Many people have been asking me about community acupuncture and about the difference between community and private treatments. The main difference is the fact that there are a group (we will talk about why we choose the word community in a little) of patients being treated at the same time in the same room. This has several advantages for both the patients and the practitioner.
The biggest patient advantage can be seen in their wallets. While I cannot accept insurance for this style of treatment, the out of pocket expense is a whopping $20 per session (in some cases smaller than your co-pay). Originally this style of treatment is designed to allow patients who otherwise wouldn’t have the means to get continued treatment due to the financial commitment. By no means does it cheapen the the quality of the acupuncture, in fact I have some of my long term patients use community acupuncture treatments to get additional benefits during the week. Patients can come in for necessary care more often and I even have several patients who come in just because they like acupuncture and get an hour a week to relax.
Another great benefit is that prospective patients can come in and “sample” acupuncture without having to pay for a full on private treatment, which can run anywhere from $50 to $200 in Baltimore. This has actually helped many of my patients ease their way into my office and put them on the road to health.
While the all mighty dollar may be a patients first reason for choosing community acupuncture over private treatments, good old belonephobia is probably a close second. That’s right, the second we hear the word needle many of us turn a whiter shade of pale. Why would needle-phobia be cured by community acupuncture? Simply put, strength in numbers. In this atmosphere a new patient can come in with a friend, or in many cases at my clinic, book up the whole hour with a group of friends trying something new. Once the horror movie scene of a man in a white lab coat creeping up with a novelty size syringe is put to rest and patients see how small and painless it actually is, the whole room seems to let out a deep relaxed exhale. This is usually the time when the once scared patient says something like, ” Was that it?” I have many patients who now come in by themselves that had to hold the hand of one or two of their friends the first treatment.
This next reason is something that might make some people really want to try community style and others opt for more private treatments. In the community setting there seems to be a bit more motion and liveliness. Usually patients are chatting with others and asking me questions. It’s a great way for me to tell groups of patients information about health, acupuncture or just chat about the day. Then this really amazing thing happens. Usually about fifteen minutes into setting the last patient’s needles, the room goes silent. There isn’t anyone hushing anyone else, no glances that you would see in a library, just a mutually agreed silence. The room feels different, heavier and enveloping. It seems like everyone in the room has synchronized their breathing and that the treatment room itself has a distinct pulse. This group of people who may or may not know each other has become a single community. I’m wondering if the first person to call these group treatments “community acupuncture” was picking up on the same vibe. With more observation of this phenomenon, I’m sure it will become an interesting article in the North American Journal of Oriental Medicine.
This leads me to another question: Well if it’s so great why not exclusively treat community style?
Well, that answer is a little more complicated.
Lets start with the easy reasons. My room is not big enough to fit a large number of patients. My community treatments normally have 3-4 people in them and at most a snug 6 patients. My current small office cannot hold more people comfortably, and until our next move (which hopefully will be in the next 6 months) six is my limit. Right now I have my patients on some very fancy folding recliners, which are comfortable and easy to store, but I’d also like to have the option of having my patients on tables. The recliners really only allow limited access to the back and I have patients who need to sit up while I work on their low back.
Another reason is hands-on time. Some patients really what the full hour devoted to them, or sometimes I really need the full hour to work on a more complex patient. Dancing between six patients is fun, but when one patient needs a little more or could benefit from a more labor intensive technique I cannot equally split time between everyone. This is why I do a short screen for patients before they come in to decide whether community or private treatments would be best.
Another reason is insurance. Yes, even when you try and do a nice thing, they get you. I have many active insurance patients and unfortunately insurance companies DO NOT RECOGNIZE community acupuncture. If I tried to bill the insurance company for community acupuncture I would get lost in tons of red tape and would be spending more time trying to get paid for each treatment than actually performing the treatments. As I pointed out before the cost is smaller than some patients co-pays. That being said if a patient does have insurance benefits and wants to use them it needs to be in a private treatment setting.
Finally, some patients may just prefer the single treatments. They get to relax in a room that is theirs for an hour, but removed from their world. No other people chatting and I’m quietly sitting nearby if they need me. This allows them to get the most out of the treatments and many patients, after having community treatment, will choose private sessions.
I like these as well because patients are less guarded and can talk more openly about their problems, which makes addressing them easier. No one wishes to air their dirty laundry or have a good cry in a room of strangers.
I do have many patients that will do “tune-ups” or bring friends in for my community sessions, but will come in for private treatments whenever they feel they need it.
Oddly, I carry a bigger private patient load than my community, and it’s fine by me. I hope to be able to provide as many people as possible with the best possible acupuncture, however they wish to be treated. Now if I could only get my animal patients in for community treatments! 😉
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