Abundant Heaven's Response to COVID-19

COVID Safety Policies

Updated Policies for COVID Safety - 03-17-2022

Before your next visit:

After scheduling your next visit, you will need to complete an online COVID-19 screening questionnaire and a new COVID-19 Informed Consent before coming into the clinic. This is to help reduce the chances of an infected person entering the clinic.

Once you arrive for your appointment, please wait in your vehicle or outside the clinic. You may text us at our direct line to alert us of your arrival.
- Michael’s direct line: 408-724-9999
- Jessica’s direct line: 408-724-8999

When we are ready for you, we will call you and walk out to greet you outside the front door of the clinic.

We will be wearing a mask and other protective gear. Anyone entering the clinic must wear a mask (this is a public health requirement). We will have clean surgical masks if you forget one.

Your temperature will be taken with a touch-less thermometer before you are invited into the clinic (this is a public health requirement and we are aware of the research that suggests it may not be effective in catching contagious cases, but we do so for contact-tracing records and general safety).

Please come to your appointment in comfortable, loose clothing, as we will no longer be providing Thai pants for your use.

We will now be providing Text Messaging Notifications for your convenience; you will receive text message notifications and reminders along with the standard email notifications and reminders to prevent missed appointments. You may opt out of this feature at any time.

What to expect in the clinic:

To ensure our safety so that we are protected, reducing our risk of contracting the virus and transmitting it from patient to patient, we will be taking the following precautions:
- You will be asked to use hand sanitizer upon entering and exiting the clinic. Touch-less hand sanitizer dispensers are mounted in all treatment rooms, the reception area and hallway.
- The reception area is closed for the time being - please do not bring children or family to wait in the reception area unless absolutely necessary. Please ask us in advance.
- We will be wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
  - KN95 masks
  - Eye protection
  - Hair coverings
  - Medical scrubs

The County requires anyone who enters the clinic to wear a face mask at all times. Please ensure your nose and mouth are covered for the face mask for work properly. If you do not have a face mask, a medically-rated surgical mask will be made available for you.
As we are fully vaccinated, the CDC no longer recommends regular screening for COVID-19.
We are fully vaccinated with mRNA vaccine as of mid-February 2021.
4 stage HEPA UV-C filters will be running in each treatment room, in our back office and in the reception area.
We will be using CDC recommended and FDA approved disinfectants for cleaning between patients and at the end of the clinic day. As always, we aim for the lowest chemical exposure to our patients and ourselves in cleaning products while meeting CDC requirements for disinfecting for the SARS-CoV2 virus. Information on the product being used is available here.
The Bay Area and Santa Clara County are now in 'Yellow Tier' which has relaxed many of the capacity and social distancing requirements. We will continue to follow the state-wide mask mandate for both your and our safety.
We will still be able to work together towards your health goals with acupuncture, herbs, and manual therapy, ensuring the time for you to be heard, supported and feel connected.
Payment methods:
- For telemedicine consults:
  - Invoices will be emailed to you (via our Square).
  - You can choose to keep a credit card on file on Square.
  - Signature requirements have been eliminated.
  - If you do not want to keep a credit card on file through our secure merchant services portal, we kindly request payment of the invoice immediately after your session.
- For in-person sessions:
  - Payment will be collected at the end of the visit. However, we are no longer requiring a signature for accepting credit card payments.
  - Preferred payment methods are:
    - Credit card
    - Apple Pay
    - Google pay
  - Our payment portal, front desk and front desk chair will be disinfected after every use.
All appointments may be booked via phone or email. Online appointment booking will be unavailable for now.

If anyone is experiencing any of the symptoms associated with what is believed to be an early sign of COVID-19, you will be asked to reschedule your appointment for a telehealth session. In a telehealth session, we will be able to go over your exact symptoms, make the appropriate healthcare recommendations and offer treatment options, while protecting your safety and our safety, as well as the health of others who may be coming into the clinic.

