feasibility study confirmed a growing trend for complementary therapies. “We saw this as a need because we didn’t know of another hospital in our area that was providing these services in this way,” says Lepkowski. “People are using complementary therapies and alternative kinds of medicine, so why shouldn’t the two be integrated, to offer the community different choices for their health.”
“We’re marketing it as a new alternative service that the hospital is providing,” says Susan Koosh of the hospital’s marketing department, noting that the hospital is getting the word out by way of print and radio advertising and direct mail. “We’re also sending letters to doctors hoping to get their referrals to the unit,” she says.
The massotherapy unit offers massage therapy, reflexology, acupuncture, Reiki and herbal medicines and is located on the fourth floor of the hospital’s 191-bed facility.
Is it really health care?
Massage therapists, Lepkowski points out, are professionals who are required to take extensive training and become licensed by the State Medical Board. The state of Ohio requires that massage therapists have at least 600 hours of hands-on training, in addition to detailed studies in anatomy and physiology—similar to that required of nurses. In the most recent state licensing examination, only 50 percent of qualified applicants who took the exam received the required license to practice massotherapy.
Therapeutic massage, Lepkowski explains, works by boosting the circulatory and immune systems to improve circulation and digestion, strengthen muscle and skin tone and stabilize blood pressure.
Are there other benefits?
Lepkowski acknowledges that the hospital environment itself may be an element that brings even greater credibility to the new massotherapy program. But that same setting can also impede the endeavor, since florescent lighting doesn’t exactly engender a relaxing ambiance. That’s why the center’s reception area is more like a laid back living room, embellished with art on loan from the Canton Artists’ League and pleasant amenities such as a miniature waterfall and soothing background music.
Each of the three treatment rooms, painted powder blue with flattering borders, has ambient lighting floor fixtures with dimmers for a serene setting. The massotherapy unit’s state-of-the-art equipment includes comfortable, height-adjustable, hydraulic massage tables with face cradles and arm rests.
Lepkowski says the department will soon add other offerings, such as community education classes and a resource center. “There are so many different ways you could take something like this, so our innovations team is considering other services and specialties we might want to add.”
What was learned?
As with any other venture, a business plan was prepared to determine all the services that could be provided by the new unit and whether the services would be cost effective. “Our short-term plan was to get massotherapy up and running first. Then we went through marketing aspects,” Lepkowski says.
Lepkowski observes that, considering the lack of promotional advertising done before the clinic opened, the new venture is going well. “We didn’t do a lot of marketing ahead of time. I think that’s something we learned from this. If I had to do anything differently, that’s what I would do.” To reach: Massillon Community Hospital, (330) 832-8761
