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Alternative Health News
Coming to a Hospital Near You: Acupuncture
Revised pain management assessment and management standards1 by The Joint Commission require accredited hospitals to "provide nonpharmacologic pain treatment modalities" as a necessary performance element.
University of Missouri Adds Chiropractic
The Missouri Orthopedic Institute, a branch of the University of Missouri (MU) Health Care System, has added chiropractic to its list of available services and named K. Jeffrey Miller, DC, MBA and Jose Ramirez, DC, MS, CCSP, assistant professors of chiropractic.
Kudos to Consumer Reports
A well-rounded discussion of back pain, the problems with traditional treatment and the benefits of conservative care including spinal manipulation – now wouldn't that be great?
Coding for Maintenance Care
You are indeed correct that S8990 is indeed a code for maintenance for physical therapy or manipulation. It is a Health Care Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code and not part of the CPT coding set. HCPCS is a collection of codes that represent procedures, supplies, products and services which may be provided to Medicare beneficiaries and individuals enrolled in private health insurance programs.
An Acupuncture Parallel in the Everyday
It was a breezy spring evening in San Francisco when I stepped out of the car in front of Quince restaurant. As I walked toward the front entrance, I could not help but notice the well-groomed trees, and neatly swept sidewalk.

The Wellness Center Solution
Most of us didn't go to chiropractic school for the money. We did it because we genuinely wanted to be doctors. The dream of one day opening our own practice and having our own patients?
The Yang of Stress & Fat: Hormones Worth Monitoring in Your Patients
There are many risks associated with obesity, some even severe enough to lead to death, such as a heart attack or stroke.

3 Reasons Patients Fire You
Any successful DC knows the secret to running a thriving practice involves having patients who return time and time again for your health-related services. But how do you get them to want to continue to walk in your door? You keep them satisfied.
Complacency Can Be a Practice Killer
Master motivator Zig Ziglar frequently told audiences in his lectures how to cook frogs. "If you throw them in hot water, they quickly jump out," he explained. "If you place them in warm water and slowly heat them with a small candle, they relax and get cooked."
Major NIH Grant to Research How SMT Alleviates Pain
The Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research's latest federal grant award has been earmarked for a study unique on two levels: 1) It will investigate the pain-relief mechanisms underlying spinal manipulative therapy;
A Herbal Guide for Digestive Complaints
One of the most common presentations in the clinical setting is digestive complaints. Almost daily I see patients presenting with a wide array of digestive issues ranging from simple issues such as gas or bloating to complex issues such as IBS or chronic food allergies.

Needling in Nepal: World Healing Exchange
In 2009 Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) traveled to Nepal for the first-ever "World Healing Exchange" trip. While they were there they visited rural villages, met with traditional healers of the region (particularly traditional Tibetan medicine healers), and got to know the acupuncture community.

Denied Care: The Art of the Appeal (Pt. 1)
One of my patients was involved in an accident that left him permanently disabled. Although he finds welcome relief through an evidence-based, integrated approach to his injuries, the managed care organization (MCO) denied his care.
Integrative Healthcare: An East West Perspective
Acupuncture and Oriental medicine schools educate their students to understand that a patient's specific health concerns are important to understand, as well as the patient's more general concerns about elevating personal stress levels in navigating the health care system.

Exposing the Bias for Acupuncture
A pair of papers published recently in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine challenge the United Kingdom's NICE clinical practice guidelines for osteoarthritis of the knee, specifically the guideline's recommendation against the use of acupuncture as a treatment option for knee OA.
Prescription Rights: Be Careful What You Wish For (Part 2)
Some chiropractors hold the view that if given the authority to prescribe drugs, they would also have the right to counsel patients to modify or stop the use of at least some of the drugs prescribed by other professionals.
Tackling the Opioid Crisis: Big Insurance Victory for Rhode Island DCs
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has signed legislation requiring insurers to reimburse chiropractors for medically necessary non-opioid pain treatments.
Coming to Grips With Our Professional Realities
As an American citizen, watching divisions in our society sharpen and grow more barbed and distinct over the past decade has been painful.
Chronic LBP: New Study Suggests Orthotics Can Help
A new study touted as "the first large-scale clinical trial assessing orthotics for treatment of LBP" suggests custom orthotics are an effective treatment option, alone or in combination with chiropractic care, for relieving pain and improving function in patients with chronic low back pain.
Senior Care: Don't Forget the Feet
A number of significant health conditions begin to have a greater impact on our patients as they age. Some of these are not immediately symptomatic, and often patients are unaware of the deterioration until they develop a loss of functional capacity and independence.
Canada Keeps Cutting Chiropractic
Manitoba is the only remaining Canadian province that covers a portion of chiropractic care for all residents, but a new funding formula effective June 1 cuts $4.8 million from Manitoba Health's annual subsidies for chiropractic.
A Dangerous Cause of Upper Back and Chest Pain
I was scuba diving in the Gulf of Mexico with several other divers to spear lionfish. Our first dive was to 100 feet and proved uneventful. On the second dive, a pair of divers went first while we waited for them to return.

