[Fwd: CSOMA: News Alert - August 13, 2003]

[Guest guest]

This is possibly the most significant development for TCM in the US

since inception and inital legalization. What do you think?

 

Best regards,

 

Will Morris

 

Expo Alert Banner

 

Little Hoover Commission (LHC) Update Report

Practitioner Response Requested

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from

CSOMA President

Howard Kong

 

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Dear Colleagues:

 

As you may already know, the Little Hoover Commission (LHC) has begun to

research its report to the State Legislature on the California

acupuncture and Oriental medicine profession. The funding of this report

comes from the budget of the California Acupuncture Board, so in

essence, as a state licensed acupuncturist; you are providing part of

this funding. This report was requested by the legislature with the

chartering of AB1943 and SB1951 in 2002.

 

The CSOMA board, as well as other acupuncture leaders in the State, are

monitoring and participating in the process to provide the commission

with as much pertinent information as it needs to understand the

Oriental medicine profession and its role, both current and future, in

California. The Little Hoover Commission will be addressing the issues

of Scope of Practice, Educational Requirements, School Accreditation

through ACAOM, and the use of the NCCAOM exam in California.

 

Currently there are two public hearings scheduled for August 28, 2003

and October 23, 2003, to be held at the State Capital. Information can

be obtained from the Little Hoover Commission's website

(http://www.lhc.ca.gov). As a member of the Oriental medicine

profession, whom this report will ultimately affect, we encourage you to

contribute input. There are also several " advisory committee meetings "

scheduled, made up of members of the profession invited by the Little

Hoover Commission to provide information to assist in their report.

Three current CSOMA board members are on this advisory panel, as well as

six former board members.

 

Members of CSOMA are encouraged to provide feedback so that we can best

represent the position of our membership. Please write to us. The

following questions are being posed to the members of the advisory

committee. Should you choose to provide feedback, we prefer to have your

responses emailed. Please copy and paste these questions within an

email, along with your answers, and send to:

rchristensen <rchristensen.

Should you not have access to email, please fax your responses and send

them to the CSOMA office. Our fax number is: 916.455.0356.

 

Sincerely,

signature

Howard Kong, MSTCM, LAc

President, CSOMA Board of Directors

 

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Advisory Committee and Expert Questionnaire

 

General

 

1. What should the States primary concerns be in terms of protecting

consumers of acupuncture services? Is the State adequately providing the

protection, and if not what else should be done?

 

2. What do you see as the most difficult acupuncture regulation policy

issues in California today?

 

3. Please describe the types of conditions that you believe acupuncture

is most helpful for treating and whether you believe there are

conditions that acupuncture can treat more effectively than western

medicine.

 

4. Please provide your perspective on how acupuncture is integrated into

western medicine and needed improvements (e.g. referrals, communication

among practitioners, availability in hospitals and clinic settings, etc.).

 

5. Do you have recommendations on how different methods and elements of

acupuncture from other parts of the world can be better integrated into

the healing arts in California?

 

6. How does the current practice of acupuncture in California affect

access to health care by consumers?

 

Scope of Practice

 

The following legal scope of practice --which has been further defined

by legal memoranda, opinions and regulation-- is contained in California

Business & Professions Code sections 4927 and 4937:

 

4927. (d) " Acupuncture " means the stimulation of a certain point or

points on or near the surface of the body by the insertion of needles to

prevent or modify the perception of pain or to normalize physiological

functions, including pain control, for the treatment of certain diseases

or dysfunctions of the body and includes techniques of

electroacupuncture, cupping and moxibustion.

 

4937. An acupuncturist's license authorizes the holder thereof:

(a) To engage in the practice of acupuncture.

(b) To perform or prescribe the use of oriental massage, acupressure,

breathing techniques, exercise, heat, cold, magnets, nutrition, diet,

herbs, plant, animal, and mineral products, and dietary supplements to

promote, maintain, and restore health. Nothing in this section prohibits

any person who does not possess an acupuncturist's license or another

license as a healing arts practitioner from performing, or prescribing

the use of any modality listed in this subdivision.

© For purposes of this section, a " magnet " means a mineral or metal

that produces a magnetic field without the application of an electric

current.

(d) For purposes of this section, " plant, animal, and mineral products "

means naturally occurring substances of plant, animal, or mineral

origin, except that it does not include synthetic compounds, controlled

substances or dangerous drugs as defined in Sections 4021 and 4022, or a

controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053)

of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code.

(e) For purposes of this section, " dietary supplement " has the same

meaning as defined in subsection (ff) of Section 321 of Title 21 of the

United States Code, except that dietary supplement does not include

controlled substances or dangerous drugs as defined in Section 4021 or

4022, or a controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with

Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code.

 

7. Do you think the current legal scope of practice for California

acupuncturists is appropriate for licensed acupuncturists?

