The Hospital Handbook Project for Acupuncturists and Their Hospital Sponsors is a program of the Society of Hospital & Healthcare System-Based Acupuncturists, a 501(c)(3) organization.

The following is a list of all the HHP newsletters with links to their web versions.

Last updated 12.06.2024.

If I have missed updating an issue, please give me a few days’ grace after the newsletter goes out before you send me a reminder on the contact page. Or, you can comment with the newsletter link, and I will update this list as soon as I am able. Thank you!

First, to catch the latest newsletter as soon as it goes out in your mailbox, make sure you are signed up on the HHP email newsletter list. Once you subscribe to this list, you can change your preferences at any time by going back to your profile on the list. Here’s the link.

Newsletters by Year

2024

• Friday, Dec. 6th, 2024. Approved for 2 PDAs/CEUs Safety category by NCCAOM! Our 2024-2025 “Introduction to Safety Practices for LAc Clinicians, Safety Leads, and Program Managers. Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Improvement (QI) processes, Patient Safety, and Workplace Safety. How They Related to the healthcare system-based LAc clinician, safety lead, or program manager” course has been approved for 2.0 safety category PDAs (continuing education credits). First presentation is Saturday, 12/07/2024.

• Tuesday, Dec. 3rd, 2024. Happy Giving Tuesday! Reminder of 12/7/2024 Safety Practices for LAcs presentation. The “Talk Turkey About Low Back Pain” common myths vs. realities collaborative public awareness social media campaign.

• Tuesday, November 19th, 2024. Join us at the Dec. 7th, 2024, live virtual presentation on Safety Practices for LAc clinicians, safety leads, and program managers.

• Wednesday, July 31st. What is the Acupuncture for Our Seniors Act and how does it affect your hospital or healthcare system-based acupuncture program? New white paper and upcoming community discussion event.

• Sun, July 28th, 2024. Summer Update. New resource pdfs and upcoming Aug. 3rd event.

• Sun, February 11th, 2024. Community News Update. New content in the community discussion platform, listed by category and topic.

• Wed, February 7th, 2024. “A Little Update from a Rainy San Diego.”

  • I've volunteered with the Hospital Handbook Project (HHP) since I founded this virtual community space in 2016. The HHP is now a part of a new nonprofit, the Society of Hospital & Healthcare System-based Acupuncturists. This 501c3 supports community space and resource development for acupuncturist clinicians and program managers who work in healthcare system-based practice. It has resources for those just starting out setting up programs and those expanding their programs. Because the heart of any resource is the community that can inform it from creation to revisions in the future. 💖🏘️
    -Megan

2023

• Thursday, August 31st, 2023. “Survey Closing Soon. Feedback on healthcare System SOPs, supplies, etc.”

• Monday, July 31st, 2023. “Communicating Through the Construction Dust: Happy Summer & the Summer Community Survey.” Review of the new nonprofit, Society of Hospital & Healthcare System-Based Acupuncturists, updates from our presentations and participation in the SAR 2023 conference in New York City, and updates on our summer community survey.

• Friday, May 12th, 2023. Announcing the new nonprofit, Society of Hospital & Healthcare System-based Acupuncturists.

  • related blog article is located at this link.

• March 1st, 2023. Opportunity for feedback and the Names Survey.

• Saturday, February 25th, 2023. Big Changes at the HHP. Help us choose our Name for our new nonprofit 501c3 organization. 😊 Has the link to our survey for collecting feedback on names. Includes community questions, kudos, & updates for January and February 2023.

• Wednesday, January 11th, 2023. 🎉PDAs approved by NCCAOM for the Jan. 21st, 2023, Inpatient Acupuncture Conference hosted by the HHP. Updated info on ticketing, revised conference justification letter draft, and links to conference attendee resources being uploaded into the conference discussion space.

• Thursday, January 5th, 2023. Happy New Year (2023) and an update from our Inpatient Acu conference committee. The “conference justification letter draft” option.

