What would give health clubs one of the biggest boosts in viability? A huge possibility would be insurance companies. If the medical community would or could influence health insurance companies to accept exercise and nutrition as allowable treatment for a number of diseases, then the cost of many programs in the gym would be covered.
A number of studies have linked exercise programs with better health indicators including: blood pressure, cholesterol, cardiovascular events, cognition and premature death. Researchers have found that group training, structured group exercise, walking programs and nutrition education have the potential to improve survival rates and health-related quality of life, as well as lowering overall health care costs.
For example, in one study, older adults who visited a health club two or more times per week during the course of two years incurred $1,252 less in health care costs during the second year — compared to those who visited a health club less than one time per week.
Some insurance companies already include some fitness benefits, such as club memberships or access to personal trainers or exercise classes at reduced cost. Medicare reimburses for medical nutrition therapy and training for the treatment and management of diabetes, which can include physical activities. However, it does not cover exercise programs despite evidence that such programs can help improve health and cut costs.
I believe it is going to be imperative that the traditional medical community forms some sort of alliance with the fitness industry soon. With the mounting evidence that adults, both healthy and not, must incorporate increasing physical activity in their lives, physicians and their insurance partners will eventually have to agree that health clubs are essential to the continuum of care.
So what can clubs do to facilitate this transition now? Some clubs have physical therapy services on site, and some have nutritionists or dietitians. Some have medical doctors as part of a referral service.
Sometimes it is necessary to communicate with members’ or client’s physicians for medical clearance. This is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how well fitness professionals can work with doctors to provide optimal care for patients. In order to do that, we need to develop strategies to earn the trust of medical professionals.
In Anthony Carey’s book, “Relationships and Referrals,” he presents a guide for doing business with the medical community. With post rehabilitation and medical exercise programming, and corrective exercise often a part of clubs’ services, we have laid the foundation to grow relationships with insurance companies. It’s time to take the next step and connect with these companies as well for the benefit of our members.
Judith Samuels, M.A. is a certified nutrition and wellness consultant and master personal trainer at Sport&Health Clubs in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. She can be reached via e-mail at judi@judisamuels.com.
