Conference Update: Record Numbers & Annual Meeting

Stephanie Shober

This is my third year volunteering on the AAC Board and it has been an honor. The knowledge and dedication of my fellow Board members are consistently impressive. We do need help from our community of fellow acupuncturists to avoid the burn-out that can happen when so few people are doing so much work. We do also have fun together, so please consider volunteering for a committee! You can do so at the conference or by contacting us by phone or email at any time.

The upcoming 33rd Annual Acupuncture Association of Colorado Conference being held April 23^rd -24^th in Westminster has set another attendance record of 150 (at press time) for our state conferences! We are looking forward to learning from author and Chinese Medicine scholar Lonny Jarrett. Registration closes April 15^th and there will be no registration at the door, so register now if you haven’t already.

The annual conference is held in April for a couple of reasons. In election years, an early conference allows us time to come together as a group to hear about issues and candidates that effect Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in time to take action. We also hope by following spring break time, the April conference finds many people in town and able to attend.

The annual business meeting of the Association being held during the lunch break on Saturday is a requirement of our by-laws and the one opportunity each year that we have to all come together to learn what is happening legislatively for our profession, discuss important issues and set goals. Our conference is also a fundraiser that, along with membership dues, keeps us going.

If you cannot attend the conference, please consider coming to the annual meeting from 12:30 – 2:00 on Saturday the 23^rd at the Westminster Marriott. You must RSVP for yourself only by April 20^th to stephanie@wholehealthcenters.com using an email subject line stating your full name and "RSVP Annual Meeting." Only members are allowed at the annual meeting, so please make sure your membership is current by logging in to www.acucol.com or contacting Charissa at info@acucol.com or 303-572-8744. (Lunch is provided for conference attendees only and is not available for purchase at the meeting, so please plan accordingly.)

I look forward to spending time together with fellow acupuncturists and learning new things from Lonny’s sessions. See you there!

Kind regards,
Stephanie Shober, L.Ac., Dipl. OM
Community Committee & Conference Chair
AAC Board of Directors

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Message from the President: Dry Needling, ASA & Website Updates

Kimberley Benjamin

Thank you to those of you who will be attending our conference this year with Lonny Jarrett. Along with membership dues, the conference helps support the AAC’s activities and expenses, and we appreciate your support.

Dry Needling: The AAC has spent the last year researching our options regarding Dry Needling. There will be a full report at our annual members’ meeting at 12:30 on the 23^rd during the conference. We hope you will come even If you cannot register for the entire conference. Please see the Conference Update in this newsletter for more details and annual meeting RSVP information. If you would like to contribute to the cause please contact me directly and/or donate here.

American Society of Acupuncturists: Board member Scott Richardson (President Emeritus) and I represented the AAC membership at the annual ASA meeting last month in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The meeting was very productive and we were able to collaborate with other national entities including the NCCAOM, CCAOM, and ACAOM. You may have heard about the launching of NCCAOM’s Academy of Diplomates. It was created to serve the Diplomates and will not charge membership dues. Its intention is to work cooperatively and synergistically with all AOM professional associations in support of the AOM profession.

The ASA worked very closely with the NCCAOM as they created the Academy and has a strategic relationship with them. The ASA continues to have a representative on the CPT code committee and is tracking items that impact acupuncturists. They also have representatives attending the ISO (International Standardizations Organization) meetings which have special groups working on products used in Chinese Medicine.

An in-depth report was also presented detailing how Dry Needling is impacting acupuncture patients nationally. Some of this information will be relayed in our annual meeting.

The ASA is proving to be a valuable asset to our organization and it is representing us well at a national and even global level. We hope you see the value in it, too. In light of this we may raise membership dues this year to account for our ASA membership, which is based in part on how many members we have. Because our relationship with the ASA is a non-competing model, meaning our members are automatically members of the ASA and benefit from their work without having to pay separate dues, the increase will be a very small amount compared to joining a separate organization. If you would like to read the full report on the ASA activities you may access it on our Facebook page.

