A certified health and fitness specialist (HFS) performs pre-participation health screenings and physical health assessments, interprets results, and develop exercise programs. Because of their knowledge and expertise, health fitness specialists are a great choice for supplementing doctors and other medical personnel at any hospital or medical practice.
Here are 5 reasons why you should consider hiring a Health Fitness Specialist for your medical practice:
1. Enhance long-term health
A big part of what an HFS does is develop exercise programs, not just for healthy individuals, but also those suffering all manner of medical issues. In other words, an HFS is well-equipped to collaborate with doctors to develop rehabilitation programs for patients.
While doctors are no doubt experts in terms of the human body, they lean more toward treating specific injuries and illnesses and less on long-term recovery. As such, they can benefit from the specialized, up-to-date knowledge an HFS offers. By working together, a doctor and an HFS can create better rehabilitation programs that leverage a broader base of knowledge than doctors can provide on their own.
The result is improved patient care in the short term and the long term, as well as saved time for often overworked doctors. After initially collaborating with the HFS, doctors can go back to focusing on their primary duties, only needing to check in periodically to see how long-term rehabilitation is going.
2. Lead fitness and rehabilitation groups
An HFS is by no means limited to only one-on-one rehabilitation work – most should be quite comfortable leading fitness and rehabilitation groups. This gives patients the option of working with others that have similar injuries or medical conditions, creating a more supportive environment than solitary rehabilitation programs. For doctors, this is another way that an on-staff HFS can save them time.
Rehabilitation aside, leading fitness groups is a great way for an HFS to help improve general patient health. Not only can an HFS help patients to work toward peak physical health, they can do so while showing patients how to achieve their fitness goals safely, reducing injuries.
{{cta(‘ec238631-a07b-4fd1-9cf0-fad43ad170e3′,’justifycenter’)}}
3. Perform general administrative tasks
An HFS provides an extra set of hands for tackling time-consuming administrative tasks; including: keeping records, writing reports, organizing files and any other administrative responsibilities that doctors typically handle on their own. This also holds true in busy times of the year for the hospital, when an HFS can help alleviate the doctors workload; leaving doctors free to tackle other tasks and emergencies.
4. Conduct research
As a subject matter expert, an HFS can keep your hospital or medical practice up-to-date on the latest fitness and rehabilitation trends. Again, this will free up doctors’ time to focus on their patients, while ensuring patients receive a better level of care. This is because, even when your HFS isn’t actively working with a doctor on a patient’s recovery, their research can help inform doctors’ methods.
5. Advise and coach athletes
Even if an HFS is working for your hospital or medical practice, that doesn’t mean they can’t keep offering more specialized services, like advising and supporting athletes. This will allow your practice to expand its reach, while also strengthening its more standard services. For example, your HFS could use their physical therapy equipment or techniques to help with patient pain relief.
Consider Hiring a Health Fitness Specialist Today!
By embracing the specialized knowledge and techniques a certified health fitness specialist brings to the table, it’s possible to improve your medical practice at the patient, doctor and administrative levels. Not only can an HFS help your practice tackle standard daily activities, they can expand the knowledge and capabilities you offer.
{{cta(‘e17f57ed-fee6-4add-8fb5-efa24892f727′,’justifycenter’)}}
