Dr. Claudia Citkovitz began her acupuncture studies in a New York kung fu studio in the 1990s, and has been licensed in acupuncture and herbal medicine since 2002. Since 2004 she has led the Acupuncture Service at NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn, providing inpatient acupuncture instruction and conducting practice-based research in labor and delivery and acute stroke rehabilitation. In addition to private practice, she is an active educator online and at colleges in the U.S. and abroad, and recently published a book on acupressure and acupuncture during birth. She is an associate editor for the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine; a commissioner on the board of ACAOM, the accrediting body for U.S. acupuncture schools; and a Society for Acupuncture Research board member.
When we talk about fertility, the focus is often placed on the ovaries and the uterus. Yet sperm-related factors contribute to nearly half of all cases of infertility. Whether someone is navigating fertility care alone or with a partner, and whether building a family through intercourse, IVI, IUI or IVF, it’s vital to include sperm health in the picture.
With some plans – and it starts with Medicare (CMS) – there is a payment protocol that may be referred to as a multi-therapy discount, but its official name is the multiple-procedure payment reduction (MPPR). If a health care provider performs multiple procedures during a single patient encounter, Medicare (and many commercial insurers) typically will pay “full price” for only the highest-valued procedure.
Our team of authors offer this paper (and this descriptive AT series) as a support for you as a professional, practitioner and member of the acupuncture community at large. We hope that it will serve to further the needs of acupuncturists everywhere and also act as a guide for those wishing to learn about Acupuncture Medicine – patients, healthcare decision makers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.