Understand what treatment modalities you can employ, specifically those which may overlap or conflict with other professions’ scopes of practice.
Understand your rights and responsibilities when practicing traditional, cultural, complementary, and alternative healthcare therapies.
Learn about the differences between certifications (i.e. Certified Nutritionist), registered providers (i.e.: Registered Aromatherapist), and licensed professions (i.e.: Doctor of Osteopathy).
Specialized settings.
Be cognizant of exceptions to veterinary practice acts for complementary and alternative medicine treatments, including the parameters of veterinary dentistry and veterinary homeopathy.
Recognize the limits of CAM medication and/or nutritional supplement recommendations, if selling products and/or supplements in your practice.
Operating a CAM practice.
Supervising, hiring, and firing various CAM providers, and understanding their varying responsibilities.
Drafting practice policies and procedures that are mindful of the changing laws concerning CAM.
Learn about the “Health Freedom Laws” in your state, if they exist. These laws provide unlicensed CAM providers with specific exemptions from liability for practicing within the scope of other providers’ practices, so long as they provide patients with certain information. Less than 20% of states currently have these laws.
Provide your clients with legally-compliant intake forms that include consent to treatment, acknowledgment of the boundaries of your practice, and their billing obligations.
Negotiate your contracts with insurance companies or with corporate wellness programs.
Open a new practice, sell your practice, or merge your CAM practice with another healthcare provider’s practice, which will require special attention to your informed consent, privacy, and scope of practice issues.
Understand your privacy obligations as an unlicensed healthcare provider.
