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Maryland Acupuncture Society News |
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In May 2008, MAS brought an additional benefit to its members. The Acucode book for the year 2008 was offered to members only at a discount. This book contains an alphabetized listing of all pain diagnoses, and over 150 billing codes from exam through treatment to allow acupuncturists to more successfully work with patients and their insurance. |
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Click here for a copy of the seminar brochure or click here to see the same information on a web page. |
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During 2007 the Maryland State Board of Acupuncture established a new computer system to keep track of licenses. All records were thoroughly crossed checked with the paper files. The State Board also added to there website the ability to check an acupuncture license. This is done by going to http://dhmh.state.md.us/bacc/, and clicking on the link for License Verification. The board can be reached for corrections at: (410) 764-4766, or email dobbinsc@dhmh.state.md.us |
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The MAS membership campaign was held from October 1, 2007 through Jan 31, 2008. Only 17% did not renew! This is the best renewal campaign since detailed records have been kept. A mailing was sent on November 19th, 2007 to all new acupuncturists who have been licensed in the last two years, inviting them to join the MAS.
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As of December 2007 there were 820 active licensed acupuncturists in Maryland based on information from the State Board of Acupuncture web site. In July 2006 there were 829 active acupuncturists so there has been a slight decline in the number of active acupuncturists in Maryland. Since July 2006, 92 new licenses have been granted by the state, but 101 acupuncturists have not renewed their licenses, or gone inactive. As of December 2007, 139 acupuncturist's licenses are in an "Inactive" state. This means they can return to active practice if they pay the current license fee and show their continuing education is up to date. The board now limits acupuncturists to being inactive for a maximum of 6 years. But it is an easy option to allow an acupuncturist to take time off for whatever reason as going inactive only requires a one time fee of $100. Between July 2006 and December 2007, 24 of the 101 licenses that did not stay active were licenses that were made inactive. 299 members of MAS are licensed acupuncturists, so that is over 36% of Maryland licensed acupuncturists. 1509 Licenses have been granted since the board came into existence in 1984. That means 689 did not renew or became inactive (45%). This attrition rate is higher than the old rate of about 41% that existed in July 2006. |
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The seminar was co-coordinated by Maureen Nelis and Margie Siauw. This will be Maureen's last seminar as coordinator. |
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This time there was a special bonus seminar: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Insurance Reimbursement* *but didn't know who to ask" presented by June Morfe. The seminar was recorded (both parts) and the recording is for sale in the MAS website store. The only glitch in the program was that the airline cancelled Jeffrey Yuen's incoming flight. However, the MAS staff smoothly dealt with the problem, moved the lunch break to 10am, Jeffrey arrived on the next plane, and spoke from 11:30 to 5pm. For the first time, MAS started using auxiliary projector screens and a special camera that allowed everyone in the room to clearly see Jeffrey Yuen's interesting hand written notes and diagrams as he drew them and see his face clearly as he spoke. There had been complaints in the past due to the large attendance for this speaker that attendees could not see clearly. |
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For more information visit the SAR website at: www.acupunctureresearch.org. |
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Another exciting MAS benefit was announced at the meeting - Prior to the Fall MAS CEU seminar with Jeffrey Yuen on Saturday, November 17, June Morfe of Account Advantage, an insurance billing service, will give a presentation on maximizing patient reimbursements when they submit insurance claims. June recommends that all acupuncturists obtain an NPI number NOW. See our links page to obtain the number or click here, then click on National Provider Identifier. The membership present re-elected MAS board members Steven Solomon as President, Della Aubrey-Miller as Treasurer, Ta-Ya Lee as Vice President of External Affairs, And Tricia Kramer as Member-At-Large. |
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The most recent information from the Maryland State Board of Acupuncture shows that the number of licensed acupuncturists in Maryland is declining! As of January 2007 there are 772 active licensed acupuncturists in Maryland. This is a overall decrease of 57 licenses since July 2006. Between July and January, 32 new licenses were granted, but 89 licenses expired and were not renewed. 1555 Licenses have been granted since the board came into existence in 1984, and 783 (50%) did not renew or have became inactive (including those who move out of state). Note that in July 2006 the attrition rate was only 41%. |
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The MAS membership renewal campaign for 2007 ended at the end of January 2007! We sent out the official mailed notice on October 19, 2006. These results are similar to the year before - every year about 1/4 of the membership fails to renew, but we get new members to take their place! |
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On October 3, 2006 MAS sent out a survey to Maryland licensed acupuncturists who had never joined MAS (to ask them why they have never joined!) and acupuncturists who were members many years ago. Those who returned the surveys had a chance to win a free MAS CEU seminar! Click here for details. |
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As of September 2005 there were 807 active acupuncturists licensed by the State of Maryland and 300 (37%) were members of MAS. By July 2006 the number of active acupuncturists had risen to 829 and 285 were members of MAS (34.3%) |