2022

• Monday, Dec. 26th, 2022. Happy Holidays 2022 from the HHP. Includes less than a 2-minute video message from the HHP director. Links to workgroups and events mentioned in the recording:

  • HHP's Employment Practices Workgroup 

  • HHP's Safety Practices for Healthcare System-based Acupuncturists Workgroup 

  • HHP's inpatient acupuncture discussion group and their 2023 Inaugural Inpatient Acupuncture Conference (Jan. 21st, 2023) 

  • How you can help keep this nonprofit work going

• Sunday, Dec. 18th, 2022. Happy Holidays and News about Early Bird Tickets for the Jan. 2023 Inpatient Acupuncture Conference. The event schedule and speakers are confirmed. Event tickets are now active and available to purchase. Early bird pricing is available until 12.26.2022. Full-price tickets are available after that date.

• Tuesday, Nov. 15th, 2022. This a reminder of the deadline to submit your application for sessions or panels for the HHP’s Inpatient Acupuncture Conference event by midnight Pacific time.

• Nov. 10th, 2022. Reminder to join us on Saturday, 11/12/2022 for our last Safety Practices for Healthcare System LAcs live workgroup presentation for year 2022. [link to newsletter wonky. Please see the related blog article.]

  • Synopsis of the newsletter: “We have 2.5 (safety category) PDAs pending approval for this live virtual 2.5-hour event.  The format for this event is a 60-75 minute presentation from our Safety Practices Workgroup followed by time for community discussion on the topics presented. Community discussion for each of our Safety presentations (this is our 3rd one this season) helps us improve the resource document the Workgroup has been creating.”

  • Event page for 11.2022 presentation. Safety Practices Workgroup presentations for 2022, combined article.

• Tuesday, Oct. 25th, 2022. Announcement: Now Accepting Submissions for the Jan 2023 Inpatient Acupuncture Conference.

  • The submission form is open until Nov. 12th. Send in ideas and program information via the conference form to be a presenter or panelist at the Jan. 2023 virtual conference. More information about the event is on the HHP event page here.

• Tuesday, Oct. 11th, 2022. Safety Practices for LAcs mini-newsletter: October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

  • Part 2 of the mini-newsletter series on Safety Practices. Includes recommended podcast episodes and free online cybersecurity education resources. More info about the upcoming November Safety Practices for LAcs community discussion.

• Wednesday, Oct. 5th, 2022. HHP’s Safety in Practice Workgroup Presents Oct. 7th at the 2022 IM4US conference.

  • Part 1 of the “Safety Practices for LAcs” mini-series of HHP email newsletters. The event landing page for the Oct. 7th presentation on the HHP website is here.

• Sunday, Oct. 2nd, 2022. Update on the CMS (Medicare) 2023 proposed coverage of Integrative Pain Management services, programs, and providers letter writing with AACIPM.

  • This newsletter includes a review of all current HHP resources on Preparing Your Program for Medicare Coverage of Acupuncture, the 2023 CMS proposed care coverage and how it is connected to the SSA’s “recognized providers list,” and the list of resources on this topic collected under the related topic tag in the HHP community discussion platform.

• Wed, Sept. 14th, 2022. Recording of part 1 (presentation) of the 9/10 live Safety in Practice workgroup presentation is temporarily available to view for free on the HHP’s YouTube channel. To access all post-session materials, including recordings of part 1 (presentation) and part 2 (community discussion), go to the Issues in Hospital-based Practice 2022 webinar series. Both recordings are available in the 2022 module under September 2022 lectures.

  • Issues in Hospital-based Practice webinar series is a stand-alone HHP resource. Access to Issues is included in the Tier 2 HHP community discussion subscription as part of the “Big Resource Bundle.” Learn more about Tier 2 as a healthcare system-based LAc here or as a program lead, manager, or director here.

