October 30, 2006

Table of Contents:

  1. Challenging Our Destiny
  2. USDE - NOMAA
  3. Shanghai International TCM Seminars
  4. SAR - Call for Papers
  5. What Are We Doing Anyway? Stasis Or Progress? by John Scott, DOM
  6. Attention All New Mexico DOMs
  7. Integrator Blog News & Reports
  8. Winners of American Specialty Health Scholarships Announced

Greetings OM Members and Colleagues:

As you may have noticed, Qi-Unity is being published late this month as the AAOM Board and Staff was in Phoenix from October 17-23rd for Expo 2006. Our annual event was highly successful on many fronts, and we look forward to providing an in-depth follow-up in next month’s report as well as in the December 2006 American Acupuncturist.

It is at our annual events that we are able to see more acutely the status of our profession, its growth from one year to the next, where we are as practitioners, where we’ve been and where we choose to go, the challenges we face, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

As a personal observation, I noticed most keenly this year a shift in the degree to which unification of our profession is occurring. Across all fronts this is very apparent. Are the challenges that we face great? Absolutely! The greater the demand for our services the greater the challenge we shall experience as others will see us competing in their market and thus impacting their survival. Are our opportunities expanding? I’m a firm believer that with greater challenge comes greater opportunity. We’ll explore these in-depth as we review the outcomes of the conference, but I equate the shift that is occurring to something beyond challenge and opportunity; rather it is more about an internal shift of thinking, of actions, and of deeds that is apparent in our community today. When I came to this profession in 2001 there were threatened lawsuits fired from a multiple of directions, but today, on a national front, the organizations – AAOM , AOM Alliance, CCAOM, NCCAOM, ACAOM and FAOMRA are working together to achieve common goals representing levels of concern that are very real, with levels of substance that are sincere and abiding. As a result, the strengths of our independence and our interdependence are meaningful. The benefactor of this behavioral change is first and foremost the profession being served, but equally so is our society – the patient community - served by our profession.

Licensure: From the perspective of licensure of practitioners of OM, a 2005 study based on 2004 statistics by the National Acupuncture Foundation cited 22,671 licensed practitioners, while *Dr. Burke, et al’s article (referenced below) estimates 16,000 non-MD Licensed Acupuncturists. The disparity could relate to 6,000 allopathic physicians who have received training (Dower, 2003).

National Practice Acts: Forty-one states in the US now have practice acts; this leaves only Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Delaware without statutes.

*Use of Acupuncture in the US: From the perspective of the patient community, in a recent article published in Volume 37 of The American Acupuncturist, entitled: Patterns of Acupuncture Use by Adam Burke, Phd, MPH, LAc and Dawn M. Upchurch, PhD, surveys from the National Health Interview Survey reflected a US adult population in 2002, reporting that approximately 4% of the sample reported lifetime use of acupuncture (1266 respondents representing approximately 8 million adults). Use of acupuncture as a complementary therapy (in conjunction with conventional western medicine) was the most common reported usage, but there were a significant number (44%) that indicated that they were using acupuncture as an alternative treatment because convention medicine did not work.

OM Business Growth: Lastly, from the perspective of OM businesses supporting acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, I don’t have current statistics at hand regarding the growth of this community, but from the perspective of AAOM’s serving this community within the framework of our conferences, the longevity and professional stature of businesses that support our profession is to be commended, as we have watched their cycle of solid growth increase significantly over the past decade. So, too, is the sophistication of products and services being offered by the AOM business community increasing at a remarkable rate. Within the framework of our convention, the business community exhibiting at our convention grew an astounding 52% in one year from 2005 to 2006.

Professional Optimism: Simplistically, the combined picture these statistics generate is one of conservative optimism - across all fronts we are growing as a profession, and the demand for our services is ever-increasing. Many of the challenges faced by our profession today such as protecting our access to herbs, attempts to practice acupuncture with limited licensure, the acceleration of medical acupuncture in the US, the AMA’s burgeoning efforts with Resolution 818 and HR 5688 (education, and academic requirement of “limited licensure” health care providers and “limited independent practitioners”), all of these are signs of our profession’s success in the marketplace. Thus we see the attempts by others to gain access to the ever-increasing patient based served by our practitioner community.

