In today's climate of heightened expectations in healthcare, patients are seeking seamless experiences that begin before they even step foot in your practice.
But how can you begin to virtually develop a strong rapport with a potential patient and guide them along their healthcare journey? It starts with a concise, consistent, and current online presence.
This article was created from Building Better Business webinar: Business Budgeting 101
Edited by: Dr. Rachel Siditsky, AP, FSOMA Editor
April is National Autism Awareness Month, and this is an opportunity to showcase the ways in which Chinese medicine helps to serve different populations. When working with autism spectrum patients many can struggle with speech, touch, and sensory processing. As practitioners, we have many tools to help navigate these aspects of working with autism spectrum patients while providing a comfortable and safe environment in our offices.
Autism spectrum patients may find it difficult to process information quickly to respond to lengthy questioning. Perhaps they may be able to process the questioning and information but find it challenging to communicate appropriate/accurate responses in real time. The beauty of Chinese medicine is the ability to treat someone without requiring them to dive deep into conversation or answer questions to check off the symptom/presentation needed to write a formal diagnosis, which may be the case in a western medical setting. If a patient struggles with verbal communication or they are nonverbal but read or write and consent to treatment, there are tools at our disposal to use for intake. This includes pulse diagnosis, tongue diagnosis, facial reading, and channel palpation. These tools all provide great diagnostic insight of the patient's current pathology. Utilizing pulse and tongue diagnosis has been a great way to form a diagnosis and treatment plan without requiring an autism spectrum patient to verbally communicate in depth responses if they prefer not to or are unable to. As a practitioner treating autism spectrum patients, I will still communicate with the patient what I am going to do and ensure an appropriate form of consent prior to placing my hands on their wrist for pulse diagnosis or any kind of physical touch, just as I would for all my patients. Physical cues for consent could be the patient rolling up their sleeves/bottom of pant leg, extending their arms out on the table or a head nod. The patient may also have a notebook where they write responses and consent to treatment.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, commonly known as CMS, requires physician supervision of certain services as a condition for reimbursement. The required supervision level depends on the type of service performed, the setting where the service is performed and the physical location of where the service is performed. Adhering to the proper protocol is critical, as services furnished without the required level of physician supervision are not reimbursable by Medicare and may potentially have even more significant consequences, including civil and criminal penalties.
Generally, there are three levels of supervision for diagnostic testing in non-hospital facilities:
Have you ever wanted to work with Veterans or First Responders? This article offers a “glimpse” of what is possible within the scope of our practice, providing practical, safe and repeatable positive outcomes for those who serve us so well.
Who: Those in the military have served our country; first responders such as local law enforcement or sheriff’s office as well as the fire department also serve our society. Their commitment and sacrifice to maintain the freedoms we all hold dear deserves our dedication. Over the last 4 years, my work has evolved to assist those who have served, providing a multidisciplinary approach for those who desire direction and help for their mind, body, soul, and spirit.
One network that can help us as professionals with out of control, inappropriate or addictive type behavior is the Professionals Resource Network, Inc. (PRN) - For Florida practitioners who find themselves in trouble. Don’t wait for discipline to be enacted, get support now through PRN. You can report someone, or yourself and get help. For someone facing discipline by the Board of Acupuncture it may be a way to maintain your license. They provide counseling and monitoring to ensure public safety.
If you have a problem, get help before you cross the line.
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The best way to ensure success for your business is to plan ahead. If you want to grow and bring in profits, you need a strategy. Outline your goals and what steps you’ll take to achieve them. Have a plan to track your finances throughout the year and a method of evaluating your success.
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in the United State. According to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC), more than 14,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer annually.
Chinese Medicine has been found to offer relief to people experiencing side effects of cancer treatment. Some of the most common side effects of cancer treatment are fatigue, nausea, pain, and loss of appetite.
The “Surprise Act” is a new Federal consumer protection law that protects patients from costly out-of-network billing charges related to emergency and urgent care treatment expenses. Effective Jan 1, 2022, the federal law protects patients from “balance billing” practices that allow hospitals, outpatient facilities and transportation companies to bill patients for amounts not paid by insurers for covered and non-covered service by out-of-network providers.
