House Bill No. 531 (HB 531) passed this legislative session and amends multiple sections of the Louisiana Massage Practice Act. Many of the changes in HB 531 address activities that affect the Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy (Board), so ABMP has only detailed the changes that affect massage therapists below.
Scope of practice
HB 531 added the use of electromechanical devices to the massage therapy scope of practice and clarified that it does not include ultrasound or stimulating muscles or nerves electrically:
“. . . and, with appropriate training, the use of non-prescriptive, off-the-shelf commercially available electromechanical devices for which they are trained which mimic or enhance the actions possible by the hands. It shall not include ultrasound . . . the use of electrical muscle stimulation, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation except microcurrent.”
License modification
HB 531 changes the appearance of the Louisiana massage therapy license. The new licenses will include a recent photo of the licensee and an electronic watermark or QR barcode, and be laminated.They will be mailed to licensees by the Board upon application or renewal. The legislative intent is to ensure that licenses cannot be replicated.
Continuing Education
If a licensee has excess continuing education (CE) credits, they may carry them over into the following renewal period, as long as they have satisfied the CE requirements of the current renewal period. This will begin with the renewal cycle of April 1, 2022.
Renewal requirements
Current licensees will be required to submit to the Board a state and federal background check beginning April 1, 2022, but for this renewal cycle only. In addition, current licensees will have to provide a photo for the updated license template. We will learn more about how this process will work when the rules are final.
Now that these amendments have become law, rules will be promulgated and ABMP will be involved in the process. We will update you as we learn more. If you have questions or concerns, email us at gr@abmp.com.