NCCAOM Launches New Membership Organization

The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) recently launched a new national membership organization, the NCCAOM Academy of Diplomates. The new Academy will be a chartered division of NCCAOM and "will allow the Commission to expand our services to fulfill our dual mission: to assure the safety and well-being of the public and to advance the professional practice of acupuncture and Oriental medicine," said Chair of the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners, Eugene London, DAOM, Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM), LAc. "The Academy enables us to go beyond certification to help our Diplomates be successful in their careers as AOM practitioners."

With a potential membership of 18,000 nationally board-certified Diplomates, the Academy will be governed by a separate Board of Directors and will not charge membership dues. Some of the programs and activities to be administered under the new Academy include:

• Offering resources to help Diplomates seeking to work in hospitals and integrative practice settings.

• Providing free practitioner websites (See https://www.nccaomdiplomates.com).

• Expanding public awareness and professional education campaigns to promote AOM and national board-certified AOM practitioners.

• Providing tools for Diplomates to manage their practices more successfully.

• Obtaining a Standard Occupational Code for "Acupuncturist" under the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Standards of Occupational Classification (SOC) system, which will facilitate greater federal recognition for AOM practitioners (See http://www.nccaom.org/bls/).

• Securing AOM representation on the American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee.

• Helping to assure third party reimbursement for acupuncturist-provided acupuncture, by working with other integrative healthcare professions to insure compliance to the "non-discrimination" clause 2706 of the Affordable Care Act (See http://www.covermycare.org/cmc/).

"The new Academy of Diplomates was created based upon NCCAOM®'s 2014 strategic plan," noted Kory Ward-Cook, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NCCAOM®. "A major catalyst for its founding was feedback from our Diplomates through the 2015 Diplomate Satisfaction Survey."

"Our hope is to work cooperatively and synergistically with all AOM professional associations in support of the AOM profession," said newly appointed Chair of the Academy of Diplomates Board of Directors, David Canzone, Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM), Dipl. NBAO, DOM.

For additional information, visit www.nccaom.org. Please email questions to Academy@thenccaom.org.