Integrator Short Notes: Complementary, Integrative and Natural Health Professions & Associations
Written by John Weeks
Integrator Short Notes: Complementary, Integrative and Natural Health Professions & Associations
Summary: Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine selects new chair and vice-chair ... Controversial Arizona homeopathic medical board gains 2 year extension
... AMTA survey of massage therapy use documents continued growth in
respect and use ... Chiropractic initiative on state of the research
gains ACA endorsement, network into 22 states ... Acupuncture
organization brings in Michael McGuffin of the American Herbal Products
Association for industry perspective ... AAAOM announces new acupuncture leadership and closing date for comments on accreditation standards for "first professional doctorate" ... Kasra Pournadeli, ND, past president of the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians on the outcomes of a lengthy, rule-writing
negotiation which followed a statutory broadening of ND prescription
and injection rights ... There are changes here that won't please the AMA's Scope of Practice Partnership.
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Victor Sierpina, MD, incoming chair
1. Sierpina and Perlman Elected as Chair and Vice-Chair of Academic Consortium
Victor Sierpina, MD was elected to serve as the chair, and Adam Perlman, MD, MPH, as the vice chair of the 40-member Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. Sierpina, an Integrator advisor, is a tenured professor of family medicine at the University of Texas
Medical Branch (UTMB) and the Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine. Perlman is the Hunterdon Endowed
Professor in Complementary and Alternative Medicine at theUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, founded an early integrative clinic with the Saint Barnabas Health System in a New Jersey health system prior to taking his academic post. Both Sierpina and Perlman have been strong proponents of strengthening inter-disciplinary relationships between conventional academics and those involved with the complementary and alternative healthcare disciplines. Each served on the planning team for the 2005 National Education Dialogue to Advance Integrated Health Care: Creating Common Ground. Perlman co-chaired a multi-disciplinary curriculum task force and Sierpina was part of a similarly diverse values working group, a year-long process funded for NED through a grant from the American Holistic Nurses Association.
2. Arizona Homeopathic Medical Board Renewed for 2 Years
The controversial and inappropriately-namedArizona Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners
has been renewed for 2 years by the Arizona State legislature. The
board, established in 1980, actually provides a much broader license
which covers classical homeopathy,
acupuncture,
orthomolecular medicine, chelation therapy, nutritional medicine and
neuromuscular massage therapy, and conventional medicine. MDs and DOs
who seek the license must have completed 40 hours of classical
homeopathic training in 300 hours in CE from among a diverse array of
other possible training. On November 6, a joint legislative committee
unanimously chose to extend the board's recognition during a period of additional
study. The case for extension was assisted by a citizen's group which provided 70,000 signatures from supporters according to the website of Martha Grount, MD, MD(H). (Thanks to health freedom activist Merrily Manthee for notice of the action.)
Survey documents growth in use
3. American Massage Therapy Association Post 11th Annual Survey Findings
The annual survey of consumer views of massage therapy by the American Massage Therapy Association
is once again a finger on the pulse of the US consumer. In general, massage is
increasingly viewed as therapeutically valuable, and not just useful as a
"feel good addition to life." Not surprisingly, those of us who have
had more years to acquire aches and pains are more likely than
younger consumers to see a therapeutic value in massage. 32% have used massage for pain relief at some point in their lives, behind chiropractic (38%) or physical
therapy (44%). At the same time, the trend toward gifting massage is
growing.
87 percent agree that massage can be effective in reducing pain.
85 percent agree that massage can be beneficial to health and wellness.
Despite the perceived therapeutic value, just 19% reported discussing massage with their physicians while 59% would like to see their insurance plans cover massage therapy. Overall, 24% of those surveyed
reported receiving a massage last year. More information is available
on this and surveys from previous years at this link.
Multi-faceted research agenda for chiropractic
4. Chiropractic "State of Research" Initiative Picks up Steam
The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) has initiated a "state of the research" initiative through which it networks with
state chiropractic associations "to identify practitioners’
research-related needs, assists in getting the research conducted, and
helps
the practitioner to use the research in evidence-based practices." To
date, 22 state associations has appointed liaisons. The American
Chiropractic Association recently formally announced its support,
noting a special interest "in the area of reimbursement." The project
is linked to FCER's Evidence-Based Resource Center initiative, also
launched this year. Based
in Norwalk, Iowa, the 60-year-old FCER presently has a mission which is
direct, and ambitious: "Translate Research into Practice.”
AHPA leader Michael McGuffin
5. Herbal Products Leader McGuffin in Key Roles at AAAOM Meeting
The recognition of the inter-locking futures of the natural products
industry and the integrative and natural healthcare disciplines was
implicit in the involvement of Michael McGuffin in the October 2007
meeting of the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine (AAAOM). McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products
Association (AHPA) provided the Integrator with a brief report to AHPA members
on the meeting. McGuffin's roles at the AAAOM annual conference included participation in
3 panels. McGuffin made a point of sharing with his members two of AAAOM's initiatives. One, states McGuffin, is "an
[AAAOM] plan to standardize practitioner scope of practice to include
the
use of herbal therapy in all states where acupuncture is licensed." The second is AAAOM's continuing support for the development in the United States of a separate
regulatory
class of traditional medicine products. AHPA and AAAOM are part of a multi-stakeholder group which supports this direction. (See related Integrator article.)