• Sunday, Sept. 4th, 2022. Join an HHP-hosted live zoom event this 9/10/2022. First presentation from the HHP’s Safety in Practice Workgroup, “Introduction to Safety in Practice for Healthcare System-based Acupuncturists, Safety Leads, and Program Managers.” Set up as a 2-hour session. Presentation followed by community discussion.

  • The HHP event page with details on how to attend or access post-session materials (recordings, pdf, etc).

• Sunday, August 28th, 2022. Medicare coverage of Acupuncture and LAcs, New Resources. How HR 4803, “Acupuncture for Our Seniors,” improves patient access to LAc services in a variety of healthcare settings in the U.S. New CMS proposed coverage of integrative pain management services, programs, and team-based care models for the year 2023+ and how to provide feedback.

  • Questions to consider as a community this season include:

    • “What could future CMS coverage of services look like to improve access and overcome barriers to care?” and

    • “Have you contacted your Rep about HR 4803 this week?” And resources to help you in concise communication.

  • More resources and reference reading in the newsletter include

    • This article on current federal program coverage of integrative pain management services, providers, and programs from Katie Bennett, JD. She explains complex policy language and practical application in an understandable, readable article here, “HHS Declares Non-Opioids as ‘Preferred’ But Won’t Cover Them. A tale of two sibling agencies: what does it mean for providers and patients when CDC guidelines recommend care that isn’t covered by CMS?”

    • The July 2022 newsletter from AACIPM, The Connector, which lays out CMS’s proposed 2023 coverage of integrative pain management services.

  • And, we have healthcare system-based LAc-specific resources on all the above and their relevance, triaged by the community, available in some HHP-hosted resources. This includes resources in the HHP discussion platform and our topic-based resource, Preparing Your Program for Medicare Coverage of Acupuncture. Please see the HHP August 28th, 2022, newsletter for specific links for these resources.

• Thursday, August 4th, 2022. Research Thursday. New Cost Savings Research on Inpatient Acupuncture & Integrative Health Service.

  • Topics mentioned or discussed here include research, inpatient acupuncture programs, cost savings research, data on inpatient integrative health consult and services as cost savings for a healthcare system, the 30-day readmission rate metric, looking at other ways of measuring "cost savings" for an inpatient program for a hospital, and the UCLA East West service line

  • Research on cost savings for inpatient acupuncture programs is important and relevant. Why? Because we know making integrative health available for the inpatient setting helps patients. However, developing metrics that matter and can be easily communicated to healthcare admin is not easy and can be challenging to track because of the natural dynamic variability of the inpatient setting versus outpatient. Research and metrics tend to prefer settings with less variability.

  • If you are interested in catching up quickly with research related to healthcare system-based LAc practice, I recommended this document, HHP's Summary of Community Citations. This publication is FREE TO ACCESS for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 HHP community discussion platform members.

  • What are "Research Thursdays"?

    • At the HHP, several years ago, I started posting resources by theme on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. I no longer have the bandwidth to create entire articles or posts 3+ times per week on a regular basis, but I do keep up the theme, just on a little slower schedule. Because this year, while I am still volunteering for the HHP for 30-40 hours/week, most of the time is spent in background work with the transition to the 501c3 and (this summer) working on grant applications.
      Research Thursdays have been a popular theme for years, so I continue to post them a few times/month, especially in the community discussion space. This is a way to highlight current or past research relevant to healthcare system-based LAc practice. It helps us grow & learn together as a community. Some Research Thursday posts, like the one I am highlighting today, carry more relevance, so we are spending more time and resources to discuss it.

• July 20th, 2022. Event reminder: Review of SOAP Documentation Basics for Acupuncturists. This live virtual (zoom) event, hosted by the HHP, is a good review for healthcare system-based LAcs. Or it is a fast-paced introduction for students or new practitioners. It includes a review of items related to professional practice and professional practice evaluation standards (OPPE). More information about this event or post-event resources is on its event page.

