Healthcare System-Based LAcs Employment Practices Data Survey Project
Megan Gale
The Healthcare System-Based Acupuncturists (LAcs) Employment Practices Data Survey Project
Preparing the Survey to Launch
Pre-Survey Work, Presentations, and How to Sign up for Newsletter Updates
This page also acts as our landing page for our SAR 2025 Poster Presentation on this Project.
DRAFT in progress
Definitions
HSBA = hospital & healthcare system-based acupuncturists (LAcs). Because abstracts and submissions often have a word count under 300 and because this term is long, we invented “HSBA” just for this research project. We do not otherwise use “HSBA” to refer to hospital & healthcare system-based practice in our literature or our website.
LAc = licensed acupuncturist. This is the most common state license title for someone who has graduated with a master’s or doctorate professional healthcare degree in the fields of acupuncture and traditional Asian medicine, and herbal medicine accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM). For simplicity, on this webpage, I use the terms “LAc” or “acupuncturist.”
Pre-Survey Work
Why create an Employment Practices Survey Specific for Hospital & Healthcare System-Based LAcs?
No comprehensive information on hospital & healthcare system-based acupuncturist (HSBA) employment practices has yet been published.
Purpose
Working (employment or contract work) in the hospital & healthcare system-based LAc work is a new specialty (within the last 20 years) of professional LAc work (employment) with many quickly developing subspecialties. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) published the unique standard occupational code (SOC) for Acupuncturists in their 2020 Occupational Handbook. This manual is published every few years, not annually. Acupuncturists have existed as a licensed profession (licensed by a state’s healthcare professions board), with a majority of clinicians working in small business settings (solo practice or group practice) for several decades.
The pre-survey work has included defining
the term “HSBA,”
the breadth of scope of what “hospital and healthcare system-based work” means for this survey,
and identifying the “who” of the community.
For this pre-survey work, the community includes LAc clinicians, managers, and those hiring LAcs into the U.S. healthcare system settings.
“Hospital and healthcare system-based settings” we define broadly as anyone working in a facility or organization that is accredited by or eligible for accreditation by the Joint Commission. The Joint Commission is a nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals, healthcare systems, programs, and more. You can learn more about what the Joint Commission accredits and evaluates at this link.
ADD VIDEO HERE WHEN AVAILABLE
Poster template as of 3.30.2025. Copyrighted material. All Rights Reserved. Contact the author for specific use permissions. Do not share without permission.
METHODS
Methods
Pre-Survey Work
Type of research: qualitative research to develop the survey questions.
2016-2024
Communicated with HSBA leaders about data they want collected on the field.
One-on-one phone conversations
Asynchronous & synchronous community discussions
Informal post-event surveys for the Hospital Handbook Project (HHP)®
Molded community feedback into a set of survey questions.
The model of community-informed and community-involved research that I structured for our Data Survey Project is growing in recognition as a model for clinical research. If you’d like to learn more about this model for clinical research, check out the virtual training from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s PATIENTS Professors Academy (link added here). However, our survey work is not clinical research. The survey has no protected health or patient information. This survey is focused on looking at and capturing the current landscape of employment practices for healthcare system-based LAcs at this moment in time.
This survey is focused on looking at and capturing the current landscape of employment practices for healthcare system-based LAcs at this moment in time.
2022-2024
Beta-tested the question sets with small groups of HSBA(s).
improved question sets after (1) CITI Training and (2) Communication with researchers
2024-2025
Working to confirm a researcher sponsor for our e-IRB process and to be our scientific advisor for the launching and running of the survey and data collection.
Create a new webpage for information about the survey, this poster,
Submit pre-survey work idea for consideration at a conference or publication
2025-2026
Set up RedCap account for SOHHA (organization) to host the survey.
Set up CITI training access for Employment Practices Workgroup volunteers to train on some items.
Train volunteers. (If training was a few years before, will repeat the training with updated survey research standards, as needed.)
Get IRB (e-IRB) approval for survey
Coordinate with at least one nonprofit organization (SOHHA) and other community networks for outreach and marketing of the survey
Raise funds and apply for grants to help cover projected costs for 2025-2027.
Then, Prepare to Launch the Survey 🚀
RESULTS
Results
The pre-survey work was time-heavy, AND valuable.
The most common and persistent barriers to launching the survey within the past 10 years have included …
Barriers
lack of funding
access to a research advisor to sponsor an e-IRB and research advisory support available throughout the survey process (e-IRB to launching survey to data collection, etc)
a platform for hosting and running the survey.
Progress
Currently, the survey work is being hosted by the Employment Practices Workgroup at the Society of Hospital & Healthcare System-Based Acupuncturists (SOHHA). SOHHA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in spring 2023. SOHHA has platform(s) that reach the target audience for our survey. It also has the ability to work with other organizations to help share the survey, after it is launched.
The nonprofit also has access to RedCap, a survey-hosting platform.
CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions
The pre-survey work created a set of questions important to LAcs working in the HSBA field. The survey is part of a bigger process to document HSBA employment trends and issues in the U.S.
There are more steps we need to take & barriers to overcome to launch the survey.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgements
Thank you to past and present volunteer team members and advisors who have collaborated with Megan on the survey since 2016. The current host of the survey work (2025) is SOHHA and its Employment Practices Workgroup
Copyright Notice
Copyrighted Material. All Rights Reserved. Contact the author for specific use permissions.
The Society for Hospital & Healthcare System-Based Acupuncturists is a 501(c)(3) public charity. All or part of your donation may be tax-deductible as a charitable contribution. Please consult with your tax advisor. Federal Tax ID # 92-3035973.