2009 AANP Convention

We finally convinced a local ground transporation company to provide a good convention rate for shuttles from Seatac to the 2 convention hotels in Tacoma. They are giving the rate of $40.00 round trip per person or $25 one-way. There is also a special reduced group rate when 2 people book the reservation at the same time. This rate is $30 total each way for 2 people.

You need to book your shuttle SOON! You MUST make a reservation to guarantee a seat and to get the group rate.

To book a shuttle: Visit CLICK HERE or call Capital Aeroporter at 1-800-962-3579. The group code is AANP.

There is a Capital Aeroporter desk directly inside door ‘00′ at the airport. To find the desk, stay inside the terminal building and walk to the far South end of the terminal. (You will pass through the international baggage area).

Good luck and see you next week!

Rebecca

Doctor Do You Take Insurance?

Vermont passed landmark insurance legislation—and now NDs are covered the same as MDs by all private insurance companies (i.e.  Blue Cross, Cigna etc.), MEDICAID (!), and the states precursor to health reform for uninsured people (which the Obama Administration is looking closely at).  We’re totally covered!   It’s a model that can be replicated in your state as well, and nationally for health care reform.  Please come to the Insurance Forum at 1:30pm on Saturday at the Convention and learn how we did it, and how YOU can do it too!

For those already covered by insurance, come learn from Drs. Bruce Milliman and Eva Miller how to code and bill correctly!

Lorilee Schoenbeck ND
President, Vermont Association of Naturopathic Physicians

This year I’m excited to check out the Earth Room at the convention. It looks like it will be a place to relax, use manipulation tables that will be provided, see a massage therapist or other healing touch practitioners. We’ve arranged for lots of great greenery and plants and even a little water feature. It will be a great corner to get away from the craziness and take a few minutes to breathe. We should have done this ages ago. Teleosis Institute is sponsoring it, and some of their consultants will be there if people want advice on reducing their footprint on the earth. Should be pretty cool.

See you soon!

Sara

Sara Thyr, ND is the 2009 convention content committee chair.

So, you’re coming to Tacoma! GREAT! We’re thrilled to have you join us!

Now – a couple of things to help get you prepared:

Do you have a hotel room? I hope so, because we are all sold out! If you don’t have a room and would like to find someone who might take you in off the street – visit our Space Share site. http://spaceshare.com/naturopathic/

Are you flying into SeaTac? Did you know that Tacoma is about 30 miles south of the SeaTac airport. The hotels in Tacoma unfortunately do NOT offer a shuttle service to/from the airport. Space Share also offers a service to match you up with people arriving at the airport about the same time. We GREATLY encourage you to utilize this service. It’s not a cheap cab ride — about $70. You can also make arrangements with Shuttle Express (about $35) or with Harbor Taxi/Town Car ($85 for up to 5 people). You have to make all of those arrangements in advance – so do it now!

Tired of that Wednesday morning registration line? Check in at AANP registration on Tuesday night! We will be there from 4 – 7pm on Tuesday. Avoid the rush and enjoy your Wednesday morning!

We are really looking forward to seeing all of you in Tacoma. We have such fantastic speakers and events lined up. It is going to be a year to remember.

See you soon!

-Rebecca

This year, we will have 3 extra continuing education lectures during the breakfast hour on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Thursday we will hear from Greg Cumberford “The Role of Phytomedicine and Healing our Planet” Sponsored by Gaia Herbs.

The best way to differentiate “green” phyto-medicinal products is to discern whether they are made entirely from natural/certified organic components, whether their manufacturing process involves any synthetic/petroleum chemistry or genetically modified organisms, whether they were made or composed of fair trade-sourced materials, and whether their consumption results in either a fully recyclable waste product or a fully biodegradable one (“waste = food”). Biggest trend drivers: certified organic, fair trade, country of origin, eating locally, transparent supply chain disclosures. Because of these factors, practitioners and consumers alike are able to make increasingly informed decisions about how their consumption patterns influence local, regional, and international communities. The phenomenon is worldwide and personal at once. Naturopathic physicians will continue to play a profound role in connecting personal and planetary wellness, by inspiring people to realize how much their own wellness and prevention strategies drive trends in commerce that, in turn, affect the wellness of our living biosphere. Informed patients will drive supply chains to become more and more accountable for their inherent sustainability, not simply for their profitability. This trend will make a tremendous impact on soil fertility, terrestrial and marine biodiversity, and farmers, wildcrafters, and laborers worldwide. This presentation will highlight latest advances in sustainable supply chain integrity initiatives by leading US natural products companies.

Friday’s breakfast is sponsored by ITI: Gaetano A. Morello, BSc., ND Cutting Edge Detoxification Strategies: Innovations for Whole Body Renewal.

The question of the 21st century is not whether or not we are toxic, but rather HOW TOXIC ARE WE? Toxic exposure begins in the mother’s womb and continues each day, every day throughout life. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) have estimated that there are 85,000 different chemicals registered for use; 2,000 new chemicals introduced each year, yet half of these chemicals never tested for impact on human health.

