The West Virginia Massage Therapy Licensure Board was created by the Legislature in 1997 to protect the public. The Board consists of five members; three massage therapists, a lay member and either an osteopathic physician or a chiropractor. This is the agency's first Regulatory Board Review. It identifies two issues, briefly described below.
Issue Area 1: Licensure of the practice of massage therapy is not
needed to protect public interest.
Regulation of professions is to be imposed only when necessary for
public protection. The review has found no compelling evidence to support
continued licensure of this profession because there is low risk of physical
harm if the profession were unregulated. West Virginia has primarily received
complaints alleging unlicensed activity. The one complaint the West Virginia
board has received concerned sexual misconduct that occurred outside of
the professional role. Although sexual misconduct is concerning, it is
a matter to be taken to law enforcement agencies, and it does not relate
to harm associated with inadequately trained massage therapists. The states
of Kentucky, Georgia and California also determined that licensure of massage
therapy was not necessary due to the low risk of physical harm. However,
another less restrictive and cost-efficient form of regulation, such as
certification, administered by another Board is recommended. The Pew Health
Professions Commission instructed the Task Force on Health Care Workforce
Regulation to identify and explore how regulation protects the public's
health and propose new approaches to health care workforce regulation to
better serve the public's interest. The Task Force recommended title
protection (often referred to as certification) rather than licensure
for professions such as massage therapy whose services are not especially
risky to consumers. The Legislature should consider terminating the Massage
Therapy Licensure Board.
Issue Area 2: The Board is not complying with applicable laws and
rules.
The Legislative Auditor finds that the Massage Therapy Licensure Board
has complied with the following Chapter 30 General Provisions: published
address and telephone number, annual meeting, record of its' proceedings
and attendance at the Auditor's orientation session.
Continuing education requirements are not being met. The Board is not establishing course content or approving courses. The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, a private organization, is approving courses and course content. Further, despite only 45% of licensees haven taken the required number of professional ethics courses needed for license renewal, no licensee was denied renewal for not having taken the professional ethics course.