News in Brief
National, Western States Forge CE Partnership; New Appointments at NYCC; Core Products Acquires Swede-O.
A Better Way to Treat Back Pain
Eight out of 10 people will experience back pain at some point in their life.1 Lower back injuries are seen in patients who are sedentary or athletic or even those whose jobs require no sitting at all, including 37 percent of school-aged children.1
Penetrating the Myserious: Strange Diseases & Hidden Qi
Often the root of our problems come not from what we can identify and explain, but from a deeper, hidden place. This is true for both physical problems as well as mental-emotional issues.
Treating Gulf War Illness: The Lasting Effects of Desert Shield/Storm
Clinical and registry programs indicate that 25 percent of the 700,000 veterans of the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield/Storm, years 1990-1991), have been affected by clusters of symptoms, and co-morbid medical diagnoses.

Let's Restore Ilium Motion
If you are a practitioner who routinely evaluates sacroiliac function during standing hip flexion, you should notice the loss of sacroiliac motion on one or both sides following lumbar spinal injury, dysfunction or degeneration.
AHPA is Taking the Lead: A Proactive Approach to Herbal Safety
The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and Chinese Herbal Products Committee (CHPC) has taken the lead when it comes to defining "Good Herbal Compounding and Dispensing Practices."

What's Causing That LBP? Facets vs. Discs vs. the SI Joint
Let's discuss some simple ways to differentiate the three major spinal joint sources of low back pain a chiropractor needs to address. Differential diagnosis is one of the keys to accuracy and success.
The News Shaping Your Future
As Ferris Bueller said during his infamous "day off," "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Such is the case with the most recent events shaping the role of chiropractic in America's health care.
The Do's & Don'ts of Office Humor
The new patient was a young, athletic-looking male who towered over me. As I shook his hand, I judged he was at least 6'6" tall. Walking back to the consultation room with him, just to be friendly and warm things up, I said, "I promise not to ask you if you ever played basketball in school!"
A Name Change Will Save Our Profession
When the art and science of chiropractic was established in 1895, the art and science of marketing, advertising and public relations was virtually nonexistent.

