Naturopathic Medicine in Vermont's Healthcare System: A Thematic Analysis
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Thanks for this important project that enhances our understanding of naturopathic medicine. Thanks and congratulations to the authors.
Thank you, Dean Page!
Great job! This is a very interesting and important topic, especially in Vermont. I would be interested to know how much money patients spend on naturopathic therapies compared to allopathic therapies. Also, are naturopaths able to create their own medicines for sale to their patients?
That would definitely be interesting! Unfortunately, we were unable to include patients in this initial study due to IRB restrictions. However, we know that many patients who see ND's are covered by Medicaid and I would imagine reimbursement rates are similar. Although, this doesn't address naturopathic therapies that may be purchased out of pocket. We did ask if ND's were selling naturopathic therapies from their office or just making recommendations to patients on what to buy from a third parties. The majority seemed to just make recommendations about what to buy, although some sold products directly in their office. As for making their own medicines, I'm not sure if that is allowed or not under their scope of practice, but none of the ND's we spoked to seemed to be doing that.
From our small sample we learned that sales of medicines is a very small aspect of naturopathic practice in VT, but it may be very different in states without insurance reimbursement for naturopathic services.
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