Who We Are

• In April of 2010, Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law SSB 6280 "Concerning East Asian Medicine". WEAMA spent nearly 3 years working with stakeholders and legislators across the state to create and pass this landmark legislation. This new law was the first major update to the statute which governs the practice of Acupuncture and related modalities since the first law was passed in 1985.
  
  
  Benefits to practitioners and patients:
  
  
  • Our new title, East Asian Medicine Practitioner (EAMP) and scope of practice now clearly states that our practice is based on a system of medicine. Prior to the recent legislation this was not clear, our title and scope mainly reflected a single modality. Patients can now benefit from the full spectrum of this wonderful medicine!
    
    
  • Our scope now clearly includes herbal medicine, vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements, not just “dietary advice,” which can now be practiced as a stand alone modality (Dietary Advice was previously allowed only when in conjunction with an Acupuncture treatment). Conceivably, a practitioner can now focus their practice on herbs if they wish and we are all no longer at the mercy of some health law judge making a precedent setting decision, excluding herbs from the definition of “dietary advice.”
    
    
  • Practitioners can now openly practice to the full extent of their standard training without worrying about a complaint down the line turning into an argument with the department of health as to whether something as basic as herbs, health education, or East Asian exercise techniques are specifically in the scope.
    
    
  • We can now provide health education, a.k.a. lifestyle advice, relaxation training (meditation) and East Asian exercise training such as Qi Gong and Tai Qi.
    
    
  • We can now do additional forms of massage such as Tui Na.
    
    
  • Having a full system name for our title and with more than 16 modalities with which we may treat patients, lays the groundwork for making the case that we should receive equitable payment for all our services, not just the technique of Acupuncture.
    
    
  • While many of our colleagues have already been doing some of these newly specified modalities and may barely notice a change in their practice, they have been doing so vulnerable to patient complaints to the Department of Health leading to technical legal arguments that these things were outside the scope of their practice, making them subject to a lengthy and costly legal process.
    
    
  • The entire profession in our state is on equal grounds now with respect to being practitioners of this wonderful system of medicine, there is no longer a threat the those who practice "Acupuncture" primarily, will be reduced to mere technicians. Each practitioner can now openly practice to the extent of each person’s education.

Other Accomplishments

• WEAMA provided stakeholder meetings, e-blasts, mailed announcments and our web site to encourage practitioner involvement in the scope expansion/clarification process.
  
  
• We hold two membership meetings a year, open to all licensed EAMP's in the state where practitioners give us feedback on where they would like us to focus our attention.
  
  
• We have Created and maintained this web site to increase patient referrals to member acupuncturists and serve as an information source for the public, agencies and the professional community.
  
  
• Worked with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and insurance companies to facilitate the integration of East Asian Medicine into medical insurance reimbursement via the "Every Category of Provider" rule.
  
  
• Retained our lobbyist to monitor and advocate for state regulations that work for the acupuncture community.
  
  
• Changed status from Certified Acupuncturist (C.A.) which originally required us to have physician sponsorship and supervision, to the title of Licensed Acupuncturists (L.Ac.) which allowed us to practice independently.
  
  
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• Maintaining a lobbyist in Olympia has been one of our greatest accomplishments, ensuring the support of favorable initiatives and protecting the profession from unfavorable laws. WEAMA serves as the liaison for EAMP's to the state government, national organizations, the insurance industry, and other groups and agencies that affect our profession. Through general meetings, seminars, and our Action alert mailing list, we foster growth and integrity in our professional community. Every year in Olympia, our lobbyist fends off threats to the Every Catagory of Provider (ECP) Law which assures that our profession is covered by insurance providers.