Dorene Bowe-Shulman is doctoral candidate with PCOM, an acupuncturist with the Healing Garden Cancer Support Center in Harvard, MA, as well as at Be Well and Beyond in Acton, MA.  She is a Professor at the New England School of Acupuncture at MCPHS University teaching clinical core courses and supervising student clinics. She is credentialed as an acupuncturist at Boston Medical Center in Boston, MA, the state of Massachusetts and the NCCAOM.
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.