Tricia Schafer, JD
Tricia Schafer, JD
Article Archive
I started my personal training business in 2003. With 9 years of law practice under my belt at the time, I capably prepared all my contracts, waivers, health history questionnaires and related documents. Bulletproof? Of course. Overkill? Probably. But since most of my clients are lawyers and judges, none of them balked. For years, I simply emailed the forms to prospective clients, who completed them prior to their first session.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (42 United States Code § 1320d), which took effect nearly 10 years ago, has had a profound impact on the healthcare industry. Though HIPAA covers many areas, the privacy rule in particular is noteworthy.
Suppose your fitness facility is served with a document request. This could come in a variety of contexts, ranging from a government audit to a sexual harassment investigation.
While it’s tempting to use lawyers only when problems arise, it’s often wiser to proactively establish a relationship with a lawyer who can assist you with preventive measures. You may call your lawyer only once or twice a year, perhaps to get a legal perspective on an issue, but this is time and money well spent if it helps you avoid costly litigation.
When was the last time you reviewed the documents you require your facility’s clients to sign? What kind of impression are your contracts and liability releases making? Are you doing too much or too little?
Recently I had the opportunity to do some stealth field research. A local personal training facility hosted a “bring a friend” promotional week. My friend invited me and another guest to join her weekly 30-minute session.
As both a lawyer and a personal fitness trainer and manager, I have found that laws and regulations often seem incongruous with an industry built on endorphins. I suspect that’s why the topic “Legal Issues” tends to be the concluding chapter of certification textbooks—almost an afterthought. Aspiring fitness professionals get excited about VO2max studies, body fat testing and target heart rates, and it’s easy for them to assume that when a problem arises, someone else will take care of it.
