Is your club's medical exercise program compliant?
With opportunity comes responsibility, especially when it comes to medical fitness information. Medical exercise may be the way of the future. Incorporating medical fitness programs at your club not only provides more extensive services for your members, it also creates new revenue.
But there is also a downside. Dealing with private medical information requires clubs to become compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPAA).
So how can a club tell if it needs to be HIPAA complaint? One is if you are considered a covered entity, which includes traditional health care providers such as doctor’s offices and hospitals, but also can include other persons or entities that provide “healthcare services,” such as a health educator, registered dietitian, nutrition professional and physical therapist.
The second category applies to business associates of those covered entities (in which case you are a performing services with or on behalf of the covered entity and you have access to protected health information).
If we truly want to make a difference in the lives of our members, we need to start partnering with the medical community. Unfortunately, many leaders in the industry are completely focusing on the top line as it pertains to basic fitness products and services, without caring about the health outcomes of their members. We have a great opportunity to expand club value and member engagement by focusing on the reduction of healthcare costs; however, we are going to have to start speaking the same language as the medical community, as well as looking and acting like healthcare organizations.