I came across a great article by an acupuncturist and Ph.D. named Nancy Post, published in Acupuncture Today in 2012* entitled, “How Chinese Medicine Can Save Western Medicine.” In summary, she said acupuncture could help reduce healthcare costs and improve outcome measures for patients by merging into Western medical settings like emergency rooms. Acupuncture improves patient health quickly and efficiently, so why not make it available to the public at large?
Twenty years ago, people did not go to emergency rooms on their own. They called their primary care doctor if something was wrong (infection, heart pain, high fever). Back then, their doctor would see them right away. Hospitals were only for surgeries, trauma, or life-threatening emergencies.
Acupuncture Improves Patient Health
Now, however, the landscape has changed. Your primary care doctor acts more like a referral service for specialists and a gateway to the ER. Dr. Post gives an example, “If your shoulder hurts badly, you might be sent to an orthopedist who will prescribe X-rays or MRIs, prescribe you medicine, send you for physical therapy, or even suggest surgery. Enlightened orthopedists might prescribe Chinese medicine (as mine did). Abdominal pain would be referred to a gastroenterologist, and so on. Because specialists make a lot more money when they perform procedures like surgery, they increasingly don’t want to see patients who just need a diagnosis and some medicine.”
But being referred to a specialist means that patients have to wait a long time to receive treatment. It can often take months to get an appointment with a specialist for back pain, stomach pain, or migraines. This model of care causes people to seek alternative treatments. While waiting for their appointment to see a specialist, many seek out acupuncture and find their problem resolved. So while primary care doctors are deferring and referring to specialists, patients are unwilling to play along and are finding more efficient treatment methods.
Using Emergency Rooms For Primary Healthcare
Instead of visiting their family doctor to get a referral for a specialist, many go directly to their neighborhood emergency room. A highly trained team will perform triage, administer multiple tests, and quickly make a diagnosis. Most people are treated and sent home. Dr. Post concludes that the majority of emergency room care today is not for life-threatening healthcare events but “for people who are unwilling to delay treatment by following the referral-care model.”
An emergency room doctor said the most common conditions seen included “major and minor trauma – ankle sprains, swollen knees, shoulder stiffness, migraines, nausea, and abdominal pain.” These are the same conditions we treat in our acupuncture clinic every day. Dr. Post gave the following example:
“I remembered that I recently saw two patients who were frightened after complaining of heaviness in the chest, some heat, and rapid heartbeat. My diagnosis was Rising Heart Yang. I performed two treatments, gave them some An Shen (an herbal remedy), and they felt fine. Neither one needed an ER visit. The cost was $240.” Acupuncture improves patient health.
Offering Acupuncture In Hospitals
Why not offer acupuncture to patients visiting the emergency room? Patients typically spend hours waiting for care. A triage nurse could perform an intake to determine if the patient was suffering from a life-threatening condition. In the vast majority of cases, their complaints would not be life-threatening, and they could be immediately treated with acupuncture. In most cases, Chinese medicine would resolve their issue quickly and at a fraction of the cost.
The Obama administration started promoting the idea that outcomes should drive the decision-making process in patient care. They believed that up to 30% of health spending was being wasted, showing no benefit to patients due to overtreatment, failure to coordinate care, administrative complexity, and fraud.
The new message to health care providers was that if they didn’t follow a treatment protocol shown to work, they would not get paid by insurance companies. The concept was called “accountable care.” Healthcare systems are slowly embracing this idea and are changing how they work. Dr. Post feels this environment is perfect for introducing Chinese medicine into the conventional healthcare landscape. Promoting acupuncture within hospitals can reduce the cost of care, improve clinical outcomes, and increase patient satisfaction by giving prompt care that addresses their condition and provides relief. Acupuncture improves patient health.
Next Steps
In Raleigh, we are a long way from offering acupuncture at Rex or Wake Med Hospital. But eventually, Chinese medicine will find its way into the Western medical landscape, primarily because it works. We see this on the insurance front. Fifteen years ago, only five percent of our patients had acupuncture coverage. Today it’s nearly forty percent. If you have an ailment and are tired of waiting for your orthopedic or gastro appointment, come in for acupuncture. The chances are high that we can resolve your issue quickly and at a fraction of the cost. Your insurance may even cover the visit.
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Resources
Acupuncture Today – March 2012, Vol. 13, Issue 03, “How Chinese Medicine Can Save Western Medicine.” BY NANCY POST, M.Ac., Ph.D., https://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32544
Acupuncture improves patient health. Check out our website for hundreds of articles and videos about the conditions we treat.