A local acupuncturist says she wants to do her part to bring health care reform to downtown Towson.

Patricia Lott, a 46-year-old Knollwood-Donnybrook resident with a bachleor's degree in public health, a master's degree in acupuncture and a past that includes more than two years in the Peace Corps., recently opened a community clinic for acupuncture services.

For 13 years Lott maintained a private practice in acupuncture -- which involves insertion of fine needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or stimulate healing.

"It's a natural medicine that has been used for thousands of years," said Lott, who holds a master's from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute, now known as Tai Sophia Institute in Laurel. She is licensed by the Maryland State Board of Acupuncture.

"Acupuncture is safe and effective and can address a wide variety of health conditions, including chronic illness, stress and pain," she said.

Lott said she had become frustrated with the conventional medical business model -- and the administrative tasks required by insurance companies that tend to drive up costs. She was charging $70 per treatment.

"I found that many of my patients couldn't afford to come as frequently as they needed to, or as long as needed to, to complete an effective treatment plan," she said.

So she abandoned the traditional private practice Sept. 1 and opened Community Acupuncture of Towson on Allegheny Avenue.

Her new clinic, located on the third floor of the Cafe Troia building, is patterned after a business model endorsed by the Community Acupuncture Network, a nonprofit organization of practitioners, patients and supporters whose goal is to make acupuncture more affordable and accessible.

It promotes the practice of offering treatments in community settings for payments on a sliding scale. Lott said she's embraced that goal, and plans to charge $20 to $40 per treatment, approximately the cost of an average insurance co-payment -- though there is a one-time $10 paperwork charge with the first appointment.

"Our primary goal is to make acupuncture available to each patient as it's needed," she said.

She said the clinic makes the reduced fees possible by treating multiple patients simultaneously -- sort of a group acupunture session.

Lott's inital contact with a patient is in a private intake room, but they then have a choice of one of eight recliners in a salon-like setting for treatment. The chairs don't match, she admits -- she picked them up one by one -- but they are comfortable.

Simultaneous treatments are "the only way that we can make acupuncture affordable and still make a living," she said.

And she believes acupuncture works better in a group setting.

"It's a return to the traditional approach," Lott said.

She focuses on the patient's pulse and palpation -- touching and feeling the patient's body -- to examine the size, consistencey, texture, location and tenderness of an organ or body part.

This tells her which of the 365 points on the body would benefit from the insertion of the stainless steel needles.

"I now get out of the way and let the medicine work," she said.

Lott has been certified by The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, a designation that requires between 2,000 and 3,000 hours of training.

The commission has also endorsed the "community style" approach to acupuncture that Lott has embraced, according to commission spokeswoman Mina Larson.

"It makes it available to more patients," Larson said.

Lott is contemplating sharing space with other ventures that would offer services such as a massage therapist and health and nutrition classes on a sliding scale, just as Lifeline Power Yoga does in the suite next door. She sees the clinic as a potential gathering space for related nonprofits.

She wants it to be a comfortable space where people gather to share ideas on local "sustainability" -- keeping goods, services and money circulating in the immediate area.

"We are a business that wants to support other local businesses," she said.

On Point

Community Acupuncture of Towson will host a grand opening and open house Saturday, Oct. 3, at 31 Allegheny Ave., Suite 301, Towson. Co-sponsored by Lifeline Power Yoga and Cafe Troia, the event will feature free acupuncture treatments as well as yoga classes and refreshments. The public is invited to the celebration and open house, which will be held 2 to 5 p.m.

To sign up for a free acupuncture treatment from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., go to www.CommunityAcupunctureofTowson.com or call 443-275-2050.

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