The Acupuncture Poll's question for April 2003 was:
"How effective are the national associations (i.e., the AAOM and the Acupuncture Alliance) in meeting the needs of the acupuncture and Oriental medicine profession in the United States?
Results are as follows:
These results are based upon 855 responses. As this is a voluntary, non-scientific survey, caution should be used in generalizing the results. Here is a sample of the comments made by those who took the survey and how they voted:
Somewhat effective: We want to see acupuncture services paid by Medicare. This should be our number one priority. We need to lobby Congress to add an acupuncture benefit to all federal employee health insurance plans as well ... All of this arguing about hours and turf is a waste of time.
Somewhat ineffective: While the AAOM and the Alliance have been effective in supporting individual states to get basic licensing laws passed, they have achieved little else.
Very effective: Although the national organizations got off to a rocky start due to the battles over philosophy and direction for the profession, they now appear to be working together and improving their responsiveness to the profession. The recent visioning process to establish a national vision for the profession will go a long way toward achieving the goal of a more effective profession.
As modern medical standardization continues, the field of traditional Chinese medicine has the advantage of comprehensive personalization. For rare or complex cases, deeper consideration of constitution is invaluable. Proper constitutional assessment, especially with first-time clients, can guide desirable and predictable outcomes. This leads to a higher rate of return, and greater trust between you and your patient.
Though the creation of a financially sustainable, health-promoting model feels far away today, we are casting a vision for a full return on health, believing that this compels us to keep one foot firmly rooted in caring for the sick and the other foot firmly founded in maintaining health. Shifting from a fee-for-service model to value-based care using a phased approach is paramount.
Laser therapy has emerged as a powerful tool in the realm of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This new modality fits beautifully into the toolbox of the modern acupuncturist, as it can be used as a hybrid form of stimulation to acupuncture points, meridians, organs, nerves, and symptomatic areas in a new way that blends both moxa and energetic needle-like responses.