  • The presentation includes

    • Review of the basic SOAP format

    • Why and what about clinical care documentation is important as related to quality assurance (QA) standards, quality improvement (QI) processes, and patient safety practices.

    • Using metrics in your documentation, some basics

    • How to find documentation resources at the HHP (articles, pdfs, online topic-based resources)

• July 12th, 2022. Job Announcements in the Field. The healthcare system-based LAc field, that is. Also includes new information about upcoming HHP community events. Public events and closed workgroup meetings.

• July 9th, 2022. New resource page for Program Managers and Directors.

  • Also, a note that we have over 20 healthcare system LAc job announcements to view on the HHP community discussion platform just within the last 3 months. Both federal and civilian acupuncturist job postings. Join the HHP community discussion platform to view them and see the ongoing discussion related to them. If you want to know how to hire acupuncturists to benefit your healthcare system, see information from our June event, “How to Hire an LAc in Your Healthcare System.”

• July 2nd, 2022. “How to Hire an LAc in Your Healthcare System” event recordings and pdfs are now available.

  • Or go to this more comprehensive article on the blog.

• June 21st, 2022. New promo video for our upcoming event (Saturday, 6/25/2022), “How to Hire and Credential LAcs in Your Healthcare System.”

  • Direct link to the video on our YouTube channel.

• June 18th, 2022. How to Hire an Acupuncturist into Your Healthcare System, Revenue Capture and Clinician Retention, a live event on Saturday, June 25th, 2022.

  • This is the first public presentation from the HHP’s Employment Practices Workgroup. More event information is on the HHP event page. This workgroup presentation is being rolled into the HHP’s Issues in Hospital-based Practice webinar + interview series online resource.

• June 1st, 2022. Returning from the International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health. Sharing notes, photos, and slides from the HHP’s presentation.

  • The International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health is hosted by the Academic Consortium. I was part of a panel presentation on inpatient integrative health programs. I hope to post more information from the conference on the HHP’s discussion platform, Tier 1 General Discussion level.

• Saturday, May 21st, 2022. Traveling to Represent the HHP at the International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health. Learn more about the conference, how to connect in person or virtually, and more.

  • Includes a quick overview of my presentations for the Maryland Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Virtual EHR and Tech Expo on Saturday, 5/21/2022.

  • Also includes kudos to HHP community member Christine Kaiser on her recent new role and title at University Hospitals Connor Whole Health as the new Endowed Director of Reproductive Well-Being. I included links to the UH news release.

• May 20th, 2022. HHP Events for May and June and kudos to an HHP community member. May & June events in the community. Speaking engagements, current fundraiser progress, and our first public presentation from the HHP's Employment Practices workgroup.

  • Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine EHR & Tech Expo (virtual), 5/21-22. Guest speaker and virtual booth.

  • The 2022 International Congress on Integrative Health and Medicine (in-person), 5/23-27. Presenter and info on an informal community gathering.

  • "How to Hire and Credential an LAc into Your Healthcare System" hosted by the HHP. virtual. First public presentation from the HHP's Employment Practices Workgroup. 6/25/2022

• May 7th, 2022. The HHP’s Issues in Hospital-based Practice webinar series for year 2022.

  • Information on upcoming events. Coupon codes to join in during our spring funding season. List of topics to cover in 2022, pending funding to do so. Options for supporting this resource.

• April 13th, 2022, Research Thursday: research job postings and new research in the hospital & healthcare system LAc community to celebrate!

  • topics: Research Thursday theme, new research from our HHP community of healthcare system acupuncturists and researchers, job announcements in research and clinical work. emergency department (ED) acupuncture, treating long-haul COVID, NCCIH research position job announced, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering recruiting researchers for their integrative health program. Kudos to UH Connor Integrative Health team and more! Read the newsletter for details.

• April 12th, 2022: An Overview of the New HHP Community Discussion Platform. An invitation to join or support.