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The MAS hosted a seminar by Alex Tiberi on Point Combinations for Common Difficult Problems April 8-9, 2006. Attendees were pleased with Alex Tiberi's exciting presentation style and the large quantities of practical, "no-nonsense" information that he gave out during the seminar on topics ranging from breathing and digestive disorders to cosmetic acupuncture. /p> We had 156 attendees registered. The last time Alex Tiberi was here in 2003, we had a total attendance of 120! |
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The MAS membership renewal campaign for the 2005-2006 year was in progress from October 2005 to January 2006. The table shows the final results of the campaign - better than last year, when 110 (27%) failed to renew. |
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The Jeffrey Yuen fall MAS CEU seminar, November 19 -20, 2005 - Manifestations of Shen. was a big success. It was the largest CEU seminar put on by MAS to-date with 245 registered, and thanks to the efforts of Maureen Nelis, Continuing Education chair, Barbra Esher, Continuing Education Coordinator, and a hardworking staff of 10 volunteers, everything went smoothly. Jeffrey Yuen, as usual, was amazing in the amount of knowledge he displayed on the subject of the shen. A thorough background was given and many specific treatments were described to work with shen disturbances. |
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![]() At the MAS board meeting on November 18, 2005, the associate membership was defined, and a previous membership category, the allopathic provider membership, was expanded and renamed to the allied health care provider membership. The associate membership has no voting privileges, does not get seminar discounts, and is basically a newsletter subscription. The allied health care provider membership is intended for any person who works in the health care field, ranging from MD’s to Shiatsu practitioners, nurses, massage therapists, and psychotherapists. There are no voting priviledges (voting is only allowed for licensed Maryland acupuncturists as defined in the MAS bylaws). The allied health care practitioner membership is $100 per year. |
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| In April 2005, the Maryland Acupuncture Society opposed pending Maryland State legislation, HB 1305. House Bill 1305 mandated the inclusion of "alternative health care" into the Maryland State employees health benefit package with savings off the "hides" of acupuncturist providers going to a for-profit company out of Chicago. Click here for a link to the Maryland State Government web page describing the bill. Click here for a suggested letter to write to delegates. Click here for delegates to whom letters should be written. Click here for a letter written by our legislative consultant to the sponsor of the bill. |
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![]() The MAS Seminar on Ethical Issues for Acupuncturists & A Pathway Through the CPT Code Jungle seminar was held on Saturday May 14, 2005 from 9 am to 4:30 pm in Laurel, Maryland. 80 acupuncturists attended the seminar. Some of the information from the seminar on CPT codes for acupuncture has been placed on our web site under the reports and documents section. Click Here to see the information. |
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229 people attended the seminar. Of these 14 attended Saturday only, and 13 attended Sunday only. 7 new members joined MAS at the seminar! |
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Between January 13, and September 14, 2004 the number of licensed acupuncturists went up by 11. There were 69 new licenses granted during that time, but 58 did not renew or became inactive. 1289 Licenses have been granted since the board came into existence in 1984, and 532 (41%) did not renew or became inactive over the 10 years, so 53 per year is the average number of acupuncturists who do not continue their licenses due to moving out of state or ceasing to practice acupuncture. As of September 14, 2004 there were 757 acupuncturists licensed by the State of Maryland and 273 were members of MAS. |
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Later that year (August) , the board found and appointed an acting president, Steven Solomon. |
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On Sept 5-8, 2003 MAS presented 4 days of CEU seminars. There were 143 registered participants. On Friday, Arya Neilsen described and demonstrated the fascinating Gua Sha technique, and in the afternoon, 94 attendees practiced the technique on each other under the supervision of Arya. The next day, Jake Fratkin lectured on Chinese Herbal Patent Formulas that can be used to treat acute conditions such as the common cold, menstrual cramps, sprains, and so forth. He was very specific in his information, giving recommendations to the 64 attendees on what he believed to be superior formulas when 4 or 5 were available from different sources. On Sunday, Daverick Leggett, affectionately dubbed the "food chart guy," spoke to 85 attendees on the chinese energetics of food, backed up by an array of actual foods on the table behind him ranging from black sesame seeds to a huge cabbage.
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At the end of February 2003, the Senate Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee Killed Senate Bill SB117, which would have mandated passage of the NCCAOM exam in Acupuncture for licensure in the state of Maryland. This means that the bill WILL NOT be sent to the Senate or the House of Delegates for a vote, and is officially a non-issue as of this time. Many MAS members sent e-mails, and phone calls and letters to the Senate Committee voicing opposition to the bill. The majority of the committee members felt these messages had a powerful impact on the defeating of this bill. Once again, the dedication and activism of MAS members for protecting the diversity of Acupuncture traditions in our state has won the day. Follow up: at the annual meeting in April 2003, Steve Buckingham reported that the parts of the bill that addressed fixes to the current law (such as closing a loophole that allowed students to take the NCCAOM exam and be licensed before graduation) were done using the "sunset" review of the state acupuncture board. Thanks to Steve! |
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On Friday, January 10, 2003, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., the Maryland Acupuncture Board hosted a HIPAA Education and Awareness Session, free of charge, to assist Maryland acupuncture licensees understand the requirements of HIPPA’s new Privacy and Transaction regulations. Each participate was granted four (4) hours of continuing education for attendance.
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For MAS news from 2002 and 2001, click here. |