Clearly and concisely defining and/or explaining medical exercise training can be challenging. I highly encourage all our medical exercise training graduates to have a "elevator speech" which allows you to define your role and services in 30 - 60 seconds. Make sure you explain who you are; what you do; how you do it; and who you do it to. That's probably the simpliest thought in explainiing MET services.
If you do not define your role and services, someone else will and that can leave you in a difficult situation. If the person explaining your services is not 100% clear, you could end up with clients or medical professionals completely misunderstanding your role and services. This may cause some very difficult sitatuations. Please develop a clear elevator speech to define who you are and what you do as well providing a definitation for medical exercise training.
This is tip 6 from the MET101 Ebook. Please obtain your FREE copy of the MET101 Ebook at www.met101ebook.com.
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Medical Exercise Specialists are found on six continents around the globe. They have made a major impact on health care systems and the fitness industry around the world. The need for medical exercise training (MET) is growing and will continue to do so over the next 20 years. But with that growth we also see a proliferation of medical exercise/medical fitness certifications. The concern with this proliferation is the “read a book…take an exam” approach to MET education.
You would run if a physician or therapist remarked he or she simply read the book and took their licensure exam. The same should hold true for the medical exercise professional. Managing medical conditions with exercise isn’t simply knowing a few exercises for a condition….its understanding the related anatomy and pathology of the condition and how exercise is applied. We now see the medical exercise/medical fitness certificate becoming another “merit badge” for the...
For Medical Exercise Specialists to be more effective and produce positive outcomes, packaging or bundling MET services to meet the needs of the clients and their conditions is important. Usually MET services are provided in a singular manner. Services such as one-on-one training, group classes and medical membership are offered separately. For effective management of chronic conditions a shift to packaging all MET services necessary to produce a positive outcome is preferred.
These are the 7 steps to packaging MET services:
At this point packaging MET services is seldom avaiable to the client as initial offering . But as the demand for MET grows so will the need to offer ...
Medical Exercise Specialists are working with more clients and the numbers are continuing to grow. With the changes in insurance reimbursement, many clients are seeking medical exercise training services but are not quite ready for such. Each client presenting for medical exercise training services must complete a screening to determine if they are ready for MET. The screening process will identify "RED FLAGS".
Red flags indicate the client is NOT "medically-stable" nor ready to begin exercise outside a clinical setting. "Medically-stable" means the client can tolerate 30 minutes of exercise and symptoms such as pain, swelling, etc have been stabilized. In your screening look for these Red Flags:
Though exercise may have a positive impact on each of these items, it may also have a significant...
Medical exercise training is growing and health clubs are trying to cash in. But many health clubs misunderstand the needs of medical professionals and their patients when attempting to develop referral relationships. Over the years as a therapist I have been approached by many clubs to refer clients or be a member of their medical fitness advisory board. Forgive me! I got carried away and gave you 8 instead of 7. The more the better in this situation.
Here are 8 mistakes health clubs make when approaching medical professionals.
As a Medical Exercise professional you will work with a wide range of clients when you open your practice. You will clients with neurological disorders (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and CVA), cardiovascular conditions (hypertension, myocardial infarcts, coronary bypasses) and musculoskeletal disorders (total hip and knee replacements, disc herniations and meniscal tears). These are just some of the conditions you will work with in your practice.
Clients will also seek your services to correct postural and muscular imbalances and/or to improve strength, endurance or flexibility around a joint. With all clients, complete a thorough medical history interview BEFORE initiating any assessment procedures or exercise programming.
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Medical exercise professionals must effectively manage the “BIG 6”. These six conditions are major contributors to the skyrocketing health care costs we see across the globe. The “BIG 6” include:
The costs of managing these conditions is the primary reason every medical exercise professional should learn to manage these conditions. If you focus on these six conditions you can build a strong practice.
The majority of clients referred to medical exercise training (MET) are there due to “residual functional deficits”. As we have mentioned in previous blog posts, over the last 25 years the reimbursement for rehabilitation services has diminished. As a result physical therapy patients are discharged earlier. We saw trend starting in the early 1990’s. This prompted us to develop the “Medical Exercise Specialist” certification. Insurance reimbursement for physical therapy is now roughly half of what it was in the 90’s. With patients being discharged earlier, we estimate roughly 80% of those discharged from physical therapy have functional deficits and need a safe and effective exercise program to enhance their level of function at work, at home or with sports. FUNCTION is the driving factor for medical exercise training!
The function wheel above identifies the nine key elements of human function. These elements may be...
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