Clarification Re Insurance Industry Policy vs. The Administration of Laser Therapy

 

Insurance carriers appear to demonstrate an undue level of concern with the designation of healthcare professionals administering Laser Therapy. This article is designed to clarify this issue. First it should be noted that Laser Therapy can be administered by a duly trained physician, physiotherapist or chiropractor, based on the knowledge and expertise acquired at our certification course, complemented of course with subsequent experience. Moreover, the above designated healthcare professionals can perform an assessment and prescribe the protocols as required. They can then administer Laser Therapy directly or delegate it to any certified laser therapist under their supervision, someone who may not be licensed to diagnose. Despite this, some carriers will pay a physiotherapist but not the other designations and other carriers will pay the chiropractor but not the other two professionals and so forth. To anyone with a functional IQ, this would appear to be irrational and indeed qualifies under that category. In essence, there is no logical or legal foundation for this position.

At Meditech, a team of healthcare professionals participate in the process of assessment, protocol prescription and the actual administration of the therapy. All the individuals involved in the process are qualified laser therapists and are able to integrate this technology into their therapeutic programmes, as clinically indicated. At our facility, laser therapy is generally utilized as the basic treatment platform, although sometimes complemented by other technologies.

Within the team concept, the various disciplines work collaboratively to provide the “best practice” standard in order to achieve an optimal clinical outcome. It is important that everyone, particularly insurance carriers, clearly understand this process, designed to protect the patients best interests.

To summarize – At Meditech, we offer a comprehensive therapeutic programme designed on an individual basis in order to achieve an optimal clinical outcome. This may include periodic participation by the physician, the physiotherapist and/or the chiropractor, along with those who apply the therapy under supervision. The latter include kinesiologists, laser therapists, massage and exercise therapists, again working on a collaborative basis.

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