UPFRONT | News standpoint, acupuncture is not a profession in Ontario, it is a “regulated treatment procedure” and service provided by 11 different professions, within their respective scope of practice: Chiropodists, Chiropractors, Dentists, Medical Doctors, Naturopathic Doctors, Nurses, Occupational Ther-apists, Physiotherapists, Registered Acupuncturists, Regis-tered Massage Therapists, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners. 2. The erroneous information provided to practitioners and insured people in Ontario, by several insurance companies, in various communications since April 1, 2013, should be cor-rected according to the information contained in this letter. 3. Since 11 professions are legally authorized to provide acupuncture services in Ontario, patients receiving the services from any one of these 11 professions, should all be equally eligible to have these health care expenses reimbursed. Otherwise, a case for discrimination could be made by any of the excluded parties. 4. Should the insurance industry decide to introduce a new category of benefits to cover the professional servic-es provided by the two new professions (in Ontario) of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Registered Acupuncturist, the appropriate legal description of these professions should be used to refer to these new benefits. 5. Avoid the use of “acupuncture benefits” as a synonym for the professional services provided by TCM Practitioners and Registered Acupuncturists, as “acupuncture” is not the profession of these professionals; once again acupuncture in Ontario is a service that these 11 professions can provide legally, within their scope of practice: Chiropodists, Chiro-practors, Dentists, Medical Doctors, Naturopathic Doctors, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Regis-tered Acupuncturists, Registered Massage Therapists, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners. For the benefit of the public of Ontario, we expect that the unnecessary confusion regarding acupuncture services reimbursement by third party payers in Ontario will be quickly corrected by the combined action of interested parties, most notably by the members of the newly created professions of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Registered Acupuncturist, and by the members of the health insurance industry. Signed in Ontario this 26th day of May 2013 Daniel Agostinelli PT Heather MacKay PT Ravinderpal Ohson MD Chris O’Connor RMT Michael Prebeg DC David Salanki DC Christine Voldner DC
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor July/August 2013: Page 14