 

If not:

 

8. Please list any services or activities that you believe are important

to the practice of acupuncture that are neither clearly within the

acupuncture scope of practice nor clearly excluded from it.

 

9. Do you believe that the current legal scope of practice is too broad?

Too narrow?

 

10. If you recommend a change in the legal scope of practice, please

describe your recommended changes and the logic that underlies the

recommendation.

 

11. What are acupuncturists educated, trained and tested to do that they

are not permitted to do under this practice act?

 

12. What are acupuncturists permitted to do under this practice act for

which they may not have sufficient education and training?

 

13. If you believe that more education is needed to adequately prepare

acupuncturists to perform their current legal scope of practice safely,

what specific areas of education and/or additional training do you

recommend?

 

14. Do you believe that there should be graduated levels of licensure,

for instance to have acupuncture technicians or assistants, licensed

acupuncturists, master acupuncturists, and/or acupuncturist-M.D.s?

 

15. Please describe various levels of licensure that you believe would

be logical and beneficial to California patients.

 

Educational requirements generally

 

16. Do you believe that the current curriculum and training requirements

for L.Ac.s are adequate for new entrants into the field of acupuncture?

Too narrow? Too broad?

 

17. Aside from changing the number of curriculum hours, do you have

suggestions for changing the education and training requirements of

acupuncturists to better serve the consumers of California?

 

Minimum number of curriculum hours

 

18. The minimum number of curriculum hours to become a licensed

acupuncturist has just been raised to 3000. If you believe that the

hours should be increased further, what level do you recommend and what

is your reasoning? What should the content of any additional hours of

classroom or practical training include?

 

19. What is in the L.Ac. legal scope of practice that cannot be taught

under the 3000-hour scheme?

 

20. What could be taught to L.Ac.s with additional hours of education

(above 3000) that would be reasonable, important and beneficial to the

health and safety of California patients/clients?

 

21. Is there anything in the current curricula that is not relevant to

the current practice act or current acupuncture practice?

 

22. Is there anything in the current practice act that is not currently

being taught to acupuncture students?

 

Education or other requirements for already licensed acupuncturists not

subject to new regulations for 3000 hour curriculum.

 

23. Is there a need to require already-licensed acupuncturists to

demonstrate additional knowledge or competency that was not required or

tested when they were originally licensed, but is now required for newly

graduating students?

 

24. If so, what should those requirements be?

 

25. Are there other grand-fathering mechanisms that would be appropriate?

 

26. Do you believe that periodic re-testing or other recertification in

which continued competence is demonstrated should be required to ensure

quality practices throughout acupuncturists careers?

 

Examination of practitioners

 

27. What are the major advantages of the California exam relative to the

national exam?

 

28. What are the major advantages of the national exam relative to the

California exam?

 

29. What would be the advantages of using a combination of the national

and California exams?

 

30. What would be the disadvantages of using a combination of the

national and California exams?

 

31. When, if ever, did you take the national exam? Please list all the

dates and indicate whether you passed or failed on your last attempt.

 

32. When, if ever, did you take the California exam? Please list all the

dates and indicate whether you passed or failed on your last attempt.

 

33. Did the California exam test all of the elements that you thought it

should? If not, what was missing?

 

34. Did the national exam test all of the elements that you thought it

should? If not, what was missing?

 

35. Which exam did you think is the better measure of the knowledge,

skills, and abilities that an acupuncturist should have?

 

Only took one of these exams

The national exam because ______________________________

The California exam because ______________________________

 

36. If you have concerns about the California exam, please describe.

 

37. If you have concerns about the national exam, please describe.

 

Accreditation

 

38. What are the advantages and disadvantages of continuing to use

Californias approval of school process instead of national

accreditation of schools?

 

39. What are the advantages and disadvantages of relying on national

accreditation of schools instead of Californias approval of school process?

 

40. Is there some combination of the two accrediting/approval processes

that would be most beneficial?

 

41. If you have concerns about the California accreditation process,

please describe.

 

42. If you have concerns about the national accreditation process,

please describe.

 

Note: Should you no longer choose to receive CSOMA News Alerts, please

notify us by return email <legislation. Your

name will be removed from our files, and we apologize for the inconvenience.

 

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CSOMA

2710 X Street, Suite 2A

Sacramento, CA 95818

916-455-0347

800-477-4564

Fax: 916-455-0356

 

# # #

[Guest guest]

will, thank you for this post regarding lhc. informative and timely.

 

those wishing to share same with others, the information can also be

obtained through the csoma wesbite at the following url.

 

http://www.csomaonline.org/pages/news_alert813.htm

 

--all the best,

herb

 

, Will Morris <will@e...>

wrote:

This is possibly the most significant development for TCM in the US

since inception and inital legalization. What do you think?

 

Best regards,

 

Will Morris

 

~~~~~~~~~

Little Hoover Commission (LHC) Update Report Practitioner Response

Requested