But in the face of optimism, across the country, our national and state associations are underserved by comparatively small number of dedicated volunteer board members, and too-few paid staff. Using ourselves as an example, the AAOM has only two full-time paid staff, myself and our IT Manager - Member Services Manager, and two part-time employees. From another perspective, the State of Michigan passed its Practice Act in early 2006, following an arduous 20-year journey by its volunteer board. The passage of Kentucky’s Practice Act, also in early 2006, carried its own story of challenges overcome against all odds, or South Carolina’s Practice Act, passed in early 2005 - overriding the Governor’s veto to become law. Again…beyond relative minimal hired lobby-support, all outcomes were gained through the sheer power of volunteer efforts.

A Perplexing Opportunity Prevails: Statistically, there are few associations in the US that have membership that exceed 10% of licensed acupuncturists in their state. If we were to consider the number of licensed acupuncturists cited in Dr. Burke et al.’s article, the AAOM represents 10% of licensed acupuncturists in the US, through current membership on the roles, while at the same time we have increased member benefits to levels that some say equal that of seasoned professional associations representing major medical allopathic providers. I look at these numbers and shake my head in wonder, not understanding “why” a profession that is commanding an ever-increasing market share chooses “not belonging” over “belonging” to the associations that carry the leadership of the future of which they serve. I recognize that our services do not carry the same dollar value in the marketplace. I recognize that for many there are school loans and leases to be paid, and families to support. I recognize that we are alternative providers, and thus characteristically, we are non-conventional people and are non-joiners by-nature. But for me, there is an abyss between where we are and where we need to be to secure our future, address the demands faced by our profession, and become not only sustainable as a medicine, but mainstream rather than alternative providers.

Spiritually, we don’t live that which we choose or think, but only that which we are – so our outer world is always a direct reflection of our inner health. In knowing this as “truth” then it stands to reason that we are now in the midst of a turning tide - from a non-joining profession to a profession that actively commits to membership – commits to belonging to its state and national associations. As I have highlighted above, I say this: AAOM’s Expo 2006 represented a genuine “turning” of heart, mind, thought, and deed of all present, from acts of war, to “acts of peace” …again, across myriads of fronts. What this means is that the “inner world” of that which comprises this profession has truly shifted, and thus our “outer world” will soon reflect this inner shift.

At the convention, I had someone sit across from me at dinner and say, “I can see the future. I can see your Destiny. And this is your Destiny. You are living your Destiny – right here, right now. You are in this lifetime to serve this profession. All that you have done, learned and been has taken you to this moment…and you must continue.” For me, there was no question of not continuing, but what was said to me is kindred to what I must say to you… this medicine is your Destiny. You have chosen this profession, this work, this sacrifice, to bring this medicine forward in this lifetime. I say to you, Commit, Join, Participate at whatever level your life allows.

This Issue Sponsored By:

KPC is the U.S. office for Kaiser Pharmaceutical Co in Taiwan. KP is one of the most established, respected producers of concentrated Chinese herbs in all of China. Modern scientific processing methods and rigorous quality control set KPC Herbs apart from all other sources of Chinese herbs. KPC Herbs provides the following products to qualified Chinese herbalists, acupuncturists, and practitioners of Chinese Medicine: Granules and Powder, Tablets, and Capsules. Visit http://www.kpc.com.

USDE - NOMAA

More Information on US Department of Education and the National Oriental Medicine Accreditation Association (NOMAA)

First, it is important to convey that the following comments are presented in support of the profession. The AAOM believes that the NOMAA application problems at the US Department of Education pose a serious credibility concern for our profession. In addition, our legislative goals would be impeded by a complex environment with more than one accrediting agency.

The AT article provides some important information to the profession on NOMAA, but to be more complete, there are many critical USDE findings on NOMAA’s petition for initial USDE recognition that speak to the lack of integrity and credibility of NOMAA. To put the magnitude of NOMAA’s many deficiencies in its proper perspective, there are less than 60 USDE recognition criteria, and NOMAA was found to violate 46 of those requirements or nearly 80% of all the Secretary of Education’s criteria for recognition taken collectively.

Ted Priebe’s quote gives the reader the false impression that the USDE’s findings on NOMAA were minor. To quote Dr. Priebe, the USDE focused only on “Specific...compliance issues with organizational structure, financing, documentation and conflict of interest policies.” (p. 1 of AT article). This explanation is clearly incomplete when one reviews the full USDE analysis on NOMAA.