Website update: The board has voted to move our antiquated website and membership data from its current platform to an updated platform. We were able to find a cost-effective solution to upgrade the look and user experience while increasing functionality. Please keep an eye out for emails regarding this process as everyone will need to sign on to the new platform to make sure your information was ported over accurately. This will take place after the conference, most likely sometime in May or June. Some announcements are made more rapidly on Facebook, so please “Like” the Acupuncture Association of Colorado’s Facebook page and turn on notifications by hovering over the Like button until a drop down menu appears and choose Notifications “All On”.

Thanks again for your membership and support. We would not be able to do this without you.

Kimberley Benjamin, L.Ac., Dipl. OM
President, AAC Board of Directors
President@acucol.com 
(970) 214-6683

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Finance Update & Looking for Our Next Treasurer

Katie Robinette

The Acupuncture Association of Colorado is looking for their next Treasurer! You can be a part of the executive team of the AAC and help the board to protect and advance the acupuncture profession in Colorado. Bookkeeping skills are a plus, but the association does have bookkeepers as well as an accountant who prepares our taxes. As the current treasurer, I will give you thorough training and will be your teammate until you feel comfortable in your new role. Join a dynamic group of people working for positive change! If you have any questions or would like to discuss the possibilities of this volunteer position, please email me at Treasurer@acucol.com.

The association continues to do well with its currently limited funding. A large portion of our budget goes to paying our lobbyist, Leo Boyle, who has been working on our behalf for over a decade. He is a seasoned professional, is well-known and well-liked at the capitol, and we couldn’t have passed our injectables bill without him. We were able to negotiate a lower base rate with him for 2016, which will only increase if he needs to take legislative measures for us. Happily, our monthly payment plan to the attorneys who researched and drafted our injection therapy bill will be completed this year. Another cost-saving measure we took this year was to convert to a virtual office when the rent on our Wheat Ridge office was about to be raised more than 100 percent.

Our research into the Dry Needling issue has been expensive. We will be discussing the results of our research at length during our annual members-only meeting being held Saturday, April 23 at 12:30 PM during the AAC Annual Conference lunch break. If you would like to know what is happening around this issue and voice your opinion, please join us. A full financial report is also shared at this meeting. See more details and RSVP information in the Conference Update in this newsletter. The annual conference not only provides CEUs and sense of community for Colorado acupuncturists, but is also a fundraising opportunity for your professional association.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you at the conference and/or the annual meeting!

Katie Robinette, L.Ac., Dipl. OM
Treasurer, AAC Board of Directors
Treasurer@acucol.com

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Injectables Update

Following the passage of our bill last spring we have had many subsequent meetings with DORA regarding making the necessary rules. DORA prepared a list of allowed injectable substances, rules for training and proposed changes to the pharmacy practice act that will enable us to purchase compounded substances again from in-state companies such as College Pharmacy. For more details on the rules, training requirements and pharmacy act changes please see the January Newsletter in the Blog section of acucol.com.

At this time we are still waiting for the Director of DORA to sign the new rules and changes into effect. Our President Emeritus Scott Richardson has been following up with DORA acupuncture program director Leanne Duffy on a regular basis and was told on April 7th that there is no new information yet, but that she has been emailing the Director "regularly" on the topic. The Director is expected to sign the rules into effect by April 23^rd  (a deadline set by the date of our October 23^rd meeting), so we should be able to procure injectables by the end of the month! We will continue to keep you apprised of our progress on this subject. Please “Like” the Acupuncture Association of Colorado’s Facebook page and turn on notifications by hovering over the Like button until a drop down menu appears and choose Notifications “All On”.

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Order Your Year of the Monkey T-Shirt by April 24^th!

The beneficial effects of Acupuncture have gained recognition among other health professionals, but are still largely misunderstood by insurance companies and law makers. The AAC is working to keep Acupuncture safe and legal in Colorado. Our efforts at this critical time in our profession are costly. You can support Acupuncture and Oriental medicine in our state by purchasing this cool T-shirt that celebrates the Year of the Monkey. If you missed the opportunity earlier this year to purchase one, please help us reach our second goal of 50 t-shirts before April 24th. You should then receive your shirt before May 12th. (There is a $5 shipping fee in addition to the cost of the shirt.)

Click Here to Purchase your T-shirt!

Even if you don't want a T-shirt you may still make a donation here.

Thank you for your support!

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