PANDA: Acupuncture in the Emergency Department Coming Soon

PANDA — Personalised Acupuncture in the Northern Hospital Emergency Department for Acute Pain — is HAIF's second named application, extending the framework from peri-operative care into acute emergency medicine at Northern Hospital, Victoria.

Overview

PANDA documents an emergency-department initiative in which registered acupuncturists deliver needle-based acupuncture for acute pain presentations. Unlike the PONV acupressure case study, which uses a nurse-led, non-invasive model, PANDA involves invasive acupuncture delivered in an acute care environment by credentialed acupuncture practitioners working alongside emergency medicine physicians.

What This Case Study Will Cover

• Setting: Emergency department at Northern Hospital, Victoria
• Model: Acupuncturist-delivered acupuncture within ED workflows, in collaboration with emergency medicine physicians
• Clinical focus: Acute pain presentations suitable for acupuncture intervention
• Framework application: How HAIF's four phases adapt to the distinct challenges of emergency department implementation — faster pace, higher patient turnover, and different credentialling requirements
• Acupuncturist credentialling: Hospitals typically have no established pathway for credentialing acupuncturists, making this one of the more challenging aspects of implementation. PANDA demonstrates how acupuncturist credentialing was achieved in a hospital setting.

How This Differs from Example 1

When this research is complete, the case study will walk through all four HAIF phases as applied to the emergency department context, including adaptations required for acute care settings.

To be notified when this case study is published, contact us.

Last reviewed: April 2026