The future of the fitness industry isn't just in fitness; it's in wellness. That has become clearer to everyone in the past few years, particularly after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
We hosted a webinar on the topic of what health club operators should know about the ACA and how to find opportunity in it. (It's now available for free on-demand.) We also created a page on wellness on our website. But perhaps the most important way we are addressing the wellness move is by adding a day of wellness programming to our Club Industry Show, Oct. 12-14 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The track is sponsored by the American Council on Exercise.
After you attend this track and begin implementing the takeaways, you may begin rethinking just how you position your facility in your community—and what you end up calling your business.
This year's wellness track occurs on Oct. 12 and is hosted by Dr. Kevin Steele, principal with Communications Consultants. As track chair, Steel lined up five great presentations and speakers, and he will moderate a panel session at the end of the day with all the day's wellness speakers.
Here is more on the day's sessions:
The Changing Healthcare Landscape and the Wellness Opportunity
This session is a great way to start off the day because it will share the lay of the current landscape for health club operators from the perspective of Doug Ribley, senior vice president of health and wellness services at the Cleveland Clinic Akron General.
Ribley's presentation will share an overview of what the Cleveland Clinic Akron General is doing in the wellness market, and he will focus on the challenges and changes facing the healthcare industry, the medical fitness difference, and the opportunities for health and wellness centers.
Integrating Fitness into the Executive Healthcare Continuum: A Chief Medical Officer's Perspective
In this session, Dr. Jim Lindberg, chief medical officer of Personal Care Physicians and Hoag Memorial Hospital, will offer a hospital administrator's perspective on how health clubs fit into the wellness market. He will share how fitness centers are fully integrated into the emerging concierge medial and executive healthcare models plus how and where outcomes data fit into the preventive medical model. He will also share some integrated medical team case studies that will be useful to you.
This lunch presentation (an extra $30 fee required) by Mike Benton, a health club owner and CEO of Genavix Wellness Network, will focus on understanding the market drivers for health club operators after the implementation of the ACA, what is classified as preventive care and how you can offer it within your club, how insurance companies reimburse for preventive care practices, why business owners care about preventive health and how you can take advantage of that, plus more.
Population Health and the Value-Based Landscape of Healthcare
In this session, Dr. Vaishali Geib, co-president of Shenandoah Independent Practice Association, will discuss what population health, new healthcare payment models and new aim goals for hospitals all mean for health club operators.
In this session, you will get a perspective from a health club operator, Michele Wong, vice president of client services and wellness for Active Wellness. She will share what emerging wellness models look like, the role of fitness professionals as health coaches and how to use technology to enhance the wellness experience at your club.
How to Participate in the Integrated Healthcare Services Continuum
In the last session of the day, Steele will moderate a panel with the day's presenters that will connect the dots from all the day's presentations. The takeaways from this panel will include the primary operational components of a wellness model, how to bridge the communication gap with the medical community and how to position your facility in your community.