AACMA Newsletter - 9 August 2024
9 August 2024
This Issue:
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AACMAC 2024: Our Community Came Together
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A Message from ANA
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Detailed Advice from HBF About their Systems Upgrade
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Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Reminder
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Moving or Adding a New Clinic?
AACMAC 2024: Our Community Came Together
557 members and delegates attended this year’s event in person and online combining with our speakers and trade exhibitors to deliver a successful and enjoyable educational and networking event.
A big thank you to our speakers who delivered on a variety of clinically relevant and professional issues topics. Your time and effort involved in researching, preparing and presenting at AACMAC is really appreciated.
Grateful thanks to our exhibitors and sponsors of the prizes for the best presentation awards and “lucky door” prizes and especially for their continued support of AACMA and our members.
Very well done to our national office staff Paul, Yan, Elena, Chris, Ethan and of course Mia our events officer, for the massive effort that it takes to organise and deliver a successful AACMAC year after year.
Biggest thanks go to all our members and delegates who attended AACMAC 2024, the speakers, exhibitors and our staff do what they do to make it the best event for you.
Hall of Fame Awards
Congratulations to Wally Simpson and Professor Xiaoshu Zhu as this year’s award recipients.
Wally is a past AACMA president and Board member and Qld State Committee member who was honoured for his long contribution to AACMA.
Professor Xiashu Zhu was honoured for her ongoing dedication to delivering quality Chinese medicine education and research.
Yes, China Herb Scholarship
Congratulations to Yuan-Chin Chang a student at WSU who was awarded the Yes, China Herb scholarship which enabled her to attend AACMAC this year.
Thank you to Yes, China Herb for sponsoring this scholarship.
A Message from ANA
Acupuncture Now Australia has developed a brochure (available soon) to aid in communicating with health professionals. More details are as follows:
Improving professional communication in shared care
Most of the clients that we see in our clinics are also under the care of other health professionals, notably general practitioners. This means that we are already involved in the model known as shared care. Studies show that best outcomes for patients are achieved when there is good communication between the various health professionals caring for the same person. Studies also show that the attitude of general practitioners towards acupuncture is largely positive but that direct communication between acupuncturists and GPs is not common. To bridge this communication gap, Acupuncture Now Australia has launched a project entitled “Communication with health Professionals”. The goal of this project is to equip members with an information package introducing acupuncture in the form of an 8-page brochure, supported by a series of live webinars.
The first live webinar “Understanding Research” was held on 17 July with two Society of Acupuncture Board members Claudia Citkovitz and Sandro Graca, along with ANA Chair, John McDonald. This live webinar was attended by 66 people from 10 countries including India, Portugal, Brazil, Guatemala and Iran. For those who missed the live webinar, the video recording will soon be available to purchase for $60 and will attract 2 CPD points (professional issues). The second live webinar in September (date TBA) will showcase a conversation between an acupuncturist and a GP, while the third webinar in November will feature a conversation between a recently graduated practitioner who is just starting out with an experienced practitioner who has developed a vibrant referral network. The fourth webinar in 2025 will be a how-to on protocols, conventions and expectations around making, receiving and responding to referrals. It is hoped that this project will provide members with the information, skills and confidence to improve their communication with other health professionals within the shared care environment.
A pdf version of the information brochure “Acupuncture: An Introduction for Health Professionals” will be available shortly as a free download from the ANA website (which is currently being updated). Professionally printed A5 brochures in packs of 10 will also soon be available to purchase from the ANA website. Already there has been considerable interest from clients who have asked for copies to give to their GP. The brochure is pitched at health professionals with a relatively high level of medical literacy rather than the general public, however clients are also showing interest.
The ANA website address is Acupuncturenow.org.au
A Safety Message from Guild Insurance
Every household and business uses lithium ion batteries in appliances, equipment, laptops and all our smart phones.
This information flyer from Guild provides risk management information about these extensively used batteries that can cause deadly fires.
Detailed Advice from HBF About their Systems Upgrade
Improvements to HBF technology and systems
We are nearing completion of a program to upgrade our technology and systems. We've invested in these changes to ensure we can provide the best possible experiences for our members and providers.
In the coming weeks, we will switch to a new HBF website and upgraded systems for managing member claims.
There will naturally be some impacts in switching over to these new systems, but we are working hard to minimise those and wanted to provide some details in advance of what you might expect.
What to expect as we upgrade our systems
We are performing a system upgrade
from 6.00pm WST, Thursday 22 August to 6.00am WST, Monday 26 August 2024.
Over this period, you will not be able to request quotes, check eligibility, or submit HBF member claims electronically (e.g. HICAPS and HealthPoint).
For more information, please visit our detailed FAQ page at hbf.com.au/system-upgrade-providers. If you have any questions or feedback, please email ancillaryproviders@hbf.com.au.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Reminder
What are the requirements?
Complete a minimum of 20 hours (points) consisting of:
- 5 points (minimum) in an interactive setting with other practitioners
- 4 points related to professional issues (non-clinical issues)
- Outline of your Learning Goals / Objectives and Actual Outcomes
- Reflection on each activity, how it improved your skills / practice
- New graduates must complete a minimum of five (5) points for every three (3) months registration remaining.
When does the CPD year start and when is it due?
- The CPD year is from 1st December to 30th November as per your CMBA/AHPRA registration year.
AACMA requires members to email their completed CPD cards by November 30th each year to ensure compliance with CMBA and Health Funds.
To download the CPD form click on the following link CPD Record Card or email aacma@acupuncture.org.au
For further information please refer to AHPRA’s Continuing Professional Development Guidelines and the CMBA Registration Standards
Moving or Adding a New Clinic?
Please contact our membership team with your new clinic details by email at aacma@acupuncture.org.au so they can apply to the health funds for new provider numbers.
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Medibank only update: deadline Sunday 11 August 2024
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July monthly updates: deadline Thursday 22 August 2024
Ceased practicing at a clinic, please provide the address and the ceased date so we can advise the health funds to remove your details.
To check your workplace details or membership go to our website https://www.acupuncture.org.au/ then
- Go to ‘Login’ at the top right-hand corner then
- Click ‘Member Login’ to log into the website your Username is your email address on AACMA’s record and the password you created.
- For the first time login, please click the ‘Forgotten Password’ button to set up a password.
If you have issues logging in or setting up a password, please don’t hesitate to contact the membership team 07 3457 1800 we are happy to assist you.
