Medical integration and medical fitness programs offer a unique opportunity for your fitness center. This approach incorporates traditional fitness practices with medical expertise, creating a safe and effective environment for individuals with chronic health conditions or seeking preventative care. Power Wellness has a proven, proprietary process to complete this transition, and has done so successfully for fitness centers owned by organizations ranging from large, multi-site integrated delivery systems, to municipalities, foundations, and universities and colleges.
The following summarizes Power Wellness’ proprietary medical integration strategies to engage healthcare providers and their patients:
1) Establish a Medical Advisory Committee: Partner with local physicians and healthcare professionals to form a Medical Advisory Committee (MAC). This committee sets the foundation for your program, providing guidance on program development, safety protocols, and patient referrals.
2) Leverage Integrated Technologies: Invest in technology solutions that facilitate communication and data sharing between fitness professionals and healthcare providers. Electronic health records (EHR) integration allows for personalized exercise programs tailored to each member’s medical history and limitations. Power-link was developed by Power Wellness as an EHR-agnostic platform that provides a HIPAA-compliant data exchange between a healthcare system’s EHR and its fitness center’s member management system. Providers use power-link to efficiently refer patients into medical fitness programs, while patient fitness data can be uploaded as part of their EHR.
3) Conduct General Membership Assessments: Develop and offer standardized medical integration fitness assessments. Offering fitness assessments to the center’s general membership not only benefits the members, but also benefits the center by identifying potential medical fitness program participants. This assessment could include basic health questionnaires, fitness evaluations, and consultations with certified trainers.
4) Introduce Medically Integrated Programming: Offer specialized exercise programs that cater to specific health conditions, such as arthritis management, diabetes management, and pre/post-natal fitness. Partner with healthcare providers to ensure these programs are aligned with patient treatment plans.
5) Track Health Outcomes: Measure and monitor member progress through consistent health assessments and outcome tracking. This data can be shared with healthcare providers to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program and optimize member care.
6) Pursue Medical Fitness Association Certification: Consider obtaining Medical Fitness Association (MFA) certification for your facility. This demonstrates your commitment to industry best practices and ensures adherence to safety protocols for medical fitness programs. The Medical Fitness Association’s Facility Certification is the first and only independent operations audit designed specifically for the medical fitness industry—comprised of over 1,000 facilities serving over 4 million members worldwide. The rigorous Facility Certification process involves an in-depth, on-site review of a facility’s compliance with 70+ criteria across multiple areas including Medical Oversight, Quality Management, and Professional Staffing among others.
By implementing these steps for medical integration and partnering with a trusted advisor like Power Wellness, your fitness center can become a vital resource for individuals seeking medical guidance with their fitness journey. This approach fosters a collaborative environment that promotes long-term health and well-being for your members.
Explore Your Medical Integration Options with Us.