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Jacksonville, Florida (PRWEB) November 16, 2011

Professional Development Resources has just released a new online CE course called ?Acupuncture ? an Introduction.? The course represents the latest addition to the company?s complementary and alternative medicine curriculum, which currently features topics such as mindfulness meditation, yoga as medicine, self-healing through breathing exercises, and the use of herbal medicines. These courses are intended to introduce health professionals to the healing power of traditional approaches to health and wellness.

Acupuncture is among the oldest healing practices in the world. As part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture aims to restore and maintain health through the stimulation of specific points on the body. In the United States, where practitioners incorporate healing traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries, acupuncture is considered part of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The new course provides an overview of acupuncture as presented by two fact sheets from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and includes a number of video clips illustrating its use.

?An important part of the service we offer health professionals is expanding their awareness of the types of treatments that are offered by practitioners who represent traditional approaches to healing,? says Leo Christie, PhD, CEO of Professional Development Resources. ?Why do we need to be aware of such practices? According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which included a comprehensive survey of CAM use by Americans, an estimated 3.1 million U.S. adults and 150,000 children had used acupuncture in the previous year. Between the 2002 and 2007 NHIS, acupuncture use among adults increased by approximately 1 million people. This means that many of the patients we see are using alternative remedies, and we need to be conversant in such practices.?

Is it safe? Relatively few complications from the use of acupuncture have been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has responsibility for regulating acupuncture needles for use by licensed practitioners. Still, complications have resulted from inadequate sterilization of needles and from improper delivery of treatments. Individuals should be careful to select a qualified practitioner and carefully check credentials before engaging acupuncture services.

Does it work? Acupuncture has been studied for a wide range of pain conditions, such as postoperative dental pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, headache, low-back pain, menstrual cramps, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, and tennis elbow. According to NCCAM, it can be very difficult to compare acupuncture research results from study to study and to draw conclusions from the cumulative body of evidence. This is because studies may use different acupuncture techniques (e.g., electrical vs. manual), controls (comparison groups), and outcome measures. Nevertheless, more and more studies are being published, and the results are summarized in this new CE course.

Among the CAM courses offered by Professional Development Resources are these:

Acupuncture ? An Introduction (1 hours CE),
Yoga as Medicine: the Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing (8 hours CE),
Alternative Therapies: Herbs I (What Every Clinician Should Know) (1 hour CE), and
Breathing: The Master Key to Self-Healing (2 hours CE).

About Professional Development Resources, Inc.

Professional Development Resources is a Florida nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1992 by licensed marriage and family therapist Leo Christie, PhD. The company, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) ? as well as many other national and state boards ? has focused its efforts on making continuing education courses more cost-effective and widely accessible to health professionals by offering online home study coursework. Its current expanded curriculum includes a wide variety of clinical topics intended to equip health professionals to offer state-of-the art services to their clients.

Contact:

Leo Christie, PhD, CEO

Professional Development Resources, Inc.

904-645-3456

http://www.pdresources.org/

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Georgia (PRWEB) July 27, 2011

HomeTown Health, LLC is now in its 5th year of an Executive Leadership program designed to improve management and leadership development within healthcare organizations and hospitals in Georgia. According to research conducted in January of last year, twenty-two of approximately 65 rural hospitals in Georgia experienced turned over during an eleven month period. The reasons for the turnover were, external financial and reimbursement impacts beyond local control, e.g. payer mix and unemployment, failure of board to define expectations of CEO, very poor hospital financial performance, poor communications by CEO to explain hospital operations, local board not understanding the competitive compensation requirements for CEOs, etc. According to Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTown Health, job requirements of tomorrow will not resemble the CEO duties of today. Reimbursement complexity will soar; physician recruitment will become much more difficult as rural hospital compete with FQHC?s and technology of newer larger hospitals. Technology understanding for EHR?s, ACO?s, and HIE?s will require a much more educated and savvy CEO than ever before. This scenario will only get worse as more CEOs retire or are terminated. Lewis notes that after a chief executive officer leaves, it?s difficult for rural hospitals to find a qualified replacement. Unlike large hospitals in urban areas, rural facilities often do not have a ready backup candidate, and it can take several months to hire a new leader. For this reason HomeTown Health continues to grow its leadership program as means to develop and maintain strong leadership in the GA rural healthcare realm.

The Executive Leadership Program is IACET (International Association for Continuing Education) accredited and carries with it 50 credit hours or 5 CEUs. It begins each February with CEO Day at the Capitol and then moves to a private dinner with an evening of great food and a challenging message. Other key sessions include a two day cost report training session at Draffin & Tucker, a two day session at Lake Oconee on personal and executive development, communication with your board and crisis management, participation in clinical and financial workshops throughout the year as well as training at both the HTH spring and fall conferences. All of the leadership sessions are equally important and all the participants immediately see the validity of the program when the first session begins in February.

The program begins each year with an important CEO Day at the state capitol. It includes meeting with legislators, watching the proceedings in the chambers, and working the lobby lines. Jimmy Lewis, HomeTown Health CEO states, ?This is a significant event because it provides you access to legislators directly on critical issues and it provides transparency and accountability to CEOs for the representation that HomeTown gives to you.? This year there were 35 attendees from 20 hospitals that were able to engage legislators directly with their issues and questions. ?Attendees every year go away with a sense of awe at how the lawmaking process works. They also are impressed with the appreciation that legislators express for having them come to visit them at the capitol?, Jimmy Lewis.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HomeTownHealthOnline#p/u/6/R2qZsarBqE4

The 2011 Leadership Program Participants include: Jeff Dunn, CEO at North Georgia, Monica Arrendale, Director of Administration for Chestatee Regional Medical Center, Joe Tallent, Director of Rehab Therapy and Outreach for Effingham County Hospital, Jennifer Meeler, Patient Financial Services Director at Berrien County Hospital, Adam Howard, Asst. Patient Financial Services Director at Evans Memorial Hospital, Becky Smith, RN and Respiratory Therapy Services Director at Dodge Hospital, Greg Thomas, Director of Events and Management Services for HomeTown Health and Chris Scarborough, Director of Finance for HomeTown Health.

For More information Contact:

Kathy Whitmire,

Managing Director, HomeTown Health

kfw(at)windstream(dot)net

706-491-3493

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