naturopathydigest.com -- Is There a Better Way?

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Is There a Better Way?

By William Bond, treasurer, and Dr. Keegan Sheridan, public affairs chair, California Naturopathic Doctors Association

The AMA's Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP) is creating significant press and concern among various allied health care practitioners. Although the SOPP focus is to slow the scope-of-practice creep from allied health care practitioners, primarily in hospital or other conventional health care settings, their activity seems to have created comparable anxiety among alternative allied health care practitioners.

Most recently, the AMA's Florida House of Delegates successfully added naturopaths to its list of allied health care practitioners to review, triggering our fears about licensing efforts. As stated in a recent newsletter to members, the AANP "joined the fight" with nurses, chiropractors, psychologists and other non-MD health care providers via the "Coalition for Patients' Rights." Before the ND profession gets caught up in a pitched battle with the AMA, it's worthwhile to consider if there is a better way to deal with the AMA's actions.
Consider that the AMA uses the term "naturopath" in its SOPP actions. Are they referring to lay naturopaths or licensable naturopathic doctors? We believe it would be a poor conclusion to assume they know the difference between the two. Hence, the real risk for licensed NDs is this lack of differentiation and association with the practices of lay naturopaths.
Instead of a "fight," what if this were an opportunity to educate the AMA about the difference in education and training between the two groups? Simply having the AMA study and call out each group distinctly would be a win for the ND profession. We could start by working with the AMA's Florida delegation.
Not too long ago, our legislative chair had her first meeting with the California Medical Association regarding a cleanup bill we plan to submit to the legislature. We wanted to make sure they were aware of our objectives in submitting the bill and to allay any concerns beforehand. Despite our fears that it would be a confrontational meeting, we found them to be reasonable, respectful and even a bit collegial.
We also should consider the potentially negative impact of partnering too strongly with other allied professionals such as nurses, physicians assistants, psychologists and other alternative medicine groups. Many of these groups provide supportive health care roles to physicians, and striking a peer relationship with these groups runs the risk of diluting the fact that naturopathic doctors are physicians in the true sense of the word. In this case, legislators, advocacy groups and the public might begin to see naturopathic doctors as supportive care practitioners and not as primary care physicians. This would weaken the profession and run counter to the long-term goals of many in the profession.
Finally, consider that the AMA's approach in taking the moral high ground on consumer safety, sound science and consumer protection might be a strategically sound way for the AMA to differentiate itself from some allied health practitioners who might, in fact, be pushing the envelope of their education and related scope of practice. Trying to take the politically and financially powerful AMA head-on when it claims to be defending public safety is a losing strategy.
Instead of trying to defend against these points with our limited finances and clout, NDs can own these talking points and use them to their advantage. There is no doubt that naturopathic physicians are full-fledged primary care physicians who are educated and trained in sound science and are better trained than any other physician group to prescribe safe and effective natural therapies. By communicating with the AMA, legislators and the public that NDs are concerned about sound science, consumer safety, consumer protection and practicing within our scope, we take away the AMA's ability to use these points against the profession. By educating the AMA about the integrative nature of naturopathic medicine, and the fact that NDs are educated similarly to MDs and share many of the same values they do, we create opportunities to partner with the AMA to form a more structurally integrative health care environment.
But once the fight starts, everyone picks a side, stops listening and stops trying to find a middle ground. There is a better way.