An abbreviated list of USDE findings indicate that NOMAA was found to violate:

  1. lack of clarity concerning its requested scope of USDE recognition (pp. 11-12 of USDE Staff Analysis)
  2. lack of acceptance by the profession, educators and regulators throughout the US (pp. 12-13);
  3. apparent conflicts of interest with its accredited institutions (pp. 16-17, 20-21, 24-25);
  4. mismanagement of accreditation records (p. 20, pp. 25-26);
  5. lack of appropriate criteria for selection of NOMAA Commissioners and site visitors (p 22);
  6. serious problems with virtually all its accreditation standards (pp. 26-36), (pp. 36-43);
  7. failure on the part of NOMAA to follow its own published policies and standards in its review of programs (pp. 37-43);
  8. accrediting an OMD program when according to the USDE report, it was reportedly not operating at the time of the NOMAA site visit review (p. 38-39);
  9. failure to adopt and implement appropriate policies regarding the review of its standards and failure to allow input from the profession into NOMAA’s standards-development process (pp, 49-51);
  10. alleged misrepresentations, including assertions of a non-existent admissions test and concerning a college organization (pp. 33-34), and assertions concerning a non-existent “National Oriental Medicine Licensing Exam.” (pp. 27-28);
  11. failure to make required information public (pp 55-57);
  12. (And the list goes on).

Another false assertion that has been made by NOMAA officials is that NOMAA will be reviewed by the USDE’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality & Integrity (“NACIQI”) at its December 2006 meeting. The Federal Register Notice for the NACIQI’s December, 2006, meeting clearly does not list NOMAA on its agenda for that meeting. (See http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2006-3/072606d.html)

In view of the manner in which this agency has conducted itself and based on the now official public USDE staff analysis on NOMAA’s Petition for Initial Recognition, should NOMAA gain acceptance, it would be an embarrassment to the entire profession, and set it back decades in such areas as broader scopes of practice, credible doctor licensing titles, insurance reimbursement, participation in State Worker’s Compensation systems and in the federal Medicare program (Hinchey Bill). The AMA, which has declared war on the CAM professions, including acupuncture, would have real ammunition to attack the profession on these issues, portraying our educational institutions and programs as “Diploma Mills,” if NOMAA achieved its goal of gaining recognition and acceptance within the profession and among members of the AOM educational community.

Sincerely,

Gene Bruno, OMD, LAc
AAOM – President Emeritus

Shanghai International TCM Seminars


April 9-13, 2007, Shanghai
Learn more about the very first Shanghai International TCM Seminar! Click on www.sitcms.com or www.heliomed.com

Society for Acupuncture Research

Announcement and Call for Papers

The Status and Future of Acupuncture Research:
10 Years Post-NIH Consensus Conference University of Maryland at Baltimore
November 8-11, 2007
Baltimore, MD, USA

Co-sponsors include the University of Maryland, Harvard Medical School’s Osher Institute, American Association of Oriental Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Alliance, Maryland Arthritis Foundation, Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, National Acupuncture Foundation, Maryland Acupuncture Society, New England School of Acupuncture, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kyung Hee University and other co-sponsors in Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Abstract submission deadline April 1, 2007

Purpose
This special event will mark the 10th anniversary of the landmark 1997 NIH Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture.

Abstracts are solicited for presentations in the areas of
clinical research, basic science and research methodology

Abstract submission
Please email your abstracts to helene.langevin@uvm.edu by April 1. 2007. Only email submissions will be accepted. Abstracts submitted after this date may not be considered. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Program Committee and prospective speakers will be informed by August 1, 2007 as to whether their papers have been accepted for oral or poster presentation.

Abstract format information and submission forms can be found on the SAR website www.acupunctureresearch.org.

What Are We Doing Anyway? Stasis Or Progress?

John Scott, DOM

We are part of a healing community that practices or supports acupuncture and oriental medicine (AOM). AOM is the indigenous healing system of China and East Asia. Indigenous healing systems reflect the way that a culture perceives how human beings interact with or relate to nature and the cosmos—how do we as humans fit into the order of the universe? Many of the Westerners who practice and promote AOM have embraced the indigenous healing system of East Asia because of the perceived differences between AOM and modern allopathic medicine. We experience a personal resonance with the way traditional Asian medicine attempts to reestablish harmony within our body systems. We perceive modern allopathic medicine, and many aspects of modern Western life as divorced from the natural world, and unconcerned with creating balance on either a macro or a micro level.

