Important information on Claiming our group sessions:

Sep 23, 2019 | Physiotherapy|Pilates

The updated government health reforms introduced on April 1st 2019 have seen a few changes occur throughout the Physiotherapy and Pilates industry.

The new reforms no longer allow for rebates to be claimed through private health insurance on classes where the only content is Pilates. This is due to their research concluding that classes run by Pilates instructors with very short and low-quality training provides a low level of health care and they don’t want people to claim on it. We support this decision. It has been hard to watch the Pilates Industry water down their training courses and produce substandard services. However, it does mean that we need to differentiate between our services Pilates (with a Pilates instructor and Group Physiotherapy (with a physio ) clearly in our marketing.

Our group physiotherapy sessions at TLWS that are run by physiotherapists and have never been made only of Pilates exercises. These sessions have always been about individualised care from a physio with excellent tertiary and workplace training.

 

What do we do?

At The Living Well Studio whilst we have maintained a small number of Pilates only classes (sessions not run by a physio) the majority of our classes are run by highly qualified physiotherapists and are now known as Group Physiotherapy Sessions. For our sessions to qualify for health rebates they must be individualised that is everyone is doing their own personalised session within the group.  In order to join these group sessions, clients must undergo a comprehensive health assessment and 1:1 exercise session with one of our physiotherapists. This process ensures that we can develop focus areas, and short term and long-term goals for the patient. This then drives the structure of the session. These sessions also have notes written each week to track your progress and enable a hand over to other practitioners if needed. Reassessments are also an important part of the process and ensure you are on track in your sessions.

Whilst most Group Physiotherapy classes draw upon movement and exercises utilised in Pilates, they are not solely Pilates exercises. Due to how we run this service the client may be able to claim Group Physiotherapy Exercise classes under their physiotherapy cover with private health insurance. For further clarification or if you have any questions please ask our friendly team who are happy to help.

Cultural change

It’s important that you don’t refer to these sessions as Pilates classes when discussing with your health fund as it alerts them into thinking that our service is not group physiotherapy and you may not be able to claim. Always refer to it as Group Physiotherapy sessions which should be illustrated on your invoices. We get regularly audited about this and have passed each audit but changing the name of the sessions helps with this process.

What is Clinical Pilates?

Clinical Pilates is a name of a type of training in Pilates that the government have flagged as producing classes that do not meet the criteria for group physiotherapy while some practitioners have been trained in Clinical Pilates, we are not running Clinical Pilates classes.

What If I don’t claim?

Then this does not really apply to you and you can call our sessions what you want.

Please contact us if you have questions. We know it’s a challenging cultural change but it is to protect high-quality health care and our industry.

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    COVID-19

    As per the government health guidelines on the 22nd of March 2020 non essential services will be closed. This does not include us. While we are still open for our usual services we will be practicing strict and heightened hygiene measures during this time to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

    From the PM’s address today, we want to be clear we are not a gym. We are a health care practice, that provides services to optimise health and reduce pain from musculoskeletal injuries and conditions. Our studio team are ensuring complete high grade sanitisation of props and equipment that will only be single person use for each session, and ensuring social distancing. The staff and studio have had no connection to the COVID-19 at this time.

    As per the government health guidelines we will not allow access to our services if you answer “yes” to any of the below:

    Have you been overseas in the last 14 days?
    Have you been in contact with anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days?
    Do you have a dry cough, shortness of breath, fever or sore throat?
    If answered yes to any of the above, please call the COVID-19 hotline on 1800 020 080.

    We ask patients who are at risk to please let us know before your appointment so we can discuss your position. This includes immune-suppressed, the elderly and those who have been in high-risk areas. We also ask that you call the clinic if you do develop COVID-19 or have come in contact with someone who has so we can act according to the government recommendations.

    For all treatments, our linen is being changed for every client and a wipe down of all equipment used. We ask that you remain in your car until your treatment time to minimise patient to patient contact in the waiting area. We also ask that you use ‘tap and go’ for your payment method rather than cash. Also we will not require you to sign your health fund slip to minimise cross use of pens between staff and patients. All our door handles and surfaces are regularly being cleaned during the day.

    We ask everyone who comes in for group therapy sessions.

    Bring a large towel and socks.
    Keep 1.5m distance between yourself and others.
    Wash your hands before and after the class.
    If you need to cough or sneeze, cover your face and wash or sanitise hands immediately.
    If you wish to wear gloves we have them available for you.
    Online and Telehealth will be an option in the very near future….watch this space.

    We are understanding of each and everyone’s individual position and we deeply care for your health and encourage everyone to take steps to keep strong and healthy at this time. Please feel free to call or email our staff to voice your concern and receive guidance. We are dedicated to informing you of our position and future movements in relation to Covid-19.

    Thank you for your cooperation and support.

    TLWS Management team.