COVID 19: Massage Therapist Return to Practice Guidance

The Washington State Massage Therapy Association has been hard at work accessing the most current and most reliable information available to us. Whether you have continued to see patients with urgent medical needs, or you are considering how to adjust your environment and practices when you choose to return to work when you are able to, we have information for you. We want you to be able to work in the safest (for you and your patients/clients) and most professional and ethical way possible.

Part 1: Introduction is currently available for members on the www.mywsmta.org website under COVID 19 Resources & Links page. In the next few days the next editions of “COVID 19: Massage Therapist Return to Practice Guidance” will be, Part 2: “WSMTA’s Interim Guidance on PPE” and the “WSMTA’s Interim Guidance on Sanitation” for Massage Therapist.  Shortly following that will be, Part 3 “WSMTA’s Interim Guidance on Practice Guidelines”.

COVID-19 Health Alert for Massage Therapists

From: Maxey, Megan (DOH) <Megan.Maxey@doh.wa.gov>
Date: Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 1:32 PM
Subject: Current guidance from DOH for LMTs
To: Berney, Marybeth

Good afternoon,

Gov. Jay Inslee has issued proclamation 20-25, which restricts many businesses from operating until midnight on April 6, 2020. The proclamation permits “essential critical infrastructure workers” to continue operations in essential critical infrastructure sectors. Health care providers are included in the definition of essential critical infrastructure workers. 

At this time, it is up to the professional judgement of each licensed massage therapist (LMT), to determine if his or her practice qualifies as an essential health care service. Proclamation 20-25 permits LMTs who provide health care services to continue operations with social distancing between patients and sanitation measures in place. However the possibility of transmission of COVID-19 within a massage practice is real and should be weighed by LMTs when deciding what services to continue.

The CDC has many resources available about actions to take within a health care setting to reduce risk from COVID-19. There is no procedure to eliminate the possibility of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 without the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). We currently have a nationwide shortage of PPE.  

Please use your professional judgement to reschedule appointments that are not urgent. Consider whether the risk of harm to the patient for delaying massage treatment outweighs the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and possibly contributing to community spread of the virus. Health experts are concerned that increasing transmission in our state and an increase in severe disease will limit the ability of our healthcare system to provide urgent care to all who require it.

Additional information is available from these sources:

DOH Workplace Recommendations                      DOH Coronavirus (COVID-19) Web Page

CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) Web Page              CDC Practice Preparedness Resources

Take care,

Megan

Megan Maxey

Program Manager

Board of Massage

Reflexology Program

Animal Massage Program

Nursing Pool Program

Health Systems Quality Assurance

Washington State Department of Health

PO Box 47852

Olympia, WA 98504-7852

megan.maxey@doh.wa.gov

360-236-4945 (phone) | www.doh.wa.gov

360-236-2901 (fax)

Please refer to the Department of Health’s COVID-19 webpage for continuously updated information.

Due to the COVID-19, we are having an increased volume of emails and phone messages and there may be a delay in our response time.  Thank you for your patience.

To help LMTs navigate through our current situation, we have provided some links below. 

We wish everyone health and wellness.

The following links have the latest information regarding the Coronavirus.     

•   King County Public Health

•   WA Dept of Health

•   Center for Disease Control 

•   World Health Organization

Massage License Renewal: If you are close to renewing and have not been able to secure hands-on CE due to class cancellations please contact Megan Maxey the program manager for massage therapy at the Department of Health. Megan's email is: Megan.Maxey@doh.wa.gov. She can provide information about requesting an extension.

Here are more specific links:

•   Announcements from Governor Inslee Regarding COVID19 go to the bottom of the webpage

•   WA State Paid Family & Medical Leave and Coronavirus

•   WA State Security Employment Department -- For workers and businesses affected by COVID-19

•   COVID-19 resource list for impacted Washington businesses and workers This website has federal and state resources available to help out WA state businesses and workers

•   Chart Showing Who's Eligible for State Benefits due to COVID19 Scenarios

•   Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)--(CDC)

•   Who are People at Risk?--(CDC)

•   Busting Myths about Coronavirus--(WHO)

•   Basic Protective Measures against the Coronavirus--(WHO)

•   Current list of products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19--(EPA)

•   Resources for specific sectors of society--(King County Public Health) scroll to the bottom of the page to "Resources"

•   Resources for specific sectors of society--(DOH) under "Resources and Recommendations" click on the "guidance" link

COVID 19 Resources for Healthcare Providers

• WA Dept of Health
• Center for Disease Control
• WSDoH Multi-agency Coordination Group Call Report 2 26 20

Breaking: Regence Providers

It has come to our attention that some Regence providers have received a contract amendment titled, "Regence BlueShield Data Access, Use & Transfer Addendum", sometime in December or early January. We advise you to take note of this amendment and read it carefully. WSMTA is working on clarifying some of the provisions with Regence, but we encourage you to do your own research.

WSMTA is committed to continuing this vital function and representation for Washington LMT’s.

We need your continued support with your membership and/or donations to support our operations at www.mywsmta.org.

Thank you!

Board Members Present:  Heidi Williams LMT (Chair), Anthony Sharpe (public member), Tonya Cox LMT, Chelsea Giles LMT (new member)

School Program Reviews: Altura College and Bellevue Massage School (651 hour program, transfer program and Bilingual program) -- approved

Special Meeting:  This meeting was billed as a "special meeting" and not a rescheduled meeting of the cancelled November 1 Board of Massage Meeting.  The purpose of this meeting was primarily to discuss a few outstanding WAC rule issues.  Here are the WACs that were discussed:

The full article is here: 111519 - Board of Massage Meeting Notes

WSMTA received this email and article summarizing the Dept of Healths 2020 Budget Request and Legislative Agenda for 2020. As Health Care Providers we feel Massage Therapists must stay informed.

You can read their summary HERE

*********************************************

Hello partners in health!

The Department of Health has officially submitted its 2020 supplemental budget and agency request legislation to the Governor’s Office and the Office of Financial Management. These proposals will now be reviewed and considered for the Governor’s budget and approved policy agenda. The Governor’s budget is typically published around the third week of December.

A summary of the department’s agency request proposals is attached. These proposals reflect guidance received from the Official of Financial Management as well as feedback received in our stakeholder conversations. Thank you to those of you who participated and provided input along the way, including our August 23 legislation/decision package webinar.

Specific detail and decision package proposals are available online at either the DOH or OFM websites.

Thank you for your continued engagement with the Department of Health.

John Wiesman (DOH)

What is the Department of Health’s HSQA?

According to the Department of Health’s (DOH) website,

“Health System Quality Assurance's top priority is to protect and improve the health of people in Washington State. We do this by helping to prevent injuries, develop health systems and improve patient safety. We work closely with communities and local health partners to build strong health systems and prevention programs. This helps ensure that everyone has access to good healthcare and emergency medical services.

Health Systems Quality Assurance (HSQA) regulates and supports more than 463,000 health professionals in 83 health professions, and 11,000 health groups and programs. Each year we review more than 14,000 complaints and inspect thousands of facilities. Each month we respond to an average of 24,000 phone calls and thousands of emails.”

The full article is here: Highlights from the recent HSQA.pdf

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