While the body possesses multiple mechanisms to detoxify these chemicals, the total body burden has increased dramatically since the advent of the industrial age. Toxic exposure has been implicated in a wide range of conditions, from headaches, fatigue and weakness, to yeast infections, and even cancer and cardiovascular disease. Cutting Edge Detoxification Strategies: Innovations for Whole Body Renewal will discuss an effective and comprehensive protocol for combating this toxic world by aiding the body’s natural processes, restoring cellular health, and by directly binding and eliminating toxins. Dr. Gaetano Morello, a naturopathic physician with more than 15 years of experience, will share how therapeutic cleansing and detoxification can prevent the day-to-day accumulation of toxicity so patients can live the cleanest, healthiest lives possible.

Saturday’s breakfast presentation will be with Jared Skowron, ND and Tony Hoffman, MLT, ASCP  Anti-helmintics and Anti-Candida Review Jointly Sponsored by: Metametrix and Metabolic Maintenance. Dr. Skowron wrote this note for the blog:

I am finishing the last few chapters on my pediatric textbook, and I step back and am amazed at all of the tools that we have as Naturopathic Physicians to work with. When I think about the constraints that other practitioners have, I am so happy that we can make a difference in the life, not of just a child, but of a whole family. The work we do is so important in a country where health is dropping faster than the economy. It’s not just natural treatment, it’s a lifestyle of health and prevention. I am also excited about this year’s AANP convention. It will be great to be back in the wonderful Northwest; it has been a few years. I am also blessed to be working with talented, smart, and passionate individuals. I will be lecturing with the brilliant, Tony Hoffman, on antimicrobial herbs at a breakfast, and this fall will be sitting side by side with Dr. D’Adamo as he joins us at our teaching clinic at UB. The great individuals at U Bridgeport are forming better and better new physicians, and our improvements are growing by leaps and bounds. I hope to see friends in August and make many more new ones.

We hope you’ll enjoy this new opportunity for learning (and CE!) at the AANP. These 3 lectures will be the only corporate sponsored lectures of the week and we know you’ll agree that all 3 are highly valid, research based presentations.

Don’t miss it!

James Gordon, MD

A note from Dr. James Gordon.  Dr. Gordon will present a keynote presentation “Global Health, One Person at a Time” on Thursday August 20.

A fundamental principle of naturopathic medicine and, indeed, all of the world’s true medicines is that we have within us a remarkable and often untapped power to heal ourselves, and that this power can be mobilized in a variety of ways. This central principle is my experience. It is also a motivating force in the work I’ve been doing for the last 45 years, and it is, as well, one of the crucial building blocks for any humane and effective system of health care.

I want to share with you some of my own experience living in the light of this truth, some of the ways that my colleagues and I at The Center for Mind-Body Medicine have applied this principle to our work with medical education, with people with life-threatening illness, and with entire populations traumatized by war, terrorism, and natural disaster. I want to share with you as well the importance of a healing community—a phrase I like far better than “psychosocial support”—in facilitating, amplifying, and indeed transforming this process. I want, as well, to give you a feeling for how this work can help to shape and—here’s that word again—transform the current debate on US health care and inform each of our daily practice. I’m looking forward to being with you, to sharing with you, and to learning from and with you.

Copied below is an email I received today from Jonathan Wilde (one of the speakers in our Practice Management Track). He has a favor to ask of all of you…

I was delighted to see the prominent place you gave the “Practice Management” speakers in your last entry.  It is a subject we need to work on more in the ND curriculum, and while many grads are terrified at the thought of having to enter the “business world” it is really very exciting if done properly.  And the great thing is, in this economy no one can ”lay you off” (except perhaps your patients!)   Anyway  I know the sessions will be great.  I have heard Eli Camp speak before.  She is so enthusiastic and I use a lot of her material in my marketing section of the course.  The panel discussion is a great idea too, and I hope a few people make it to my session, although I fear accounting late on a Friday afternoon may be a hard sell …but it REALLY is exciting!

I wonder if I could ask a favor from your readership?  I am trying to reduce the amount of lecturing I subject my poor students to, and to this end I am working on developing a series of cases describing problems and challenges confronting new NDs as they start out in practice.  For example, some topics might include:

Choosing the right partners; Negotiation of a Lease/Employment Contract; Defining your Practice; Dealing with Contractors and Building Inspectors; Hiring; Promoting and Advertising

What I am looking for is business practice anecdotes where things have gone wrong (or right) and where possible, the actual documents involved (with relevant names removed of course.)

I am hoping eventually we might develop a bank of these cases that could be shared with all colleges, which could then be freely used in the classroom and for training sessions.

Anyway any contributions or ideas would be greatly appreciated and you may send them directly to me  jwilde@ccnm.edu in any format.  I’ll write up the case.

Thanks so much and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone at the Conference.