• April 6th, 2022: Reminder of our live virtual event highlighting our inpatient acupuncture discussion group with an interview with inpatient pediatric acupuncture specialist Dr. Risi Idiokitas, DAOM, this Friday, April 8th, 2022.

• March 28th, 2022: upcoming live virtual event hosted by the HHP, an announcement. Come join us for the April 8th, 2022, Issues in Hospital-based Practice session live event on Inpatient Pediatric Acupuncture with Children’s hospital pediatric acupuncture specialist Dr. Risi Idiokitas, DAOM.

  • Introduction to the HHP’s inpatient acupuncture discussion group and interview series. #pediatricacupuncture #hospitalacupuncture #inpatientacupuncture #inpatientpediatricacupuncture

  • The live virtual event is open to everyone who registers. See the HHP event page for registration details.

• March 21st, 2022: March is Women’s History Month—sharing how the HHP’s work is connected to this national observation

  • “I write the following, encouraged by a colleague to share my nonprofit community resource work that I created and continue to direct, as a volunteer, in honor of the focus on women-created or directed resources this month….I created the [HHP]…to fill the need for a community resource for hospital & healthcare system-based acupuncturists & their program managers. The HHP is a community-centered professional networking resource that endeavors to help services from these professionals be more available to patients in federal and civilian systems.

  • “Inpatient acupuncture services are a non-drug way to improve sleep, decrease pain & anxiety, alleviate some side effects of conventional treatment, and reduce the complexity of med profiles. This is especially prominent at Children’s hospitals. Research has shown that patient use of inpatient acupuncture services decreases the overall patient length of stay and decreases frequent readmission rates. (So it saves the healthcare system money while improving patient outcomes when you take a long-term view.)
    Outpatient & ambulatory acupuncture services are a great addition to many healthcare teams, including behavioral health, functional rehabilitation, oncology, pediatrics, primary care, and even (wonderfully) mother-baby in perinatal and postpartum care.

  • “At the HHP, we are a professional development community that shares & discusses best practices in program standards and employment practices. Both are key aspects to helping maintain, grow, and even initiate programs in these healthcare settings.”

• March 12th, 2022: “Patient Safety Awareness Week: Resources on Patient Safety and Safety-in-Practice for Clinicians". At the HHP, we are a community that values continuous learning and continuous improvement. We value patient safety and practitioner safety.

  • Patient Safety Awareness Week resources

    • blogpost excerpt. Civilian and federal resources. AMSUS HRO webinar recordings, the connection to after-action reviews (AARs). Look up your organization's Hospital Safety Score from the Leapfrog Group.

  • HHP resources on safety, QA, QI processes, patient safety, suicide awareness, workplace, etc

  • "Sense-making in Times of Uncertainty", a free, virtual event hosted by IHI with presenter Dr. Don Berwick, March 15th

  • HHP Safety-in-Practice Workgroup Presentation 4/11/2022, save the date announcement

• February 6th, 2022: For colleagues currently in healthcare system practice, 3 updates to HHP’s online resource TJC and Other Quality Assurance (QA) Standards for Acupuncturists & Their Hospital Admin.

  • Updated resources on suicide awareness & prevention training for clinicians. WA state now requires this training for licensure. Introduction to the VA’s “caring contacts” program.

  • Includes info on The Joint Commission (TJC)’s sentinel event #58 “inadequate warm hand-off” and a reminder of resources on team communication already available from the HHP. #safety, #qualityassurance (QA)

• January 29th, 2022: Big News! HHP is now a part of a 501c3!

  • Our big announcement and some community news updates. Includes information on new topics and information in the community discussion platform.

  • New resource topic available to follow and discuss this month is Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training for Clinicians. Other topics in the community discussion platform: research, job announcements in the field, implicit bias awareness training for clinicians, Bree Collaborative update to their knee & hip replacement bundled payment model and why its relevant to the community, and safety (QA, QI, patient, workplace). See the newsletter for more information.