Philosophically, AOM and modern allopathic medicine are two very different worldviews. In the current realities of our society, (despite inroads made by “complementary” medicine) they are often competing worldviews. Just what are we asking patients to accept? We are asking them to accept a model of health and treatment that often competes with the medical system that dominates our society and that is a driving force in the US economy. In the US currently 1.7 trillion dollars is spent on health care. Only two percent of this is currently spent on complementary and alternative medicine goods and services. This spending covers massage, chiropractic, naturopathy, vitamin and herbal products, and other similar products and services, including AOM.

Over the last 25 years AOM interests in the US have developed into a community of our own. The members of this community are the national and state professional associations, the AOM schools and the Council of Schools, AOM related businesses, the NCCAOM. With the exception of a few schools and AOM businesses, none of these entities existed in 1979. All of these organizations exist in the common interest of offering and supporting a medical system that is or was alien to most people in the United States. The percentage of the American public that receives AOM therapy is still very tiny compared with the population in general.

In my opinion, we are trying to change the way people in America approach dealing with life and health. We must try to appreciate what a significant challenge that really is for both our patients and us. While the worldview represented by AOM appeals to many, there are still a great number of Americans who are content to surrender their health care to a centralized system that others consider to be expensive and toxic. The pressure to present Oriental Medicine in a watered-down and westernized way to make it palatable to these patients is strong. In order for AOM to survive in this culture, we need to do a better job of articulating who we are and what we have to offer based on the strengths of AOM. Some of these strengths are:

AOM is comparatively inexpensive compared to modern allopathic medicine.

AOM is effective for chronic diseases that are often deemed untreatable by allopathic medicine.

AOM offers the patient an opportunity to participate in their own health maintenance and disease prevention by giving the patient an understanding of how imbalances arise and inexpensive tools to support the health changes they desire.

Each patient is treated as an individual; all symptoms however seemingly unrelated are treated as a part of a whole. There are different treatments for the same disease, depending on the presenting pattern.

There are comparatively few dangerous side effects from AOM.

A Short Historical Perspective on Our Heath Care Delivery System

The health care delivery system has gone through numerous changes in the last 60 years. How are we as AOM providers to participate in this system? I will take a moment to summarize some of the changes of recent times.

Sixty years ago health care was delivered primarily by fee for service. In those times medicine technology was much less advanced and fees were much more in range for what many people were able to pay. After World War II organized labor and companies with large numbers of employees started to provide health insurance as a benefit for their employees.

As medical technology progressed, medical costs were on the way to beyond what most people could afford to pay. The new advances in modern medicine came with a high price. Since the 1980s the emerging profit-driven managed health care system pushed health care costs in an increasingly upward spiral. Some people in the business world perceived managed care as a magic cure to rising health care costs. It was thought at that time that if directing patients through a health care system could contain costs, all parties would benefit. The American health care system was transformed into a system where profits for distant business entities became the highest priority. Health care providers became frustrated because the non-medical accounting profession increasingly supervised the care that health providers were able to deliver. To save costs many patients were denied time sensitive medical treatment. The very practice of having a profit-driven system created higher health care costs instead of reducing costs.

Since the 1980s, AOM has been growing and developing as well. More and more states have obtained legal status for AOM. More and more AOM schools were founded all over the US. There were about 5 schools that I was aware of in 1982. Now there are at least 51.

As the legal status of AOM improved and the cost of education steadily increased, many AOM providers worked to be integrated into the managed care system. Most managed care companies resisted payment for services to what they considered unorthodox therapy. AOM practitioners found ways to participate in this system and worked to find ways to bill for the services they provide. In 1994 when the Eisenberg Study showed that Americans were spending over 28 billion dollars out of pocket for alternative therapies, the insurance companies saw a money stream that they were not participating in and this provided an opening for many more AOM providers. However, the continuing goal of these companies is to retain as much of the premiums that are paid to them as possible. This means delaying and denying treatment and payment whenever possible. Participating in this system has meant that AOM practitioners must spend more time and money interacting with reluctant-to-pay insurance providers in order to get paid for their services.

