“Wellness coaching” is becoming a buzzword these days, signifying to many a chance to finally rid themselves of chronic health problems or even to “start over.”
From Google AI: “The wellness coaching industry is expected to grow at a rate of 6.7% annually from 2022 to 2030, with an estimated worth of $20 billion by 2026, $23 billion by 2028, and $26 billion by 2030. According to Marketdata, the health and wellness coaching industry was projected to grow by 2.7% in 2021 and 5.4% per year.”
What Does a Wellness Coach Do?
A wellness coach helps patients replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones, thus addressing the root causes of their disorders. Adding wellness coaching to your other clinic services means that both the branch and root of a problem are addressed and resolved.
A wellness coach can benefit your patients in three ways.
- Assist with regular clinical procedures and amplify positive outcomes.
- Teach patients how to prevent disorders from returning or occurring in the first place.
- Increase the emotional bond between patient and clinic, since wellness coaching requires time spent with the patient, building trust and empathy.
Billing Insurance
As long as patients receive acupuncture, a coaching session can be billed to insurance as an office visit. In addition, in November 2023, Medicare announced that the fund was finally ready to pay health coaches for the first time1 (probably due to massive public clamor for preventive health care).
Wellness Coaching Comes in Three Flavors
1. Practitioners: Many practitioners of acupuncture and Chinese medicine already perform some form of wellness coaching by giving patients advice on lifestyle factors while waiting for the needles to take effect. I did just that for many years in my own clinic, which became like a schoolroom for me. Many licensed acupuncturists are already experts in this field, and might only need to feature it more prominently.
One fact is abundantly clear, however: Acupuncture schools and licensing agencies in the U.S. and China are woefully unaware of and unprepared for the rising importance of wellness coaching and preventative health care. These skills we must learn on our own. There are several independent coaches and coaching schools who will teach you the basics and finer points of wellness coaching.
2. Hired Coaches: If the practitioner is not interested, not confident with coaching skills, or has a volume practice, one option is to hire an on-site wellness coach. The most effective, in my opinion, would be a person with a good understanding of Chinese medical theory, because it connects all symptoms and signs into one big picture.
Like a detective looking at a suspect board, the coach can then pick out the unhealthy and causative habits that need changing, and explain it to the patient.
An in-house wellness coach should have a people-friendly approach to patients, able to gain their trust quickly while representing the clinic.
3. Outpatient Referrals: Wellness coaching over the internet is becoming big business. From Google AI: “Some virtual health care coaches work with individuals, while others are contracted by larger companies or health care providers to assist with wellness goals for institutions. Unlike a traditional doctor or clinician, a health care coach provides each client with more in-depth mentorship and assistance.”
A virtual wellness coach can be under contract or freelance. Whatever works best for you.
I wrote an article back in 2019, published in Acupuncture Today, titled, “Chinese Medicine & the Wellness Revolution.”2 In it, I explain how easily eight-principle-based Chinese medical theory applies itself to the practice of wellness coaching. Our theory gives us an important advantage in this emerging field.
References
- Tullis M. “Medicare Announces Policy Changes to Pay Health Coaches For The First Time.” TechBuzz.com, Nov. 14, 2023.
- Kihn D. “Chinese Medicine and the Wellness Revolution.” Acupuncture Today, August 2019.