WHAT IS BALANCE BILLING?
"When a provider bills you for the difference between the provider’s charge and the allowed amount. For example, if the provider’s charge is $100 and the allowed amount is $70, the provider may bill you for the remaining $30. A preferred provider may not balance bill you for covered services."1
Over the last 25 years, I have specialized in TCM Ophthalmology and Ophthalmic Acupuncture. I have made quite a few significant clinical observations through diagnostic testing, treatment, and direct feedback from my patients. In my clinical practice, I incorporate TCM ophthalmology and Functional Medical Ophthalmology.
Functional medicine uses methods to measure how weak (yin) or stressed (yang) the body’s organs, glands, and systems may be. Among these include blood sugar, adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, oxidative stress, inflammation hydration, ATP-energy production, and contributing metabolic-hormonal issues. Both TCM and Functional Medicine look to uncover patterns of disharmony. The idea is to uncover deeper patterns and underlying pathologies that contribute to the patients’ symptoms and conventional biomedical diagnosis of glaucoma.
I've copied this post from a SCORE blog post found here. SCORE is a great organization supporting small businesses.
Ellen
You would never start a road trip without a map planned destination. So why would you start a new enterprise without a solid business plan?
How to Network Within Your Community
Guest Blogger Michael Stephenson
Oriental practices, like acupuncture, offer many benefits to human health. As a practitioner, you are in a unique position to bring these benefits to the mainstream. You get to help people while doing something you enjoy. But, it’s not all fun and games. Sometimes, you have to focus on the business aspect. Networking is one of these.
Written by Chase Howard, Esq. from the Florida Healthcare Law Firm
On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed a far-reaching Executive Order that could have a significant impact on the acupuncture industry. Under the Executive Order, President Biden:
This past weekend was my first live acupuncture seminar since COVID. I have been overwhelmed by the sheer energy generated by a group of colleagues (APs, students and teacher) gathering together to learn and study. I did not know how much I had missed this.
It was a privilege to study scalp acupuncture with the 3rd generation teacher of the Fang's Scalp Acupuncture lineage Huang Zhuying. Fang Yunpeng was the developer of acupuncture anesthesia and scalp acupuncture during a time when pain drug supplies were in short supply. He passed the system to his son Fang Benzheng who further refined and developed the system. The teacher of the class Huang Zhuying is the 3rd generation. I'll post the class picture later.
May 2021 provided the most visible celebration of Asian Americans' & Pacific Islanders' (AAPI) history, culture, and global influence. By highlighting personal examples of courage and tenacity I was better able to learn about the lives of millions who came this country with little more than optimism and ambition. Asian/Pacific immigrants, like those from Eastern/Western Europe and around the globe, most often chose to leave their birthplace to escape poverty, famine, and persecution only to face similar conditions in their new homeland.
The stories of Asian/Pacific Americans who overcame biases rooted in ignorance and intolerance continue to inspire those who follow seeking similar opportunities for a brighter path in America. Learning some of the heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of people who exceeded contemporary and societal expectations to fulfill their dreams is a reminder that the human spirit will triumph when given a chance.
I've been listening in again to the Qilogical podcasts produced by Michael Max (Thank you to my new puppy for taking me on walks) After Michael spoke at the 2012 FSOMA Conference on the 10 Formula Families* I've been an occasional listener to his podcast and enjoyed his clinic newsletter for the thoughtful comments and insights.
This week's interview was quite fascinating as it brought into the acupuncture clinic the writings of an FBI negotiator that finding the "No" place with your patient could be more usefully ultimately than trying to get to agreement or a "Yes". Thinking about your patient's disease as a hostage taker and your patient as the hostage can give you more tools in how to navigate the healing process. I've been in practice over 20 years and still struggle with those patients with whom I don't seem to be able to communicate the value in what I'm offering, who drop out of care just when we seem to be getting somewhere. I also seem to have forgotten about the maxim that "All Diseases Come from the Heart" and the podcast took me back to some basics.