No in-person treatment will be administered for anyone experiencing any of the following*:

Respiratory symptoms (shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, cough)
Congestion or runny nose
Sudden/recent loss of smell or taste
Sore throat
Fever (100.8 degrees F or higher) and/or chills
Extreme fatigue
Diarrhea
Nausea or vomiting
Other unusual symptoms (e.g. rashes, persistent headache of recent onset, dizziness)

If you have any of these symptoms, please contact us in advance of your appointment, to help determine the best course of action.

* If you are vaccinated, you must still notify us of these symptoms.

If you have any questions or would like more information on our new policies and procedures, please ask. If you need special accommodations, please let us know in advance of your scheduled appointment.

We continue to be guided by the highest level of safety possible, current public health & infectious disease research, and the official recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), Center for Disease Control (CDC), our local Santa Clara County health officials, and acupuncture associations. In light of the severity of the ongoing pandemic, we continue to follow our COVID-19 pandemic policies and procedures to ensure all of our safety.

If you have never worked with us or you haven't been in prior to the pandemic, while your experience in the clinic in some ways will feel different, our commitment to providing you the best health care remains constant. These policies allow us to remain open safely during these unprecedented times.

Appointment Availability:
- We will be treating fewer patients per day with more time between patients allowing ample time between visits to disinfect treatment rooms, shared spaces, and contact surfaces and to reduce your risk of coming in contact with another patient.
- Appointment availability will be reduced as we slowly re-open with fewer days and fewer hours in the clinic for in-person sessions. With limited appointment availability, this means that your preferred appointment time may not be available and/or you may need to wait longer to get in for an appointment. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work alongside one another to help protect the safety of our community.

In-person care will return as the primary way we connect for consultation & assessment.
- For the time being, in-person appointments will be conducted in a hybrid fashion:
  - All New Patient Consults and Follow-up Consults (done at the beginning of every visit) will be conducted remotely via phone or a video call to check in and assess your health, progress and concerns, supplements, herbal protocol and all other lifestyle, dietary and exercise recommendations. This will be scheduled at the beginning of your appointment time (with you remaining in your car or outside the clinic) to maximize our face-to-face treatment time.
  - All in-person treatment will be Acupuncture focused with some limited hands-on treatment. Craniosacral therapy, Tuina (Chinese Orthopedic Massage), and Cupping will be made available but limited to 30 minutes maximum for in-person treatment for all services provided (including tongue and pulse assessment & acupuncture).
  - Herbal formulas, supplements, and tea can be picked up in person immediately following an in-person treatment or scheduled in advance at a specific time. Otherwise, all products can be shipped to you quickly and safely via USPS.

Estimated COVID-Policy Treatment Timeline infographic

Research on Herbal Medicine to address COVID-19

We are guided by ongoing research, integrative medicine guidelines, and time tested, empirical medical practices.

Herbal formulas have been used to fight pandemics for hundreds of years, and continue to be used alongside pharmaceutical treatments. Yang et al. (2020) summarized ongoing research into herbal formulas for treatment and management of SARS-CoV-2, noting:

"Ranging from case reports, case series, controlled observational studies and randomized clinical trials, clinical studies aiming to examine the effect of TCM on SARS have been carried out and reported. There are quite compelling evidences support the notion that TCM has beneficial effect in the treatment or prevention of SARS." (p. 4)

Controlled clinical trials have also shown significant objective improvements and effectiveness in managing ongoing moderate COVID-19 cases with Xiong, et al (2020) summarizing in their systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials:

"Our meta-analyses found that comparing CHM group and conventional western medicine group, CHM group has improvements in several clinical parameters including lung CT, clinical cure rate, ranging from mild to critical cases, length of hospital stay, total score of clinical symptoms, fever reduction time, symptom score of fever, number of cough reduction cases, symptom score of cough, number of fatigue reduction cases, symptom score of fatigue, disappearing time of fatigue, TCM syndrome, viral nucleic acid testing, and inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein)."

