Working with Integrative Health Care Providers

Twenty-three percent of the doctors said they were generally in favor of lifestyle and diet changes, though they did not usually recommend dietary supplements; 14 percent said they were skeptical, but willing to consider data showing nutraceutical efficacy. The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) recently reported 19 percent of consumers surveyed said they purchased natural products from a health care practitioner in the past three months. For consumers over 65, the figure was 26 percent.

These positive changes are occurring against a background of extreme unrest in health care. In primary care, many patients are fighting for survival. Insurance reimbursement has declined steadily and many practitioners are working harder and faster yet making less. Administrative overhead and malpractice premiums soar, and we’re confronted by the bewildering complexity of insurance coding and practice management challenges that medical training didn’t cover. According to the Medical Group Management Association’s 2006 Cost Survey for Multispecialty Practices, multispecialty group practices in the United States are paying a median of 5.7 administrative staffers for every physician! That’s a lot of payroll overhead.

The number of doctors taking bank loans to keep their practices afloat has hit an all-time high, as has the number of doctors defaulting. Not surprisingly, fewer new med school graduates are going into primary care; many young physicians are re-thinking their careers altogether. Primary care has been particularly hard-hit but these trends affect most specialties, too.

There are many factors contributing to the mess. A big one is that insurance reimbursement preferentially rewards invasive procedures and late-stage disease care, over preventive care. By and large, doctors perform the services they get paid for. Unfortunately, most holistic services are not covered by insurance at all.

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