Cheers, Jonathan Wilde

One of the most requested topics over the past few years has been Practice Management. We are excited to be bringing a full track of Practice Management sessions to the AANP conference this year. We have a range of topics from Financial Statements taught by Jonathan Wilde, a graduate of Harvard Business School currently teaching Practice Management at CCNM, to Electronic Medical Records discussed by a panel including Drs. Carlo Calabrese, Michael Cronin and Patricia Herman.

You can see the full scope of these important, practice building sessions here. Here are posts from a few of the Practice Management Speakers to pique your interest!

Carlo Calabrese, ND, MPH Integrating Electronic Medical Records in the Naturopathic Office

Many events at this year’s AANP Convention point to the increase in naturopathic research activity and infrastructure.  The research track has a great variety of types of work indicating the naturopathic profession’s growing sophistication in the appropriate research techniques needed for investigation of its practices.  There will be presentations in observational work in hypertension, a controlled trial in whole practice cardiovascular disease prevention, international and intercultural studies, hospital-setting research, and cost-effectiveness and quantitative research methods presentations.  The practice-management track provides an introduction, for the first time, to electronic medical records which has its own research possibilities.  Commitment to practice-based research networks (PBRN) are shown in a research track presentation on a national survey and a convening meeting of a naturopathic academic clinic PBRN.  Many of these presentations are by a new generation of investigators.  This year Wendy Weber, ND, PhD, became the first ND appointed as a NIH program officer.  We have entered a new era of transparency and documentation which puts the profession into the science conversations which were closed to naturopath physicians in the past

-Carlo

A panel with Bill Benda, MD moderating

Sharing the Sandbox, Balancing the Books -Stories of clinical and fiscal success by way of ND/MD collaboration

“Integration” in the clinical setting has been the elusive goal of countless endeavors over the past two decades.  Although the success rate has risen with improvements in education and acceptance of political realities, no unique model of entrepreneurial efficacy has risen to the top.  It does seem, however, that an open, cooperative, and respectful partnership between naturopathic and holistic medical physicians offers the best of each approach to both the patient and the bottom line.

Here a panel of practitioners and management representing three unique Seattle-based clinical settings will reveal the secrets of their successes, as well as enumerate the challenges they faced in both professional and personal realms.  Significant time will be allotted for audience questions and participation in divining a potentially optimum model.

Eli Camp, ND

Online Marketing Strategies to Help Build or Restructure an Existing Naturopathic Medical Practice

I am very happy to return to speak at this year’s conference to present Online Marketing Strategies – it is a natural continuation from last year’s more general Marketing Strategies presentation. The turn out and subsequent feedback from my talk last year was so great, thanks to everyone who attended and also who contacted me. My goal in getting involved in this area of our profession is to share knowledge and do my small part in helping everyone be as successful as possible – in whatever way we each define success. This presentation is packed full of useful, free and very affordable methods to get your name out there…to put yourself in front of the folks looking for you.

None of this is rocket science, it is simply a case of knowing what to do – and I am so grateful for the opportunity to tell you all about it…See you in August.

Eli

Carl Hangee-Bauer, ND, LAc The New Prosperity

Most naturopathic doctors, upon graduating from medical school, establish solo practices or join small group practices. There are an abundance of challenges for NDs starting and growing practices-legal, economic, marketing, educating the community about naturopathic medicine, connecting with other health professionals and so on. While their naturopathic training prepares graduates well for meeting the health concerns of their patients, many NDs find the business aspects of naturopathic care daunting and feel unprepared to meet the challenges of the healthcare marketplace. This is especially true in these tough economic times. Despite these obstacles, many NDs are prominent, national leaders, run thriving practices, and stand as role models for their communities. Some have been in practice for many years, some grow practices quickly, some practice in licensed states with good insurance coverage and some in unlicensed states with little awareness of what naturopathic medicine has to offer. This panel of successful and respected naturopathic doctors, representing a cross section of the naturopathic profession, will offer what methods, strategies and experiences have been keys to their success. Through both panel discussion and dialogue with the audience, participants will discover new ideas and practical ways to create successful businesses and have a positive effect on the communities in which they practice.

Carl

See you soon!!!

A note from Dr. Andrew Perry. Dr. Perry will be speaking on Targeting Soft Tissue with Osseous Manipulative Techniques during one of our concurrent sessions on Friday August 21.

Andrew Perry, ND

I am excited about the Physical Medicine Presentation that I will be doing at this year’s AANP Convention.  Doctors and Students who are uncomfortable with Osseous Manipulation will gain a tool that is effective, but leaves the patient with the feeling that something definitely was done for them.  This is NOT the case with a lot of non-force or low-force techniques where the patient is left wondering if something was actually done.
Conversely, Doctors and Students who ARE comfortable with osseous manipulation will gain a non-invasive, low`force tool that will compliment what they do and make it much more effective.

I think this type of thing is an important area for the profession to explore.

Andrew Perry, ND
Salem, OR