BOSTON—November 27, 2018—The medical community and the fitness industry share two common goals. The first is to encourage more people to be healthy, and the second is to give more individuals access to the resources and support they need to stay healthy.
It makes sense why fitness professionals would want to form partnerships with physicians and doctors to get—and keep—more people moving. However, it can be difficult for clubs to know how to build the foundation for an effective working relationship with medical practitioners.
IHRSA’s new Guide to Creating Your Gym's Medical Wellness Program: An IHRSA Member Toolkit provides some information and solutions to this problem that lessen the challenges associated with opening lines of communication between health club facilities and local physicians.
The toolkit includes sections specific to:
- Practices doctors are looking for in a relationship with a club;
- What operators should say when making the case for why doctors should refer patients to a club;
- What makes a health club’s medical wellness program successful;
- Guidance for tracking and reporting client/patient results;
- Additional materials such as report templates, FAQ information, etc.
“We spoke with several health and fitness professionals about their experiences working with physicians, and this resource contains their expert insights and best practices,” said Alex Black Larcom, IHRSA’s senior manager of health promotion & health policy. “This resource is a must-read for any club operator who is thinking about starting their own medical wellness program.”
IHRSA members can download the Guide to Creating Your Gym's Medical Wellness Program: An IHRSA Member Toolkit free of charge through the IHRSA website.
