NCCAOM Launches New Membership Organization for Nationally Board Certified Diplomates

Friday, March 18th, 2016

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For Immediate Release: March 18, 2016      

Contact: Mina Larson (703) 314-2908   

Jacksonville, FL – The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM®) announces the launch of a new national membership organization, the NCCAOM® Academy of Diplomates.

The NCCAOM® is the only national certification agency for the profession of acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM). The new Academy of Diplomates, a separate, chartered division of the NCCAOM®, “will allow the Commission to expand our services to fulfill our dual mission: to assure the safety and well-being of the public and to advance the professional practice of acupuncture and Oriental medicine,” said Eugene London, DAOM, Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM®), LAc., Chair of the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners. “The Academy enables us to go beyond certification to help our Diplomates be successful in their careers as AOM practitioners.”

With a potential membership of 18,000 nationally board-certified Diplomates, the Academy will be governed by a separate Board of Directors.

“The Academy was created to serve our Diplomates and will not charge membership dues,” stated newly appointed Chair of the Academy of Diplomates Board of Directors, David Canzone, Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM®), Dipl. NBAO, DOM, “and our hope is to work cooperatively and synergistically with all AOM professional associations in support of the AOM profession.”

“The new Academy of Diplomates was created based upon NCCAOM®’s 2014 strategic plan,” noted Kory Ward-Cook, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NCCAOM®. “A major catalyst for its founding was feedback from our Diplomates through the 2015 Diplomate Satisfaction Survey.”

Some of the programs and activities to be administered under the new Academy include:

  • Offering resources to help Diplomates seeking to work in hospitals and integrative practice settings
  • Providing free practitioner websites (See https://www.nccaomdiplomates.com)
  • Expanding public awareness and professional education campaigns to promote AOM and national board-certified AOM practitioners
  • Providing tools for Diplomates to manage their practices more successfully
  • Obtaining a Standard Occupational Code for “Acupuncturist” under the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Standards of Occupational Classification (SOC) system, which will facilitate greater federal recognition for AOM practitioners (See https://www.nccaom.org/bls/)
  • Securing AOM representation on the American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee
  • Helping to assure third party reimbursement for acupuncturist-provided acupuncture, by working with other integrative healthcare professions to insure compliance to the “non-discrimination” clause 2706 of the Affordable Care Act (See http://www.covermycare.org/cmc/)

One new Academy member benefit will be a free online subscription to Meridians: The Journal of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Discounted print copies also will be made available to Academy members.

To learn more about the Academy of Diplomates, or about acupuncture and national board certification, go to www.nccaom.org. To find an NCCAOM board-certified practitioner in your area, click on Find a Practitioner at www.nccaom.org.