All of the experimental research looking at theoretical effectiveness of compounds in herbal substances points to many of the plants used in these formulas as sources of effective disruption of the Spike protein, most notably Chinese licorice (Yang, et al, 2020, p. 5).

For us, it is a matter of urgent need, taking an integrative approach, and relying on what has worked in the past and what continues to be shown to be effective and safe in ongoing research. Due to the lack of effective treatment unless someone is in urgent care/ICU, we feel confident in using these formulas to help our patients protect themselves from the short and long-term effects of this virus.

We have sourced the highest quality granules of these formulas and have them available in our store, or with an herbal consultation.*

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Our herbal pharmacy is here to support your health. Click here to see everything we have treated using the formulas in our pharmacy. We are here for non-COVID-19 primary care as well.*

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Sources:

Cinatl, J., Morgenstern, B., Bauer, G., Chandra, P., Rabenau, H., & Doerr, H. (2003). Glycyrrhizin, an active component of liquorice roots, and replication of SARS-associated coronavirus. The Lancet, 361(9374), 2045–2046. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13615-X

Cui, H.-T., Li, Y.-T., Guo, L.-Y., Liu, X.-G., Wang, L.-S., Jia, J.-W., Liao, J.-B., Miao, J., Wang, L., Wang, H.-W., & Wen, W.-B. (n.d.). Traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019—A review. 9.

Fiore, C., Eisenhut, M., Krausse, R., Ragazzi, E., Pellati, D., Armanini, D., & Bielenberg, J. (2008). Antiviral effects of Glycyrrhiza species. Phytotherapy Research, 22(2), 141–148. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.2295

Luo, H., Tang, Q., Shang, Y., Liang, S., Yang, M., Robinson, N., & Liu, J. (2020). Can Chinese Medicine Be Used for Prevention of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)? A Review of Historical Classics, Research Evidence and Current Prevention Programs. Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-020-3192-6

Ren, J., Zhang, A.-H., & Wang, X.-J. (2020). Traditional Chinese medicine for COVID-19 treatment. Pharmacological Research, 155, 104743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104743

Xiong, X., Wang, P., Su, K., Cho, W. C., & Xing, Y. (2020). Chinese herbal medicine for coronavirus disease 2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pharmacological Research, 160, 105056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105056

Yang, Y., Islam, M. S., Wang, J., Li, Y., & Chen, X. (2020). Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Patients Infected with 2019-New Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2): A Review and Perspective. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 16(10), 1708–1717. https://doi.org/10.7150/ijbs.45538

Zhang, K. (2020). Is traditional Chinese medicine useful in the treatment of COVID-19? The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, S0735675720301881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2020.03.046

Additional Information and research will be added in the coming days.

Chan, K. W., Wong, V. T., & Tang, S. C. W. (2020). COVID-19: An Update on the Epidemiological, Clinical, Preventive and Therapeutic Evidence and Guidelines of Integrative Chinese–Western Medicine for the Management of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X20500378

Chen, Ji., Fan, H., Zhang, L., Huang, B., Zhu, M., Zhou, Y., Yu, W., Zhu, L., Cheng, S., Tao, X., & Zhang, H. (2020). Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Features in 101 Death Cases with COVID-19 [Preprint]. Intensive Care and Critical Care Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033068

Chen, Y., Guo, J. J., Healy, D. P., & Zhan, S. (2007). Effect of integrated traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine on the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome: A meta-analysis. Pharmacy Practice (Internet), 5(1). https://doi.org/10.4321/S1886-36552007000100001

Huang, Z., Pan, X., Zhou, J., Leung, W. T., Li, C., & Wang, L. (n.d.). Chinese herbal medicine for acute upper respiratory tract infections and reproductive safety: A systematic review. Mechanism of Action, 13.

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Abundant Heaven

408-628-1888

621 E. Campbell Ave. # 7, Campbell, CA 95008

COVID Safety Policies

Updated Policies for COVID Safety - 03-17-2022

Research on Herbal Medicine to address COVID-19

Additional Information and research will be added in the coming days.