Associations
General Information
Associations are a vital component of our industry. They provide a single point of contact and validation for therapists, clients, health funds and insurance companies. Further to this they are a valuable source of current information on the massage industry.
Validation and Safety
If clients, health funds, insurance companies or other organizations wish to verify the qualifications or the status of a practitioner, they may contact the association with which the practitioner claims to be registered. Further to this, any complaints a client may wish to make about the behaviour of a therapist may be made via these means. This way, associations will provide the best source of information about any incident history of the practitioner.
Health Fund Links
It is an enormous job for a therapist to try to be registered with every individual health fund to facilitate client claims. Associations greatly reduce the amount of work required here, as they are able to pass the therapist's current details and qualifications on to their network of cooperative health funds.
Insurance Benefits
Many associations have a preferred insurance partner that offers insurance at a discounted rate to members of that association. As with the health funds, the insurance company has access to important information about the therapist via their association as a means of validation.
Quality of Service
Most associations also require that their members continually update their skills by means of a Continual Education program. This means that therapists from these associations should have skills that reflect current practices in Natural Therapy.