Change the Quality of Your Massage Therapy
There are so many things that make MassageFIX different than the average massage office. First off, we only employ highly qualified, state-licensed massage therapists who use advanced techniques and tools (after proper training). We are not a spa where you come to get fruffy massages, scrubs, and wraps. Nothing wrong with those relaxing services—just not our mainstay. We are a Clinical Massage Therapy Clinic. We fix stuff—the stuff that ruins your day. Pain is our primary motivator, and we can and do work cooperatively with our clients’ local chiropractors and physical therapists to help achieve the best outcomes.
Our most involved healthcare partners:
Dr. Adam Rogers, DC of Roger’s Chiropractic
Suzanne Leach, DPT of Rehabilitation & Performance Institute (physical therapy)
They send us their clients for soft-tissue work, and we send our clients to them for help with bones, joints, nerves, and strengthening. We’ve found many possible fractured bones, loose ligaments, herniated discs, and torn tendons, and sent the client to them for immediate evaluation and imaging referral over the years. We love it when Rogers or Leach sends us specific instructions for muscles or adhesions to work on, or asks us to apply Kenesio Tape®. We make a great team in Bowling Green.
But none of this happens without excellent communication between our offices, and we do that with something called S.O.A.P. Notes. SOAP notes are a very detailed summary of the problem you explained to us (“S” subjective), what we found and did (“O” objective), our analysis of the problem (“A” assessment), and our further treatment recommendations to fully solve your problem (“P” plan). All three of our offices can read and speak the language in the SOAP note, and massage therapists always follow the doctors’ directions (Rogers & Leach), leading the therapy. This way, we don’t work against each other. Instead, you get better faster!
Critical Benefits
Not only do massage therapists write SOAP notes for other therapists or healthcare professionals to easily follow and pick up where the last practitioner left off (no endless repeating for the client or working on the wrong body part, ugh), but we also write them so that…
- We can track your positive progress (and get excited)
- Track your lack of progress, thus having a concrete basis to refer you out to another healthcare practitioner or bolster your case for more expensive tests (MRI, CT, EEG, etc.) with your doctor.
- SOAP notes are also official legal documents in case you need them for your insurance company or a legal case down the road. We have the HIPAA Release Forms if you need them produced.
Scary Scenarios
However, the most critical reason massage therapists in Kentucky write SOAP notes is because it is the law: Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice for KY State Licensed Massage Therapists (201 KAR 42:060 sec. 3). Imagine going to a massage therapist for six months to fix your tennis elbow. You use your FSA/HSA card to pay for it. Then your insurance company wants copies of your SOAP notes to prove you used these funds for a real medical purpose (tennis elbow diagnosed by your doctor), and not for relaxing massages and body scrubs. If your massage therapist was lazy and didn’t write your required SOAP notes, you’re screwed! You can’t prove you did the right thing, and the HR manager at your work may have a thing or two to say to you. Yikes!
What if a drunk driver crashes into your car? You hurt your back, and the lawyer for the other driver says you already had a back problem before the accident. You can’t prove he’s wrong without great SOAP notes from your massage therapist.
Bottom Line
If your massage therapist isn’t doing this, it could cost you in many ways. Don’t work with a massage therapist who won’t write SOAP notes!
We don’t do “Massage.” We do “Massage THERAPY.” The difference is SOAP notes!”
C. Michael Strautman, LMT, Owner of MassageFIX®