So I want you thinking along the lines of where are my patients coming from? Where might I seek some additional patients that I’ve never thought of?
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Greetings, friends and colleagues. This is Sam Collins, your coding and billing expert for acupuncture and the American Acupuncture Council. We’ve always tried to help you a way to enhance your practice, make your practice better. What is always going to make a practice better is your ability to provide what you do.
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But you need patience. So I want you thinking along the lines of where are my patients coming from? Where might I seek some additional patients that I’ve never thought of? Where is that market? You always have to think of you are a business. You are a CEO. Are you doing things to make your practice enhanced?
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So let’s talk about where you’re getting your patients. Let’s go to the slides. Where are your patients? Your patients can be a lot of different types. Obviously, we have cash, but in my opinion, there’s three types of cash patients. Cash, prompt pay, prepay can be done. And then for insurance, there’s nine different types of insurance, but what I want to focus in on are veterans.
Acupuncturists are not tapping the market for veterans. Now, sometimes it’s more just they’re not aware, but realize the VA could be a very good add to your practice. And I’ll give you an example. The average VA patient payment to an acupuncturist for the number of visits they get is going to be about 3, 000 for every one of these patients you get.
Imagine you get two a month. How do we do this? Let’s focus in on that and where does this come from? Because realize, acupuncture has been accessible to veterans for quite some time and I think this is where maybe the problem is. Many of you aren’t aware that it’s covered. Imagine how many veterans aren’t aware that there’s this benefit.
So I want you thinking of, when you have a practice, you’re going to do a little bit of both. I want you to have a cash practice, but I would say that doesn’t mean you don’t take some insurance. In other words, cherry pick. If I get an authorization for a VA patient, I have no problem taking them because it’s guaranteed payment.
Now, some insurances I don’t want to take at all because it’s a little risky, but you need to have a bridge. Don’t assume one without the other. Here’s the part I’m bringing up. For veterans, how many are aware that the VA gives you marketing tools? This is available on the VA site, allowing you to use this, whether it be on your website or any other type of business, badging, social media, to make people know that you care for veterans.
I would bet if you put a sign like this in front of your office saying, we care for veterans, I bet you might run into a lot of people coming to your office going, what do you mean you cover veterans? There’s no veteran coverage for it. Because they’re simply not made aware. When’s the time you’ve seen a commercial or any type of marketing for someone that’s a veteran who’s having pain management or other issues that they could seek acupuncture care?
If they’re not doing that, why aren’t we? The offices I’ve seen that have embraced this have really increased the value. to their practice because they’ve increased the value to these patients. VA community care is what we’re talking about. Community care is stuff that the VA can’t do in their own place that they need to do outside or don’t have enough.
Now realize VA does have some acupuncturists that work in some of the facilities, not all. The VA community care program is provides medical care to eligible veterans and their dependents. Now let me be careful. Dependents aren’t going to be covered for acupuncture. So that’s out, but it’s going to cover the veteran for services that are not offered at that facility or aren’t accessible at that facility.
So here’s what we have. Notice here, this is the VA community care network. Notice what it covers. It covers acupuncture, but wait. It covers massage. Now, again, I want to be careful as an acupuncturist, so long as massage is within your scope, the VA will pay you to do it. But in addition, what if you’re a massage therapist?
Think about this for a second. Do you know massage therapists could apply and treat veterans and the VA will cover it? Get this though. You want to see where traditional medicine fits? They literally cover Tai Chi. So wait, can you imagine a Tai Chi instructor who learned about this? They could think, Hey, I could do a class for veterans.
and be paid by the VA? Here’s the problem. This has been around for quite some time, but we don’t have enough people aware. So I think part of it is making people aware that you do it. And I think the access for you is one that’s pretty good. Here’s what the VA says. Acupuncture is often associated with pain management, but it is also useful for other conditions.
In the body of literature for acupuncture effectiveness is growing. Acupuncture may be effective as a stand alone treatment or as an adductor treatment for other medical congestion interventions and notice the evidence map developed by the VA itself. It says this systemic review identified evidence of potentially effective Effect of several pain conditions, including chronic pain and headaches, mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, as well as indicators such as insomnia.
So they’re really broadening here for the types of things people have. I had one patient. Or one office, I should tell you, that got referred a VA patient to treat weight loss. I kid you not, because they felt it was going to be helpful. It was, and they paid. It wasn’t even for pain management. So imagine this being available.
If you could start making patients aware of it, they have expanded non pharmacological treatments available to veterans by providing acupuncture services. Yet, yet. Yet, acupuncture use remains very low compared to other populations. It’s less than 1%. If you can increase it 10%, you wouldn’t have enough acupuncturists to handle these people.
