Well, first off, I want to thank each and every one of you for joining me in cyberspace the other day. I just love sharing this information with you and especially enjoy your questions, feedback and kudos!
Here are the answers to most of the questions that came up during the webinar. Please make comments or ask me questions should they arise.
Here’s to your health and your practice growth!
Q: Where do you do your screenings? What type of locations/events do you set these screenings up at?
A: There are a few places where I do or have done screenings in the past – gyms, health food stores, local businesses, other practitioners’ practices, schools, you name it. Wherever large groups of people are either working at a particular location, or just passing through, to me, they are all viable options for hosting an acupuncture health screening. I’ve also done them at fundraisers for non-profit organizations and marathons.
Q: How do you schedule them?
A: I don’t, well, not anymore. We have one of our clinic staff members make all the calls for us. Here’s what they do: locate and identify local businesses within a general radius from our clinic, in our case, it’s the south end of downtown Seattle. (Seattle’s not that big for those of you who have never been here before) They would contact the human resource department or someone who is in charge of marketing and event planning, and ask them a few questions:
- Do they provide benefits to their employees?
- Who’s their insurance company or HMO?
- If their plans cover acupuncture?
- Have they ever done, or plan to do an employee health fair?
In some states, acupuncture may not be covered in insurance plans, when that happens, question 4 is the one to ask. If they say yes, ask them if you can attend the next one, if not, ask them if they would be interested in hosting one for their employees. (This is a whole other topic, I will get into this in a future webinar. But you can read about it in our Acupuncture Health Screenings for Practice Success e-book. http://www.acupuncturemediaworks.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=248&category_id=32&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1 )
Q: Are these slides available for us to keep?
A: Well, yes and no. They are available for you to view online for as long as I keep them online. I am not sure how long that will be.
Q: Where do we get the visual aids such as education cards, ashi point charts, etc.?
A: Oops, sorry about that! I guess I didn’t make it clear enough that we sell them. J If you click on the links below, you can learn more about our products. We have over 80 items that help practitioners, like you, to grow their practice with patient education tools.
http://acupuncturemediaworks.com/
Q: Which brand of EMI do I use?
A: Acugraph 3, by Miridia Technologies. We will be hosting a webinar March 30th featuring Adrian Larson, the man behind Acugraph,
Q: How much does it cost?
A: Well, it’s a pricey little thing, but ROI is well worth it. They start at $1,995. But if you contact me, directly, I can get you one for $300 off normal retail pricing. No kidding! J
Q: Do you have Alarm Point chart for sale?
A: We most certainly do. See below:
Q: Would it be possible for you to send a couple of these slides by email? I missed the survey and health pass slides. Thanks.
A: I can’t send them by email, but you can see them in detail at the links below:
Q: Where is the location of “Point Zero”? Is this different than ear Shenmen?
A: See link below:
http://www.yinyanghouse.com/theory/auricular/master_points
Q: How do I get an electro-imaging scanning device?
A: They start at $1,995. But if you contact me, directly, I can get you one for $300 off normal retail pricing. No kidding! J
Q: Are you open to answering questions later?
A: Of course I am. Please, feel free to contact me anytime or post a question here. I would be pleased to try and answer what I can. If not, I will point you in the right direction.
Q: Can you have people touch their own Ashi points?
A: Yes. That’s another way of getting a really good WOW factor, without making people feel uncomfortable. The thing is, you have to show them the exact location of the point. I’ve done it like this, and it works pretty well.
Q: How accurate is the EMI?
A: I think it’s pretty darn accurate. But, if you tune in next Tuesday, March 3oth, we’ll hear it from the man who owns Acugraph.
Q: What about point localizing on Ashi points?
A: I am not familiar with “point localizing.” Please do tell.
Q: If you have to leave a VM, how many times do you try calling to follow up after an event?
A: Twice. We pre-call the day before they are scheduled to come in, and you should get into the habit of pre-calling EVERY patient the day before EVERY appointment, or have someone else do it for you. If they fail to show up to their appointment we will call them to let them know that they missed their appointment and see if they wish to reschedule.
Q: I’d like to know about what you cover in a health care class and about how long you do them. What day of the week and time of day do you find is best for people?
A: Gosh, we can do a healthcare class on almost anything-seasonal foods, seasonal changes, meridian exercises, point location, self-care techniques, etc…but I have done them for each of the meridians using these handouts we have, see link below.
New Patient Orientation class and Meridian handouts
These are two great healthcare classes. The first is a powerpoint presentation and the later are handouts and a book that make for great tools to host 5 different healthcare classes-one class each season for each meridian. Does that make sense?
Q: What type of sign/lead in question have you found is the most successful in street fairs and health expos?
A: The sign is a picture of a meridian system or model that says, “Have you ever had an acupuncture evaluation?” The question is the same. I have also had signs that said, “Have you had your Qi checked lately?” I have found that the first one works the best, but I like the later one. Let me know what you wind up doing!
Q: You mentioned a “kit” that you had for sale that had all of the screening products in it, where can I find that?
A: Right here, we offer two types of kits.
Acupuncture Health Screening Kit #1
Acupuncture Health Screening Kit #2
Q: How has the Acugraph assessment compared with other diagnostic methods in your experience?
A: If you are referring to other computerized meridian imaging programs, I have used both Acugraph 3 ( http://acugraph.com/default.php?gclid=CO2I6Mqz8KACFQlZiAodz2H0Og ) and Electro-Meridian Imaging by Dr. Ammaro, ( http://www.emi4.com/product-overview.php ). I prefer Acugraph because:
a). It works with Mac and I think the EMI is only good for PC
b). The database and graphics on the Acugraph are nicer and easier to work with
c). It has more features
Q: How would you rate the assessment consistency (i.e, reproducibility of results)?
A: Well, good question. It seems reliable and consistent in the fact that when a patient has particular symptoms, the “out-of-balance” meridian does show up on the graph. I use it primarily as an adjunct to my dx., and most certainly as a patient gathering tool at health fairs. I do know that some practitioners use it for treatment protocols.
Here is the response from Acugraph:
“The reproducibility is perfect when measuring fixed resistances (i.e. in the lab.)
When measuring humans, there are indeed a number of factors that can affect reading consistency, including angle, pressure, timing, moisture, and point location, as well as the patient’s physiological response to the reading current. AcuGraph compensates for some of these, and relies on good technique for others.
In the hands of an experienced user, consistency is quite good, but not perfect. (Nothing ever is perfect when you are measuring a living, biological system). The variability is primarily due to the ionic response of the skin when the measurement current is introduced; once a reading has been made, subsequent readings of the same point will necessarily be different because of the effect of the reading current on the skin. We therefore teach that the first reading of each point is the most valid, and that repeat readings should be at least a couple of hours after the initial readings.
We have just completed an inter- and intra- examiner reliability study at NCNM and we will be sharing the results soon.
The translation is that I think AcuGraph measurement is at least as reliable as pulse palpation, and certainly reliable enough to be clinically useful.”
