Standard of Care

What is the standard of care for acupuncture

Both a concern and critique of acupuncture, frequently espoused by the bio-medical community is, “there is no standard of care in acupuncture“. The following is why I believe this statement is disingenuous at best.

From The medical community

Before we get into what determines the standard of care is for and acupuncturist, we need to discuss what the phrase implies for medical doctors, since that’s where it’s derived from. The phrase is most commonly referenced in malpractice cases against emergency medicine physicians and is constantly evolving through court decisions ¹. In recent cases, judges have ruled that standard of care is the minimal level of competency, compared to what another physician would have done under similar circumstances.

Straight from the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Journal of Ethics ²:

Standard of care can be defined as “…not a guideline or list of options; instead, it is a duty determined by a given set of circumstances that present in a particular patient, with a specific condition, at a definite time and place”. In other words, standard of care is sensitive to time, place, and person. This is a challenge to physicians who try to adhere strictly to clinical guidelines because the absence of absolute standards forces physicians to make judgments that may prove in hindsight to have been incorrect.

Licensing and Accreditation

There are a couple of entities involved in the governance of the practice of acupuncture in the United States

1. The Accreditation Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine: this organization governs the accreditation and curriculum of institutions such as colleges and training programs.
2. The National Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine: certifies individuals to practice acupuncture in the U.S. However, each state has is’t own requirements for practicing, and not all of them require certification. In addition, 4 states (WY, SD, OK, AL) don’t have any requirements at all. California is a special exception, which has comparatively more stringent licensing requirements.

I cannot verify the authenticity of this document, but I’m linking it for your reference. The National Policy Group list an in-depth summary of each state’s law in a PDF.

Education

Before being enrolled in a professional acupuncture program, you must have at least 60 hours of credits at a university or accredited institution, which includes at least 9 hours of bioscience.

In order to receive a masters degree from an accredited college / university³ and qualify to take the licensing exam, you must have fulfilled the following credit requirements⁴ (example taken from NYS Office of Professions):

• 4500 hours of classroom instruction, which includes:
  • an additional 200 hours of Biosciences
  • 600 hours of study in acupuncture principles, technique, diagnoses, channel theory, location, case studies and precautions
  • 650 hours of supervised clinical experience

Subsequent to graduation from medical school, the applicant must have satisfactorily completed a minimum of 300 hours of systematic acupuncture education acceptable to the ABMA. Such education shall include a formal course of study of not less than 200 hours in a program that meets the WFAS standards for such courses as determined by the ABMA.
At least 100 hours of the minimum 300 hours of education shall have been clinical training acceptable to the ABMA.⁵ —VS— 4500 in a masters degree program, you can be eligible for a license.

Summary

For the most part, licensed acupuncturist are not operating in the capacity of emergency medicine, except when they are.⁶A significant part of our training does focus on pathophysiology and identifying red flag conditions, for which any competent practitioner should refer out. I can understand how there could be confusion around the issue of standard of practice when it comes to acupuncturist. Even with a similar educational background, treatment of a given condition will vary between practitioners. This is in part, due to personal preference and style⁷ of acupuncture. Though the approach may be different, the goal still remains to address the patient’s condition.

Even the U.S. courts have acknowledged that differences in the approach of treatment do not constitute a deviation from standard of care or malpractice. Here is what seems to be a reasonable and logical instruction to the jury, from the trial judge in the 1995 case of McCourt v. Abernathy ⁸.

So why would this reasoning not apply to acupuncturist? If we are truly putting the patient’s welfare first, it’s past due to put aside petty biases. From the opioid epidemic, to diabetes and other chronic illnesses, there is a high cost to pay, both human and financial, for not using an integrative approach.

As pointed out by By Elizabeth A. Wang, B.S./B.A., M.D. Candidate ’17, UC Davis School of Medicine.⁹

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70 percent of all deaths are due to chronic disease, and the cost of chronic care exceeds $1.5 trillion a year, or 75 percent of all medical expenses. Only a fraction of our budget is spent on prevention and health promotion, despite evidence that prevention can do much to reduce the burden of chronic disease.

Published in Acupuncture Today, June 2018, digital edition
https://acupuncturetoday.com/article/33503-acupunctures-standard-of-care

References

^1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3088386/
²http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2005/11/hlaw1-0511.html
³https://thebestschools.org/rankings/best-acupuncture-schools-us/
^4.http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/acu/acupunlic.htm
^5.http://www.dabma.org/requirements.asp
^6.http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1279-acupuncture-emergency-room-hospital-care-gets-a-yes
^7.https://yinyanghouse.com/acupuncture/introduction_to_acupuncture
^8.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10394679?report=abstract
^9.https://exploreim.ucla.edu/health-care/east-meets-west-how-integrative-medicine-is-changing-health-care/