One of the truths of health care is that the party that pays for the service determines how much and what services are delivered. As the American economy has tightened and dollars available for out of pocket services has declined, it has become more difficult for AOM practitioners and especially new practitioners to prosper. This has occurred simultaneously with higher operating costs and high debt from school loans. At this time AOM services are not typically available to low income or fixed income Americans who are restricted to publicly paid programs. All of these factors are threatening the future growth of AOM in the US.

As long as our society is saddled with a health care system that values profit over the welfare of the patient and health care provider we will be doomed to an increasingly expensive and dysfunctional system. The AOM profession and our society in general must keep an open mind to more functional and humane ways to provide health care.

Stagnation in Our Profession

Over the last 3 or 4 years the number of AOM practitioners in the US has hovered at around 15,000. During this time period there have been over 4,000 students per year enrolled in accredited AOM schools. With this number of students enrolled, there should be a corresponding increase in the number of new practitioners each year. Yet, in reality the number of practitioners has remained stagnant for the past 4 years.

In the US there are over 65,000 doctors of chiropractic, over 60,000 massage therapists and over 300,000 medical doctors. I would guess by looking at these numbers that there is room for another 30,000 AOM providers in the US medical market place. Many parties indicate that the patient demand and acceptance of AOM is increasing.

I perceive a number of factors inhibiting the growth of AOM in the US. The dollar amounts being paid to AOM providers through insurance is under constant downward pressure. There are political factors at work, as well as the fact that insurance companies are constantly working to lower the payments made to medical providers in general. AOM providers are in many areas still considered non-conventional, and whenever possible patients are denied coverage for AOM services.

Much of the growth in the AOM profession in the 1990s was because a growing number of Americans were willing to pay for AOM services with cash. In recent times a growing number of white-collar service jobs have been outsourced to overseas operations. Higher paying manufacturing jobs have also continued to be exported to operations in foreign countries. There has been an increasing level of economic insecurity for American workers throughout the US. This has meant that the amount of disposable income available to Americans has been steadily shrinking.

The cost of AOM professional education has increased dramatically over the last 25 years. The content and the course material have also increased. In the early 1980s, the total tuition for my 3 years of AOM professional education was $6,000. Today AOM students are graduating with a debt of between $40,000 and $100,000. Unlike in conventional medicine, there are no loan forgiveness programs currently available. AOM practitioners new to practice are having difficulty coping with this debt. Many are even reluctant to enter fulltime practice because they are unable to generate sufficient income from their AOM practice to cover their debt and make a living. A great many new graduates are forced to work outside of the AOM profession just to pay their bills. I have been told that 5 years after graduation, 50% of AOM graduates do not maintain an active practice. The high cost of AOM professional education also puts upward pressure on fees charged to patients at a time when patients are less able to pay higher fees.

What positive actions can be taken to help the further growth and development of AOM as a profession?

The passage of the federal acupuncture bill known as the Medicare Bill HR 818 sponsored by NY Congressman M. Hinchey would be a tremendously positive milestone. This law would give Medicare patients and federal employees access to acupuncture treatment. This would give access to an additional 40 million Americans who do not currently benefit from AOM treatment. There are certainly practitioner concerns with having to work with a government agency for payment for service. Many AOM practitioners have great reservations about the possibility of getting tied into what they perceive as a bureaucratic system that they see as severely under funded, underpaying, and demanding. However, MDs have been working with Medicare for decades and have found ways to work within that system. It is important to remember that providers are not forced to work with Medicare patients if they do not wish to. Having recognition of AOM by the US government would give a much-deserved higher status to AOM. I may be wrong, but I believe that this recognition as well as making AOM available to many millions of Americans who cannot afford it will have a positive impact for the future of AOM in America. Until we have this kind of recognition, AOM will continue to an under-utilized medical practice reserved to the shrinking number of Americans who can afford to pay out of pocket. We will otherwise continue to be an upper middle class curiosity.

Finding ways to reduce the negative effects of the high cost of AOM education would be beneficial to the profession. These would include more scholarships, loan forgiveness through any means available, and more employment opportunities for new graduates. Many students do not receive adequate support and training in how to build and manage a successful AOM practice. At the present time most AOM practitioners remain in solo private practices and are not integrated into the general health care delivery system, so job opportunities are limited.