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My View From Here

By Ralph Stephens, BS, LMT, NCBTMB

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Debunking the Myth: Is Massage Licensing Necessary?
  May, 2017 (Vol. 17, Issue 05)
A Continuing Problem: Making Sense of Continuing Education
  April, 2017 (Vol. 17, Issue 04)
Expanding Regulation in a Shrinking Profession
  February, 2017 (Vol. 17, Issue 02)
It's About Health
  November, 2016 (Vol. 16, Issue 11)
It Is Time
  September, 2016 (Vol. 16, Issue 09)
Death & Health: Very Strange Bedfellows
  August, 2016 (Vol. 16, Issue 08)
Making Things Better
  May, 2016 (Vol. 16, Issue 05)
History Repeats Itself
  April, 2016 (Vol. 16, Issue 04)
Electile Dysfunction: Setting a Dangerous Precedent
  February, 2016 (Vol. 16, Issue 02)
Change is the Only Constant
  November, 2015 (Vol. 15, Issue 11)
FSMTB: Falling Down on the Job
  September, 2015 (Vol. 15, Issue 09)
Having the Opportunity to Change a Client's Life
  July, 2015 (Vol. 15, Issue 07)
How Often Should You Treat?
  May, 2015 (Vol. 15, Issue 05)
If You Bet the Ranch, You Might Just Lose It
  April, 2015 (Vol. 15, Issue 04)
Mismatched Solutions to Our Most Pressing Problems
  February, 2015 (Vol. 15, Issue 02)
For-Profit Chain Schools Find Themselves Under the Gun
  November, 2014 (Vol. 14, Issue 11)
It's Time to Stop Being Needy
  September, 2014 (Vol. 14, Issue 09)
Learning the Right Way to Get Started in this Business
  July, 2014 (Vol. 14, Issue 07)
Understanding Stimulus Response by Engaging with Readers
  May, 2014 (Vol. 14, Issue 05)
Finding a Bridge to Somewhere
  April, 2014 (Vol. 14, Issue 04)
Is Hours and Hours of Education Really the Answer?
  February, 2014 (Vol. 14, Issue 02)
It's Time to Stop Chasing Rainbows
  November, 2013 (Vol. 13, Issue 11)
It's Time to Start Bursting the Education Bubbles
  July, 2013 (Vol. 13, Issue 07)
Encouraging a Call for Cure in the New Year
  February, 2013 (Vol. 13, Issue 02)
Where Did All the Graduates Go?
  November, 2012 (Vol. 12, Issue 11)
The ELAP Project vs. The Seven Deadly Sins of Massage Education
  August, 2012 (Vol. 12, Issue 08)
Moving Massage Therapy Toward a Brighter Future
  July, 2012 (Vol. 12, Issue 07)
Challenging Sacred Cows, Round Two
  February, 2012 (Vol. 12, Issue 02)
Do You Take Supplements? Kiss Them Goodbye
  January, 2012 (Vol. 12, Issue 01)
Challenging Sacred Cows
  November, 2011 (Vol. 11, Issue 11)
Stop the Music
  July, 2011 (Vol. 11, Issue 07)
Massage in Decline
  May, 2011 (Vol. 11, Issue 05)
Time for Change
  February, 2011 (Vol. 11, Issue 02)
The Ugly Quilt Grows
  November, 2010 (Vol. 10, Issue 11)
Falls to Remember
  September, 2010 (Vol. 10, Issue 09)
Marching Toward Therapeutic Irrelevance
  July, 2010 (Vol. 10, Issue 07)
The Corruptibility of Facts
  March, 2010 (Vol. 10, Issue 03)
Heart on the Bottom Line
  January, 2010 (Vol. 10, Issue 01)
Year-End Observations of Our Profession
  December, 2009 (Vol. 9, Issue 12)
Immorality Reigns
  September, 2009 (Vol. 9, Issue 09)
Upsetting the Health Care Pyramid
  July, 2009 (Vol. 09, Issue 07)
An Opportunity and a Double Cross
  May, 2009 (Vol. 09, Issue 05)
Health Care Reform and the Massage Profession
A Crisis Too Great to be Wasted
  March, 2009 (Vol. 09, Issue 03)
It's All in Your Mind
  January, 2009 (Vol. 09, Issue 01)
Economic Crisis: Be Aware, Get Prepared
  November, 2008 (Vol. 08, Issue 11)
Peak Politics
  September, 2008 (Vol. 08, Issue 09)
Suffering for Profit
  July, 2008 (Vol. 08, Issue 07)
Resistance Is Futile
  May, 2008 (Vol. 08, Issue 05)
Beware of the Backlash
  March, 2008 (Vol. 08, Issue 03)
A Pivotal Year in Massage Therapy
  January, 2008 (Vol. 08, Issue 01)
Why Not Health and Wellness
  November, 2007 (Vol. 07, Issue 11)
Help Grow a Pearl
  September, 2007 (Vol. 07, Issue 09)
Where It’s Been, Where It’s Going
  July, 2007 (Vol. 07, Issue 07)
Scope It Out
  May, 2007 (Vol. 07, Issue 05)
What Discipline?
  March, 2007 (Vol. 07, Issue 03)
Winter Wonderland
  January, 2007 (Vol. 07, Issue 01)
Let Them Eat Chemicals!
  November, 2006 (Vol. 06, Issue 11)
Interesting Times
  September, 2006 (Vol. 06, Issue 09)
Put Your Hands on Your Monitor, Part Two
  July, 2006 (Vol. 06, Issue 07)
Put Your Hands on Your Monitor – Part 1
  May, 2006 (Vol. 06, Issue 05)
Education – Where Does Advanced Begin?
  March, 2006 (Vol. 06, Issue 03)
It's About Health
  January, 2006 (Vol. 06, Issue 01)
The Shoe's On The Other Foot Now
  November, 2005 (Vol. 05, Issue 11)
Bad Dog and Good Dog Let Out
  September, 2005 (Vol. 05, Issue 09)
Spa Issues and a Request
  July, 2005 (Vol. 05, Issue 07)
Exciting Times
  May, 2005 (Vol. 05, Issue 05)
What Scope of Practice?
  March, 2005 (Vol. 05, Issue 03)
Medical Massage and More, Part II
  January, 2005 (Vol. 05, Issue 01)
Medical Massage and More, Part I
  November, 2004 (Vol. 04, Issue 11)
Of Cabbages and Kings
  September, 2004 (Vol. 04, Issue 09)
We've Made It!
  July, 2004 (Vol. 04, Issue 07)
Is It Time to Implement Levels of Education?
  May, 2004 (Vol. 04, Issue 05)
A Trade or Profession?
  March, 2004 (Vol. 04, Issue 03)
No Danger Here?
  November, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 11)
Privacy Doublespeak
  September, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 09)
Changing Focus
  July, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 07)
Why Sell Ourselves Short?
  June, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 06)
Healthy Dissent and Alignment
  April, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 04)
Of Parables and Other Things
  March, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 03)
It Won't Hurt for Long
  February, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 02)
Interesting Times
  January, 2003 (Vol. 03, Issue 01)
No Better Time Than Now
  December, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 12)
Giving Thanks
  November, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 11)
Pulling Up the Ladder
  October, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 10)
Beyond the Rub
  September, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 09)
Hey, Doctor Wanna-Be's
  August, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 08)
Massage Education Failing, Part V
  July, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 07)
Massage Education Failing, Part IV
  June, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 06)
Massage Education Failing, Part III
  May, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 05)
Massage Education Failing, Part II
  April, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 04)
Massage Education Failing
  March, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 03)
Protecting Freedom of Health Care
  February, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 02)
Hopeful Views and Empowering News
  January, 2002 (Vol. 02, Issue 01)
Why We Do What We Do
  December, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 12)
The Real Purpose of Insurance
  November, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 11)
Money and Ethics
  August, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 08)
Advice to Future Massage Therapists
  June, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 06)
Debunking Insurance Myths
  May, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 05)
We Are One! Let's Act Like It
  April, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 04)
Will Research Prove Our Point?
  February, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 02)
Work More for Less
  January, 2001 (Vol. 01, Issue 01)
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