2021

• November 29th, 2021: Fall Community News Summary and Copy of the Navigation Aid to the new HHP Community Discussion forum

• October 9th, 2021: Medicare, SSA, and LAcs—recordings now available to view publicly. New blog post and recordings are edited and uploaded to our YouTube channel. Thank you to everyone who supported in cups of virtual coffee and subscriptions to the online resource to help us cover costs of getting this work edited. :)

• October 5th, 2021: Updates to Our Homepage

• October 3rd, 2021: Looking for a List of Hospital and Healthcare System LAc Program Work? The HHP’s community-vetted summary of citations of community work and recommended research reading.

• October 2nd, 2021: Late Summer Season—Raising Funds for the HHP/ the Maple Syrup Jar Drawing Ends Soon

• Sept. 22nd, 2021: Sharing Colleagues’ Stories at the IM4US Conference this week and other HHP updates

• Sept. 4th, 2021: We’ve Launched Our New Community Discussion Platform

• August 23rd, 2021: Our COVID-19 Research Share Discussion Group

  • “This resource helps us practice research literacy while staying updated about workplace-related developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.”

• August 14th, 2021: Federal inclusion legislation, Medicare, and acupuncture—why it matters to healthcare system-based acupuncturists and program managers

• July 1st, 2021: Want to participate in research as an LAc? the TEAM COVID study. And updates on the AHRQ letters.

• June 10th, 2021: Latest events, SAR (acupuncture research) virtual conference & scholarships, and updated YouTube resource playlists

• June 6th, 2021: Health care policy alert! AHRQ Open Comment Period on Integrated/Integrative Pain Management Programs

• June 5th, 2021: Upcoming acu research conference & LAc job posting at UCSF

• June 4th, 2021: Scheduling Interdisciplinary Team Care, ECHO, IPMC work and more: the 5.19 Session Recordings & Resources available

• May 17th, 2021: A Snapshot of LAcs Working in Interdisciplinary Team-based Outpatient Pain Management Care Model

• May 11th, 2021: May 15th Community Standards Discussion on Peer Record Review and Documentation Standards

• April 8th, 2021: Rep. Judy Chu Taking Your Questions on Medicare/SSA today

• March 26th, 2021: Special Event for Healthcare System LAcs and Program Managers on Medicare, SSA, and acupuncture legislation with special guest speaker Kallie Byrd Guimond.

• February 23rd, 2021: Upcoming Live Virtual HHP Events in March and April, 2021

• February 9th, 2021 newsletter: Introducing the HHP, a 2021 presentation

• January 8th, 2021 newsletter: Last Chance to Send Your Feedback on HHP Project Work in 2021+

2020

• December 19th, 2020 “Connecting the Community” newsletter

• November 1st, 2020 Autumn Newsletter for the HHP

• July 10th, 2020 Telehealth Roundtable event recording premieres. NCCIH announces Telehealth Grants and more 

• June 17th, 2020 Event announcement reminder for our first event, The Telehealth Roundtable

• June 7th, 2020 You’re invited to the Telehealth Roundtable for Hospital-based Acupuncture Programs

• May 18th, 2020 Our Community Discussion Sessions on Pandemic Prep and Response: A Review since March

• April 16, 2020 The HHP is hosting Community Discussion Space on Pandemic Prep & Response

• March 24th, 2020 Virtual Community Discussions on Pandemic Prep & Response

• February 18th, 2020 Basics of Being an Employee, Episode 3 announcement: Mentor Relationships and Career Path Mapping

• February 11th, 2020 Basics of Being an Employee, Episode 2 announcement: Know how you are being measured as a clinician, performance plans and employee evaluations

• February 3rd, 2020 Basics of Being an Employee, Episode 1 announcement: Onboarding/what to expect during employee orientation

• Monday, January 13th, 2020 2019 at the HH Project: Year-in-Review. Accomplishments, goals reached & goals re-evaluated

 Year 2019 and earlier are archived.