Chinese practitioner model

[Guest guest]

I have been fascinated and encouraged by the discussion on keeping the

overheads low, especially when it developed into examining the

benefits of preventative treatment plans - perhaps on a seasonal basis.

 

Can anybody shed any light on whether Chinese practitioners are 'paid'

based upon the health of their patients, rather than the number of

patients they have to treat.

 

I recall such a model being described to me but I don't know whether

it was based upon fact.

 

As a first-year student of TCM I am intrigued by such a treatment

model - as a former management consultant I still think 'outside the

box' and such a model could work well in the Western world where TCM

costs should be less than those of allopathic medicine in an

integrated health-care environment.

[Guest guest]

Norman, I recollect that in many traditional societies,

the medicine wo(man) gets a salary for just being part of the society;

when someone is sick, they treat them without charging them.

 

This may be idealistic or outdated, but could possibly be a model for our

modern world.

It is sort of analogous to universally insured coverage on health care.

Hopefully, we can make more headway federally and locally to this effect.

 

An idea I had was similar to the Health Club membership fee, where your

patients would be charged

a fair monthly fee and would have access to community style acupuncture as

they need it.

This would encourage them to come in for preventive treatment and

consistently work on lifestyle changes.

 

Another traditional model is the donation for service exchange, such as

practiced by the Hawaiian people of just a century ago and still today.

Kahunas are forbidden ('kapu') to ask for a fixed monetary fee for the

service that is not theirs to give. If a member of the community gives from

their heart with whatever they have to give, then a healer can receive this

donation freely. The teaching is that the service is given by Spirit and

not our ego and the pursuit of material gain or not treating someone in need

based on their social-economic status would actually take the power ('mana')

away from the healer.

 

I've seen this in Fiji also, where the exchange comes as the patient

offering tobacco and kava root for the medicine person's prayer and the

sacrament of processing kava, infused with the prayer as medicine. In

Korea, the traditional form of exchange in relation to the shaman or

buddhist / taoist monk healer is to carry a bag of rice up the mountain in

exchange for ritual, teachings and/or mountain herbs.

 

It seems as though for thousands of years, the tao has guided communities to

support every profession in order for communal survival. In just about

every traditional community, the priest/shaman and healer/shaman have had

elevated social positions, even if the shaman is left outside of the main

circle. Many times, the priest and healer are one. For many patients who

do not have a religious zeal or not affiliated with a religious/ spiritual

group, my assumption is that their healer takes on that archetypal role;

especially back when the family doctor would do house calls as midwife in

the beginning of life and in closing the patient's eyes at death. Today, I

believe that the complementary/alternative medical provider takes on this

kind of role , especially with 'new-agers', who have been dis-affected with

churches. To this effect, I believe that a traditional model of

compassionate exchange is necessary for the health of the community at

large.

 

Going back to :

" whether Chinese practitioners are 'paid' based upon the health of their

patients, rather than the number of

patients they have to treat. "

 

My assumption is that through the qi that we carry (as Z'ev) spoke about and

through word of mouth,

naturally, if our patients are not healed, we don't get paid.

Also, some people charge an arm and a leg (in order to do a great job and

take a long time doing it).

Because of this, they may have to sacrifice their number of patients, but

they can still make a good living.

Some elder practitioners in the SF bay area practice this way.

For one, Koji Ichihashi spends an hour with one patient needling his family

style treatment (not leaving the patient).

I personally would want to receive this kind of rock-star treatment.

 

However, if we structure that into a service model, one can do a money-back

guarantee based on the health outcome, (which opens up a can of worms).

ie. 12 tx in 6 weeks 50% or more improvement or money back etc.

When it comes down to it, if patients don't feel the healing, we don't get

any rice wine with dinner.

Thanks for bringing up the idea.

K.

 

 

 

 

On 1/19/07, Norman Savigar <n.savigar wrote:

>

> I have been fascinated and encouraged by the discussion on keeping the

> overheads low, especially when it developed into examining the

> benefits of preventative treatment plans - perhaps on a seasonal basis.

>

> Can anybody shed any light on whether Chinese practitioners are 'paid'

> based upon the health of their patients, rather than the number of

> patients they have to treat.

>

> I recall such a model being described to me but I don't know whether

> it was based upon fact.

>

> As a first-year student of TCM I am intrigued by such a treatment

> model - as a former management consultant I still think 'outside the

> box' and such a model could work well in the Western world where TCM

> costs should be less than those of allopathic medicine in an

> integrated health-care environment.

>

>

>

 

 

 

--

'Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of

a problem.'

 

Jiddu Krishnamurti

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

On 1/19/07, Norman Savigar <n.savigar wrote:

>

> I have been fascinated and encouraged by the discussion on keeping the

> overheads low, especially when it developed into examining the

> benefits of preventative treatment plans - perhaps on a seasonal basis.

>

> Can anybody shed any light on whether Chinese practitioners are 'paid'

> based upon the health of their patients, rather than the number of

> patients they have to treat.

>

> I recall such a model being described to me but I don't know whether

> it was based upon fact.

>

 

i think you may be referring to a practice in ancient china where the doctor

was paid only if the patient was healed. in the case of tx the emperor, the

stakes were much higher, at minimum you could lose your job, in severe

circumstances, you could use your head. not a real practical method of

practice mgmt in the modern economy

 

kb

 

 

 

As a first-year student of TCM I am intrigued by such a treatment

> model - as a former management consultant I still think 'outside the

> box' and such a model could work well in the Western world where TCM

> costs should be less than those of allopathic medicine in an

> integrated health-care environment.

>

>

>

 

 

 

--

Kath Bartlett, LAc, MS, BA UCLA

Oriental Medicine

Experienced, Dedicated, Effective

 

Asheville Center For

70 Woodfin Place, Suite West Wing Two

Asheville, NC 28801 828.258.2777

kbartlett

www.AcupunctureAsheville.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

" An idea I had was similar to the Health Club membership fee, where yourpatients

would be chargeda fair monthly fee and would have access to community style

acupuncture asthey need it. "

 

This gets into the area of insurance and assuming patient risk. That is a no

no unless you also have an insurance license in your state. You can google

NAIC position paper on prepaid medical services. Mike W. Bowser, L Ac

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