I would love to have a Wellness Center, indeed I greatly enjoyed having a multidisciplinary Xerlan and Christopher Deerypractice in Tulsa, Oklahoma for many years with a number of Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists, Yoga Instructors and Estheticians. At this point it isn’t feasible for us. My concern is that all over the country I am seeing some unfortunate trends that are not in the best interest of the Massage consumers.

Opening a wellness center or multidisciplinary practice is being done by some business people that not only are not practicing any of the modalities or services but, they are preying on those that do and the clients. One of their arguments is that they can run a business however, they may not know squat about any of the businesses or practices they are trying to run and they seem to just be opportunistic.

So forgive us and other Massage Therapists, Chiropractors, Personal Trainers, Yoga Instructors, Acupuncturists and Estheticians when we don’t jump into the amazing opportunity you offer or see in town that you think we should go join. We are open minded. We don’t have too big of egos and think we are too good to work with others. We want to play nice in the sandbox.

Our first concern is the clients/patients. We need/want to work and provide services to you in a way that serves you best and sometimes these places do not allow for that. There are several things we all look at when we consider these other opportunities.

It isn’t just the money. The money is important and usually these places will only pay 20% – 50% of what we normally charge. It isn’t that we are greedy. We do have to wonder if you realize this and if you think it is really worth it. For instance, do you really want me to drive to another location so you can have your session with me and pay more for it and I get 60% less? Is it that important that you get your massage at the same place you do something else? Maybe, maybe not.

There are legal issues as well.  Most of these places are not hiring us as employees. They are creating independent contractor agreements that are usually quite illegal, or at least dubious. They want it all their way and are usually completely unaware of employee vs. contract issues. Unfortunately some of them are aware and don’t seem to care. They don’t think they will get caught and just want to make money.

They have a different idea of referrals. Many times a practitioner who already receives referrals from another health provider extends themselves to practice at another location part time and the owner of the other place thinks they now have rights to that referral source. That creates an uncomfortable competition between people that are supposed to work together with the best intentions for your wellbeing. The other thing that happens very often is that the owner of the “new” place attempts to separate the referral source from the practitioner to enforce their ownership of this source. Imagine the surprise of a Chiropractor who referred a client to a Massage Therapist only to find out their patient didn’t get to see the Massage Therapist they referred them to because the business owner inserted themselves and took control of that scheduling. This is not good business and the ethics are questionable.

Time is an issue. Sometimes these places have a different sense of how much time we need to work with people. Sometimes they want to rush or shorten your session, so they can make more money. They don’t get it that one reason we are independent is that we can control our schedules and take the time we need for assessments, checking in, not rushing and making certain we are doing the best job we can for you. The other time issue is that if we are there, we are not here. So it would impact our flexibility and limit our ability to schedule clients where we already practice.

Hard selling is quite prevalent at most of these type places. It isn’t good enough that you are there for one thing. They want you to come now for a number of other things. They may have health products, jewelry and even lotion or candles someone made in their kitchen, that they want you to buy. I am not against business; I just want the people doing business to do it in a safe, legal and conscious manner. I always wonder how someone without a health or medical education can sell me the right supplements.  

There may be a question about quality assurance and safety. I have toured places with very uneven floors, incredibly cheap tables, limited heat and air, and only one bathroom (and that was the only water supply for four massage rooms another homeopathic or acupuncturist, and a complete yoga studio). That is ridiculous; I have no clue how they passed their building code inspection.

So please forgive us for not rushing over to the newest, shiniest opportunity and watch out for these things when you wander there yourself. These business people usually have deeper pockets than your health practitioner, or the ability and willingness to take out a large loan for their opportunity. They are sometimes well connected and good networkers. People respond to them because they believe them. They think they are doing the best thing for the practitioners and the clients.

Watch out for these red flags;  I am sure there are several more but, as a consumer please look out for these red flags.

  • Their website sucks.
  • They don’t answer their phone.
  • The place is new and beautiful but, no one is there.
  • The owner or manager is there but, the practitioners are not because they call them in as needed.
  • They don’t have a list, cards, pictures or bios of their (supposed) staff available.
  • They are unwilling to tell you who you will be taking the class from or seeing for your appointment.
  • They have classes and schedules on their website or window but, they never seem to actually be available.
  • Floors are uneven, have bubbles or don’t seem to meet the wall correctly.
  • It seems too hot or too cold, drafty or stifling.
  • Dirty linens are out in the open.
  • There are very limited water sources or restrooms.
  • The massage tables seem tiny, skinny or flimsy.
  • Someone other than your practitioner tells you that your practitioner is now working for them or with them.

So be careful out there and if you have any questions please give me a call at 610-906-2322.