Can rehabilitation centers provide massage services without a license?

Many Psychosocial Support Centers have been set up in Ukraine in recent years.

The key purpose of many such Centres is to provide social, psychological, educational, rehabilitative and awareness raising assistance to war veterans, anti-terrorist operation participants and members of their families. One of the most popular services offered by the Centres is the medical massage.

This may entail some difficulties, since the provision of medical massage services may require a medical licence.

In this publication, we will talk about a related case from our practice and elaborate on the possible solutions to the problem.

Case

Taking into account the fact that our company provides legal assistance to both private and public institutions, we were pleased to help the Psychosocial Support Center.

The fact was that during the inspection of the Center carried out by the supervisory authorities, the Client was requested to obtain a medical license, since the Center employed a physician with medical education, who provided massage services. 

The Client inquired about: 

• Whether the massage services provided at the Center really fall under the concept of a medical massage.
• Whether they can provide massage services to the patients of the Center without obtaining a license.

In order to answer the first question, our company’s lawyers thoroughly reviewed the education documents of the person that provided the massage services. We also analyzed the consequences of such massage.

We found out that this person really had a medical education, and the massage had a therapeutic character by its properties, technique and results. According to the license conditions, these two features clearly indicate that such activities are subject to licensing.
Related article: Our Lawyers Organized An Opening Of The Massage Room

Regarding the alternatives to obtaining a medical license for the Center, we proposed the following options:

• To set up a sole proprietorship for an employee of the Center who provides relevant services and already has the necessary medical education, and to obtain a medical license for him/her. The second stage would involve the signing of an agreement with him/her for the provision of medical massage services for individuals undergoing rehabilitation at the Center. 
• To set up a sole proprietorship and obtain a medical license, but to additionally rent out a part of the Center premises, a massage room, to the sole proprietor, where he/she would provide medical services to other individuals on a paid basis. Thus, on the one hand, the Center would not have to spend a lot of money for medical massage services, and on the other hand, the patients of the Center would be provided with medical massage, which is a part of the physical rehabilitation program.

Related article: Comments In Regard To Licensing Of Activities Of Massage Practitioners

The result of our work

As a result, the Client received answers to all his questions, as well as step-by-step instructions on the implementation of the medical massage services scheme at the Psychosocial Support Center.

Our company is currently providing legal support and assistance in setting up a sole proprietorship and will obtain a medical license for it in the future. This is the first step to meet the Client’s needs.

If you want to know more about the peculiarities of obtaining license for a massage room or providing services without a license, please contact our specialists for a professional advice with regard to the subject matter covered.