Marketing the profession of AOM and educating the American public about the many benefits of AOM would have a great impact. The increase in the utilization of AOM is purely a result of word of mouth grass roots activity. Americans need to learn more about how AOM is a complete health care system that can address most health care needs and can assist greatly with conventional therapies to make them more safe and effective. People also need to know the advantages of seeing a fully trained AOM practitioner instead of a MD or DC with scant AOM training. The cost saving benefits to our whole society would be really significant if AOM were truly integrated into our health care delivery system. Public education is very important because in the end the patient will demand the therapy that they best respond to. This public education and marketing of AOM needs to be initiated and supported by all of the members and constituencies in the AOM community.

Conclusion

In order for AOM to prosper and flourish in the 21st century several things need to be developed. AOM needs to take steps to reach a greater maturity and become a viable medical profession. By this I mean, a medical system that reaches and is readily available to all Americans regardless of class or economic status. It means that people interested in becoming practitioners are able to afford to attend educational programs and be able to financially support themselves and their families by practicing the medicine they love. AOM providers need to be more effective in finding ways to deliver medical services both inside and outside of the conventional healthcare delivery system. Many observers feel that the current US health care system is on the verge of collapsing. I believe that one of the strengths of AOM is that it is not dependent on distant power structures to operate. The basic tools of needles, moxa, and herbal medicine are the primary healing instruments. These are not expensive to obtain, maintain, or operate compared to the tools of conventional medicine.

AOM education must be economically accessible to the largest possible number of practitioners. Better economic and career support must be developed for new practitioners that are entering the profession.

All of the national AOM constituencies must cooperate to market and educate the general public about what AOM has to offer as a health care system. What is the entire scope of benefits and possibilities and the economic savings to our society? Why would one go to a qualified AOM practitioner instead of an MD or DC? It is only because of consumer demand that AOM has made the progress that it has in the last 25 years. More must be done to create a stronger demand from consumers for AOM services.

AOM providers must participate at every level of the health care delivery system to allow access to the greatest possible range of Americans. This means privately funded, and publicly funded, low, middle and upper income Americans. How can we make AOM available to every American? This is our long-term challenge.

John Scott has been an AOM practitioner since 1982. He is the President and founder of Golden Flower Chinese Herbs.

Attention All New Mexico DOMs


Submitted by Rosemarie Ortiz, Executive Director
Recently the New Mexico Board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine adopted a provision which will allow a doctor of oriental medicine (DOM) whose license has been expired since 2001 a way to reinstate their expired license. This provision is only in effect until July 31, 2007. The Board has mailed out letters to all DOM’s whose licenses have expired since 2001 with a detailed explanation of the requirements and fees that are applicable.

If your license expired between 2001 and 2005 and you have not received a letter from the New Mexico Board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine regarding the Limited Reinstatement provision, please contact the Board office at 505-476-4630 or via email at Acuormedboard@state.nm.us for additional information. The Board’s physical address is 2550 Cerrillos Road, 2nd Floor, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505.

Integrator Blog News & Reports

Integration, by nature, asks us to open our peripheral visions. We are served to look at the whole of the field. We need to develop new fascia, new connectivity. Opportunities crop up in new places. The Integrator Blog News and Reports is meant to provide you with information, insights and tools to enhance integrated care in the environment you serve.

- John Weeks, publisher-editor

Organizational Action at a Glance: AAOM, Bravewell, CAHCIM, ACCAHC, ACA, AANP, AMTA, plus...

"Integration" is enhanced by awareness of the priorities of the "other" with which one is, or may be, involved. This irregular Integrator feature is a look at strategic actions of some leading organizations with a stake in creating a better integrated healthcare system. Issue #2 of the Integrator included an article on the Defacto CAM-IM Federal Agenda. The article explored the federal initiatives of diverse groups involved in advancing integrated care. This article looks more broadly at current priorities of organizations which represent significant stakeholders in the healthcare integration effort.
More…

Winterstein/NUHS Explore New Ground for Multi-Disciplinary, Integrated, Natural Healthcare Education

The idea of a multi-disciplinary, academic health center with a natural health mission has evolved in the United States since the mid-1980s. This article includes a chart of the top eight such multi-disciplinary institutions in the US, and their programs. Under the leadership of James Winterstein, DC, the 100-year-old National College of Chiropractic was transformed into National University of Health Sciences and is consciously seeking to keep the disciplines out of separate academic silos. Can this institutional model become a countervailing influence for new paradigm health care?
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Poll on IHPC Interest in a Federal Office of Integrated Health Care: 63% Support, Negatives Intriguing