Who in here, who of you probably could take 10 times your patients? So I’m thinking the VA could be something where we could really get you to access. But here’s the problem. Does the average veteran know that they’re even entitled to this service? They are. We’ve got to make them aware. We need to know they’re aware because what do they cover?
They cover acupuncture. Yes, acupuncture. Up to three sets of needles per visit. It covers the exams, whether new patient exams, subsequent, and so forth. It covers therapies of many types. Hands on therapies, exercise. Massage, Manual Therapy, Tuminog, Gua Sha, and so forth. In addition though, it covers something many of you are going to go, What?
Yes, the VA covers for acupuncture laser. This is actually new for 2024. It always and continues to cover cupping. So if you think of it, the VA is probably the most conducive to allow acupunctures to what you really do. So including cupping. So would this be a patient I want to see? I would. Why? Because they pay pretty decently.
They pay at Medicare rates, but hold on. Don’t get too down sided thinking Medicare rates are better than ASH, by the way. But notice, set one is 40 and subsequent sets about 30 on average. So that means if you’re doing three sets of visit, that’s 100. Your exams are going to be between 120 to maybe 80 or 90, depending on the lower levels for established patients.
But again, within that, supervised modalities, like an infrared heat, pretty cheap, More hands on, or I shouldn’t say hands on, but more modalities that require more expertise up to 25. They pay about 20 for cupping, again, an average. And then therapeutic procedures, hands on, massage, manual therapy, exercise.
Those are going to be between 28 to 40 and those specifically in the mid 30 range. So you can imagine when I talk those numbers, if you’re looking at the number of visits you might get, This is a pretty good patient. You know what they’re looking for? Make them better. Help them. Are you going to cure them?
No. You’re going to help them manage. Help them get better. Help them be allowed to get out in society and be functional. What do they authorize? When you do get these, they do have to be authorized, but they pay for 12 visits within the first 60 days. And what they’re going to look for is, did the patient improve?
If they’ve improved, they will allow up to 8 more visits every 90 days. And they even have one that once you’ve gotten within that, they’ll allow chronic pain management for the patient to use as is, if you will, after they’ve reached PNS or medical MMI, maximum medical improvement. to allow them to treat as they get a little bit of a flare up.
But let’s assume here you’re looking at probably at least 20 visits. And if you’re thinking it’s a hundred plus per visit, that’s where I said 2000 plus exams, a little bit more. So certainly something I’d want to get access to the, here’s the key. If you join and you don’t get a patient, that’s the worst thing that happens.
You don’t get a patient. But if you don’t join, for sure you’re not. What if you join and get a few and make people aware that you help, that you’re helping them? Think of how many patients that are existing veterans or have family members that are. You do have to join. Here’s a map. Notice if you’re Texas or west of Texas, it’s with a company called TriWest.
And if you’re in north of Texas or east, it’s going to be the company OptumHealth. There’s no cost to joining, just have to register. So to me, it’s a no brainer. Worst case scenario, you join, you don’t get a patient. You know who I blame if you don’t get a patient? Us. You. How do people know what you do?
Here’s my problem for acupuncturists. Ask the average person, what does an acupuncturist do? And I think you’ll hear a lot of ignorant answers. And I’m not blaming anyone, but I’m saying we’ve got to do a better job. Because how many people know you can treat anxiety, depression, PTSD, insomnia? Not to mention back pain, neck pain, all those things.
People aren’t aware. They think one thing, make them aware of more. And of course, as you well know, once a person has been to an acupuncturist, very seldom do they come back, Oh, that didn’t work at all. In fact, how many times have you heard them say, I’ve been to so many doctors and I went to the acupuncturist and after one visit, or maybe even just a few, my pain or my problem improved 50%.
That miracle happens all the time, but you got to create access. You’re so anxious to join so many of these other plans that pay you very little. Why not the VA? Understand how the VA works. What do they pay you for? They pay to make the patient feel better, meaning give me a pain decrease. Give me functional improvement.
If I make the pain go away, am I going to have more function? Absolutely. Can I show that they’re probably using less medication, even if it’s over the counter? And bottom line is demonstrate it objectively. If you go through the last time I did this program for you, I did one on authorizations, that kind of focused in on that.
Show me you’re making the patient better. That’s at the end of the day. That’s all that’s really cared about. The VA will look there. I’ve had people say Sam, I’m not getting additional visits when I request it. Did you follow this? I’m the expert that can help you with that. This is just a thumbnail.
We’re doing a seminar. We also offer a service called The Network where we’re going to help you. Don’t feel alone. Know that there’s a lot of sources out there and we’re one of the main ones for you. I wish you well and I want you to be prosperous. Be well, my friend.