Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 6, September 16, 2024
The following procedures shall be followed within the
practice of acupuncture:
(1) Practice
Setting:
(a) Treatments shall be given in
surroundings that provide privacy and confidentiality.
(b) Community acupuncture practices that
perform acupuncture treatment in a group setting shall obtain and retain a
signed consent waiving the right to a private treatment setting from every
patient prior to his or her first treatment.
(c) Every acupuncture office shall be
maintained in a clean and sanitary condition at all times, and shall have an
accessible bathroom facility.
(d)
All applicable OSHA Standards, as amended or replaced, shall be met including
those pertaining to blood borne pathogens, which can be found at
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2017-title29-vol6/pdf/CFR-2017-title29-vol6-sec1910-1030.pdf
at no cost.
(e) All acupuncture
practice and recordkeeping shall be compliant with all State and federal laws
and regulations pertaining to the confidentiality of medical records including
security and privacy regulations enacted under HIPAA, as amended or replaced,
including 45 C.F.R Part 160, which can be found at
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2017-title45-vol1/pdf/CFR-2017-title45-vol1-part160.pdf
at no cost, and subparts A and E of Part 164, which can be found at
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2017-title45-vol1/pdf/CFR-2017-title45-vol1-part164-subpartA.pdf
and
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2017-title45-vol1/pdf/CFR-2017-title45-vol1-part164-subpartE.pdf
respectively and at no cost.
(2) Prior to treatment, a licensee shall
obtain a written or oral medical history that includes the following
information:
(a) Current and past conditions,
illnesses, treatments, hospitalizations, and current medications, and allergies
to medications;
(b) A social
history that shall include the use of tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, and
recreational drugs;
(c) The names
of health practitioners;
(d) The
presenting complaints, along with remedies and treatments tried and in
progress;
(e) Whether the patient
is pregnant and whether the patient has any biomedical devices, such as
artificial joints or cardiac pacemaker.
(3) Fees. Information concerning treatment
fees shall be made available to the patient prior to treatment.
(4) Guarantees. No express or implied
guarantee about the success of treatment shall be given to the patient.
Reasonable indication of the length of treatment and usual outcome shall be
given to the patient.
(5)
Diagnosis:
(a) Licensees shall diagnose each
patient employing methods used by the traditions represented in Asian
medicineas reflected in Rule .0104(2) of this Chapter andwithin the context of
Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medcine (ACAOM)
educational programs.
(b) All
acupuncture diagnostic techniques utilized shall be recorded at each
visit.
(6) Treatment.
The specifics of all treatment shall be recorded at each visit. Treatments
shall be in accordance with Asian and biomedical knowledge obtained in
acupuncture training programs.
(7)
Medical Records. Dated notes of each patient visit and communication shall be
kept seven years. Authorization for release of medical records shall be
obtained prior to sharing of any patient information.Medical records shall be
released to patient upon receipt of the authorization.
G.S.
90-411 sets forth the amounts healthcare
providers can charge for copies of patient medical records. In charging
patients for their records, licensees shall follow
G.S.
90-411 as written, or as subsequently
amended.
(8) Failure to Progress:
(a) If a patient fails to respond to
treatments, the licensee shall initiate a discussion with the patient about
other forms of treatment available or make a referral to another health care
professional.
(b) In the case of
persistent or unexplained pain, or the unexplained worsening of any condition
while receiving treatment, the licensee shall initiate a referral or seek a
consultation with other health care providers. In choosing a referral source,
the licensee shall give priority to practitioners who have previously seen or
treated the patient.
(c) Licensees
shall honor and consider all requests by a patient for information about other
forms of treatment available or for referral to another health care
practitioner.
Authority
G.S.
90-411;
90-454;
Eff. August 1,
1995;
Readopted Eff. April 1,
2018.