WANP's Kasra Pournadeali, ND, hails new pharmacy scope
6. Naturopathic Physicians in Washington Expand Pharmacy Scope of Pharmacy Rights
The naturopathic physicians are increasingly included in public policy
in Washington State as a part of the state's primary care matrix. As
such, the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians(WANP) has
continuously promoted a an expansion of their prescription rights in
their scope of practice. A lengthy process of rules writing was
recently completed. I asked Kasra Pournadeali, ND, immediate
past-president of WANP - who was president when the statute passed -
for a comment or two. Pournadeali presented the changes as a win for his
professions, for patients, and for the medical doctors and insurers
with whom they collaborate. (Bolding is added.)
"Thanks
for passing on the word about on the scope expansion we accomplished in 04/2005
being implemented. It represents big win for NDs, patients, MDs, and
Insurers.
"Implementation
of the new law is a win for NDs. It means
that the ND scope of practice is now consistent with current ND
training. The last scope update for NDs was in the 80's (where a few
drugs were included for the 1st time). It
means that NDs are no longer restricted to using a list of legend drugs,
but instead have all ("non scheduled"/ "non-controlled")
legend drugs included in scope. More importantly, as new drugs are
developed, they are automatically included. The law now only restricts
"controlled substances" (allowing codeine & testosterone
preparations) where none were allowed previously. The only broader
prescriptive scope is in Arizona where all "controlled substances"
are included.
"The
new law sets a precedent for ND with respect to our injection
scope. In Washington, NDs are now able to inject anything
within prescriptive authority- including drugs (chelation is
restricted to use in heavy metal toxicity, and cosmetic injections are excluded
until rules are developed for them). Previously, ND scope in
Washington only allowed intramuscular B12 injections (where B12
deficiency existed) and immunizations.
"The
new law removed the exclusion of intrauterine device placement for
NDs, and made it allowable for to perform biopsies and take tissue
samples.
"The
new law will allow more opportunity for graduates. No longer will
requirements for broad prescriptive authority be a barrier for new graduates
wanting to achieve positions and serve in subsidized rural environments.
"The
new law is a win for patients.It
means the many patients choosing an ND for their primary care will no
longer have to undergo a second doctor visit for a simple prescription not on
the old ND drug list. It means patients wanting to get
off a drug and use effective non-drug treatments now have the option
of doing so safely by seeing an ND with training in both pharmacology and
non-drug approaches.
"The
new law is a win for MDs.No
longer will the services of medical specialists be inefficiently
utilized by the patient (of an ND) who needs a simple prescription
outside the old ND scope, but consistent with ND primary care.
"The
new law is a win for insurers that provide ND primary care benefit.Because
NDs inherently prefer to avoid prescriptions where possible, because NDs
are educated in effective non-drug management of chronic conditions,
insurers who provide (and promote) ND primary care benefits will realize
savings in prescriptive benefit payout- simple math: cut the drugs, and you cut
the cost.
"For
decades patients have been looking to NDs for their primary care. This era
appropriate modernization in legislation, based on ND training represents
the next step in facilitating the profession's evolution toward serving a
growing need."
Kasra Pournadeali, ND Past-President Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians Seattle, Washington
Martin Herbkersman, MTOM, DAC, incoming AAAOM president
7. AAAOM Announces New Acupuncture Leadership, Calls for Response on "First Professional Doctorate"
The newly re-unified American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) recently announced its new leadership. Martin Herbkersman, MTOM, DAc, who has a special clinical interest in fertility and reproduction issues, will serve as president and Corrine Axelrod, MPH, LAc, DiplAc, a senior officer with the US Public Health Service, will be the new vice president. The past presidents of the two organizations which unified this year have become advisers to the new board. In the same November release from the AAAOM, the organization noted that December 15, 2007 will end the final comment period for accreditation standards for a new "First Professional Doctorate" program which has been advanced by the Doctoral Task Force of the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (ACAOM). Interestingly, divisions around the first professional doctorate are seen by many as the original cause of the rift which split the profession 15 years ago and which is only now healing.
Comment: While we haven't heard much lately from the AMA's Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP), two of these items would probably be of great consternation to those seeking to limit the incursions of non-MD professions into their turf. The ACAOM "first professional doctorate," if it takes hold, will add to the list of professions increasingly likely to be addressed as "doctor" by their patients. While not as problematic in numbers to the AMA SOPPers as the nursing doctorate, this AOM incursion into the naming turf will be similarly viewed. The ND scope expansion is also not as threatening, in sheer numbers, as the prescriptive rights campaigns of psychologists, but will also be viewed as erosion by the SOPPs of the AMA.
