Greetings esteemed colleagues and members of the Florida State Oriental Medical Association.

It is with great humility and immense gratitude that I speak before you today as your newly elected president. This is a position I do not take lightly, and I am both excited and deeply committed to the work we will do together in the coming years. We are about to embark on a journey—one rooted in the profound traditions of Oriental medicine, yet propelled forward by a spirit of innovation, unity, and purpose.

As the year winds down, many of your patients have Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) with funds they might not know they can use for acupuncture—and these funds often expire on December 31st! A well-executed “Use it or Lose it” campaign is not only a great way to encourage patients to take advantage of their benefits but also a powerful tool to boost your end-of-year bookings.

Here’s everything you need to know about why this campaign is important and how to get the most out of it.

By: Jeffery Grossman 

You’ve already done the hardest part: getting new patients in the door, building their trust, and helping them experience the benefits of acupuncture. But once they’ve had that first appointment, how do you ensure they stay engaged and continue with treatment? Patient retention is the lowest-hanging fruit for any practitioner because these are patients who already know, like, and trust you. Why let all that go to waste?

The idea of using a cloud-based clinic management software can seem daunting — maybe you’ve been using pen and paper, don’t feel comfortable with technology, or have had a negative experience with online security or reliability in the past.

But as the world becomes increasingly digital, having a clinic management software and EMR (electronic medical record) tool that allows you to manage patient charts, scheduling, and payments from anywhere with an internet connection can make a big difference for your acupuncture practice.

A letter on behalf of FSOMA

On September 24, 2024 the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM) published a Call for Public Comment on its website regarding entry-level doctoral degree completion tracks. The Commission proposes ending the doctoral completion track option. Entry-level doctoral degree completion tracks would no longer be an option for ACAHM-accredited programs after January 1, 2030. 

In recent months, we’ve heard some questions about why FSOMA has been focusing on insurance issues when many APs don’t take insurance. FSOMA certainly recognizes that many practitioners do not take insurance and absolutely supports those practices. However, in accordance with our mission and purpose, FSOMA is committed to delivering necessary updates to advance the practice of ALL Florida acupuncturists. Insurance is currently one of the hottest topics with the most confusion among our members, which drives this topic to the forefront of our attention, resulting in increased publicity. 

Recently, acupuncturists who accept insurance have been running into significant roadblocks, similar to many other medical providers, who find it challenging to get adequate reimbursement. The most current issue is that some of the major policies have started denying Evaluation and Management (E&M) CPT codes and, in some cases, recouping them back. The main reason for this denial is a lack of awareness from the Acupuncturists about recent changes from time-based E/M to Medical Decision Making (MDM) based documentation and coding according to the 2021 Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) guidelines. 

Who can help recent graduates with career counseling? AMC promised this to prospective students and now we don’t know who we can reach out to.

• FSOMA offers all kinds of support.  We have a great webinar on the basics of starting a practice  - you can follow links on the Member Benefits page to see them all.
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Here’s one that's great for new graduates.

For the VA Optum WAS sending out recoupment letters for codes 97139, 97039, going back to 2022.  THIS WAS AN ERROR

They will recoup for these codes for any dates of service AFTER 2/23/2024, as those codes were removed from the list of authorized codes.  Here is what we have received from Optum:

We are thrilled to share the news that HB 1490 passed the Senate on Tuesday and was concurred in the House on Wednesday. It is now headed to Gov. Shapiro's desk for signature. This historic milestone was made possible by the tireless efforts of our Legislative committee, diligence of our lobbyist and his team, and the support of all APA members.

We've had a great discussion on the FSOMA Forum about setting up "Credit Care" Payment Plans for your patients to pay for their care.  

Discussion includes an alternative to "Credit Care"

Florida's New Massage Establishment Law
(click link above for FULL TEXT HB 197)
Effective: July 1, 2024

House Bill 197 on Massage Establishments was signed by Governor DeSantis on April 22, 2024. The Bill will impact every office currently working under a massage establishment (ME) license and it goes into effect on July 1, 2024.  It will also affect you if you have LMTs contracted to give massages out of your office.  

Mental health imbalances including depression, anxiety, ADD, addictions, and PTSD are rampant in our society. Perhaps some of us are guilty of thinking depressed people in our lives should just “buck up” and be grateful for what they have. Many of these people consider that these conditions are somehow their fault. In working with these patients through the years, I previously had some success—but nothing spectacular - until I began working with the genetic variants. This lead to a greater understanding of the causes of these conditions and greater levels of compassion.

While there can be a myriad of different causes for depression, genetic variants can be particularly causative. Specifically, the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene can cause a person to be apathetic and depressed due to low dopamine and adrenaline levels. Dopamine is a catecholamine that is a precursor of adrenaline (an adrenal hormone associated with energy). Dopamine has a powerful effect on our reward system. Low dopamine levels have been associated with depression and addictive behavior. In addition, this same genetic variant is responsible for the production of serotonin, our other brain chemical associated with increased mood.

Master Deng’s Qi Gong

Featured Speaker: Chad Bailey

I met Master Deng Hua Qing in the small village of Yi Chun in Mainland China in 2001. This was the longest stop of our month long trip, 10 days to train with Master Deng in Tai Ji Quan, Lan Shou Quan, and Qi Gong as well as our daily hours at the regional hospital. Master Deng was from the northern city of Harbin but traveled to Yi Chun for our training.

We started each morning around 6am. 60 minutes of Qi Gong followed by 60 minutes of Yang style Tai Ji Quan. Most of our group would leave after Tai Ji practice.  A few of us stayed for Tai Ji applications, push hands, and Lan Shou for the last 60 minutes.

Each of us, when in school or reading our various reference books, whether it be point location (Where the red and the white meet) or identifying certain patterns (red face/malar flush) was exposed to a glowing error in education and practice standards that continues to be repeated even in mainstream medicine. When we speak of the “4 Pillars of Diagnostics”, no single pillar is more important than another. Clearly, we lacked exposure to any but lighter skinned examples of disharmony in a majority of educational settings. I use the newer term melanated on purpose. This term, to me, expresses the wide range of skin tone variation and is the most medically relevant term available.

What is melanation/melanated? The word “melanated" refers to the presence of melanin in the skin, hair, or eyes. Melanin is a pigment produced by cells called melanocytes and is responsible for determining the color of skin, hair, and eyes. People with higher levels of melanin are often described as melanated. It is also a term that is now commonly used to celebrate people of black and brown skin tones.

J.P. (47y/o, Male) Initial visit 10/20/23
Extremely athletic: CROSSFIT 5 times a week, in addition to Pilates, yoga, and running several times a week. Clean living, no medications reported, no drugs/alcohol prescribed or recreational.

Working with the environment and utilizing sustainable practices is essential today. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is deeply connected to the environment, farming, and agriculture, especially regarding manufacturing herbal formulas.

Using herbal formulas that have been sustainably sourced and manufactured safely to avoid contaminants allows for the best treatment results. Herbal formulas are crafted from a blend of herbs, which promote health and balance in different ways. Western pharmaceuticals often involve environmental impact reports, but some negative results show up later and may be more damaging than expected. Using properly sourced herbal formulas can help both the patient and the planet.