Roughly 63% of Integrator readers who participated in the poll (N=153) believe that creating a federal office for integrated health care "is critical for improving health care in the United States." Nearly a quarter expressed strong disagreement. Interestingly, a similar Integrator survey which focused on whether such an office was "critical for the future of CAM/IM" found only a small fraction who expressed disagreement. Leaders of the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium are exploring ways to advance this federal agenda.
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Coalition Opposing the AMA SOPP Sets Next Steps at August Meeting

A now 31 organization Coalition for Patient Rights, organized to oppose the Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP) of the American Medical Association, has taken steps to firm up its governance, clarify membership, and engage a plan to counter what appears to be a battle that will spread out over time. The AAOM, AANP-ND, IHPC and ACCAHC join the ACA as CAM-IM organizations at the table ... Lou Sportelli, DC, reflects on an earlier guild battle as the CPR prepares to respond to AMA-SOPPs Fables.
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The Integrator is made possible through the generosity of sponsorships from NCMIC, Triad Healthcare, Standard Process, and Alternative Medicine Integration Group.

Winners of American Specialty Health Scholarships Announced


For Immediate Release: Oregon College of Oriental Medicine Student Awarded Scholarship from American Specialty Health

San Diego, CA and Portland, OR (September 2006) - American Specialty Health (ASH), the nation’s leading specialty benefits company for complementary health care and wellness programs, recently announced the recipients of its 2006 scholarships for students pursuing careers in acupuncture. The awards are two of several given out this year to students of various complementary health care disciplines in an annual scholarship competition administered by ASH subsidiary American Specialty Health Plans of California, Inc. (ASH Plans).

The scholarship winners are Al Thieme, a student at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland, Oregon and Poney Chiang, a student at the New York campus of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. Thieme and Chiang will each receive $7,500, which will be applied toward further studies in acupuncture.

Criteria for the ASH Plans acupuncture scholarships included grade point average, financial need, and participation in various professional activities. Applicants were also required to complete an essay on their studies in acupuncture and complementary health care.

“As shown by their many academic accomplishments and their outstanding essays on the role of evidence-based medicine in complementary health care, Mr. Chiang and Mr. Thieme have shown that they share a unique foresight into the U.S. health care system,” said George DeVries, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of ASH. “We are pleased to recognize these fine students as ASH’s acupuncture scholarship recipients for 2006.”

Since 2001, students pursuing careers in various aspects of complementary health care have been eligible to apply for scholarships totaling $45,000 annually through the ASH Scholarship Program. Qualifying students are those studying acupuncture, chiropractic, dietetics, massage therapy, or naturopathy at accredited institutions across the country.

About American Specialty Health: ASH and its subsidiaries comprise the nation’s leading specialty benefits organization for complementary health care benefit, affinity discount, health education, and wellness programs. ASH Plans is California’s first and largest specialized health plan for acupuncture and chiropractic, providing benefit programs to full-service health plans and employer groups. Based in San Diego, ASH has over 500 employees and covers more than 12 million members in benefit programs and more than 80 million members in affinity discount programs. For more information, visit ASH online at ASHCompanies.com or call 800-848-3555.

About Oregon College of Oriental Medicine: Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) trains master’s and doctoral students, conducts research, and treats patients at clinics on campus and in the community. OCOM’s academic programs are among the most comprehensive in the country, providing students with a solid foundation in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, therapeutic massage, and qi cultivation, as well as a focus on collaboration between Chinese medicine and Western biomedicine. OCOM’s clinics provide affordable care for general wellness and hands-on experience for students, as well as advanced specialty care for patients facing health challenges. Founded in Portland, Oregon in 1983, OCOM is one of the oldest Chinese medicine colleges in the United States. For more information about Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, please visit www.ocom.edu.

In closing…

Let us unite to live Peace, not War
Let our shields of pride and armor fall away
Let us know our strength through compassion
Let us attain grace by gently touching all of life

Let our actions conceive our wholeness
Let respect emblazon our banner of life, let faith be our creed
Let us live integrity as our badge of honor, with passion as our guiding light
Let us reach through to grasp our destiny, with commitment and healing in our hearts.

It is an honor to serve this profession.

Blessings,


Rebekah Christensen,
Executive Director