ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal®: March – April 2023 | Technical Requirements for Clinical Exercise Physiologists as Qualified Health Professionals
1 CEC
By Brittany Overstreet, PhD, ACSM-CEP; Christie Ward-Ritacco, PhD, FACSM, ACSM-EP; Francis Neric, MS, MBA; Clinton A. Brawner, PhD, FACSM; Benjamin Thompson, PhD, FACSM, ACSM-EP; Trent Hargens, PhD, FACSM, Walter Thompson, PhD, FACSM
Despite meeting the required technical standards, clinical exercise physiologists (CEPs) have yet to be identified as qualified health professionals (QHPs). Lack of QHP status for CEPs has resulted in limited coverage of services by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) leaving CEPs ineligible to be reimbursed for, many of the services they provide. Being acknowledged as a QHP would allow CEPs to better contribute to interprofessional healthcare teams and potentially become eligible for reimbursement for services provided by CMS and other insurance companies.
