The growing importance of including naturopathic doctors in healthcare reform.
The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has steadily grown in recent decades, followed by an increase in insurance coverage for various CAM providers (eg, naturopathic physicians, acupuncturists, massage therapist, chiropractors). However, with rising healthcare costs, insurers and policy makers have expressed concerns about the cost-effectiveness of healthcare, both conventional and CAM. Although more prospective outcome studies are needed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of CAM, there have been published research studies demonstrating that CAM is cost-effective and may present cost-savings due to …(more)
