(a) “Accredited college of acupuncture” means any college, school or division of a university or college that offers the degree of Master of Science in Oriental Medicine (MSOM) or its equivalent and that is accredited by the Accreditation Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM).

(b) “Acupuncturist” means a person who has received a professional degree from a college of acupuncture and Oriental medicine.

(c) “Acupuncturist-patient relationship” means that the acupuncturist has assumed the responsibility for making clinical judgments regarding the health of the patient and the need for medical treatment, and the patient has agreed to follow the acupuncturist’s instructions.

(d) “Acupuncture practitioner” means a practitioner licensed under this chapter to practice the techniques of acupuncture in this state and includes the term “acupuncturist.”

(e) “Advisory council” means the Mississippi Council of Advisors in Acupuncture established in this chapter.

(f) “Board” means the State Board of Medical Licensure established in Section 73-43-1 et seq.

(g) “Complementary and integrative therapies” means a heterogeneous group of preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic philosophies and practices, which at the time they are performed may differ from current scientific knowledge, or whose theoretical basis and techniques may diverge from western medicine routinely taught in accredited medical colleges, or both. These therapies include, but are not limited to, acupuncture, acutherapy and acupressure.

(h) “Impaired practitioner” means a practitioner who is unable to practice acupuncture with reasonable skill and safety because of a physical or mental disability as evidenced by a written determination from a competent authority or written consent based on clinical evidence, including deterioration of mental capacity, loss of motor skills, or abuse of drugs or alcohol of sufficient degree to diminish the person’s ability to deliver competent patient care.

(i) “Informed consent” means the acupuncture practitioner has informed the patient, in a manner that would be understood by a reasonable person, of the diagnostic and treatment options, risk assessment and prognosis and has provided the patient with an estimate of the charges for treatment to be rendered and the patient has consented to the recommended treatment.

(j) “NCCAOM” means the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

(k) “Physician” means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy who is legally authorized to practice medicine in the State of Mississippi.

(l) “Practice of acupuncture” means:

(i) To treat, correct, change, alleviate or prevent disease, illness, pain, deformity, defect, injury or other physical or mental conditions by the techniques of acupuncture, including:

1. The administering or applying of an apparatus or other therapeutic technique as defined in this chapter; or

2. The using of complementary and integrative therapies as defined in this chapter; or

3. The rendering of advice or recommendation by any means including telephonic and other electronic communications with regard to any of the above.

(ii) To represent, directly or indirectly, publicly or privately, an ability and willingness to do an act described in this paragraph.

(iii) To use any title, words, abbreviation or letters in a manner or under circumstances that induce the belief that the person using them is qualified to do any act described in this paragraph.

(m) “Techniques of acupuncture” includes acupuncture, moxibustion or heating modalities, cupping, magnets, ion pumping cords, electroacupuncture including electrodermal assessment, application of cold packs, dietary, nutritional and lifestyle counseling, manual therapy (Tui Na), massage, breathing and exercise techniques, the administration of any herb and nutritional supplement and meridian therapy. The terms used in this paragraph are defined as follows:

(i) “Acupuncture” means the insertion and manipulation of needles to the body, and the use of Oriental medicine and other modalities and procedures at specific locations on the body, for the prevention or correction of any disease, illness, injury, pain or other condition.

(ii) “Cupping” means the heating of air or mechanical creation of suction in a cup, application to specific locations on the body to induce local vasodialation and mechanical expansion of underlying tissue.

(iii) “Ion pumping cords” means the application of wires containing diodes to acupuncture needles that have been placed on the body.

(iv) “Magnets” means the application of magnets to specific locations on the body.

(v) “Electroacupuncture including electrodermal assessment” means the use of electronic biofeedback, and electrostimulation instruments.

(vi) “Cold packs” means the application of cold packs and ice to specific locations on the body to reduce heat conditions or inflammation in surface tissues of the body.

(vii) “Dietary, nutritional and lifestyle counseling” means in depth patient interviews and counseling to determine whether poor dietary, lifestyle or nutritional practices are a factor in a patient’s illness and to educate toward a healthier lifestyle.

(viii) “Manual therapy (Tui Na) and massage” means mobilization of skeletal and soft tissues.

(ix) “Breathing and exercise techniques” means the use of Qi Gong and other techniques of therapeutic breathing and exercise.

(x) “Administration of herbal and botanical substances” means the administration of herbs of animal, vegetable or mineral origin for health maintenance and the treatment of effects of disease.

(xi) “Vitamin, mineral or nutritional supplement” means a nutritional substance, including a concentrate or extract of such a substance.

(xii) “Devices for meridian therapy” means all assessment and/or treatment devices for use with acupuncture meridians.