fon-logo

FON: THE BUSINESS OF INTEGRATIVE HEALTH & MEDICINE

We’re All in Sales: Advancing Integrative Health

Selling is the single most important skill to achieve effective personal and business goals. This has been true for millennia. You don’t have to be part of a formal sales team to be ‘in sales’. We are all in sales. Yes, including you. You just may not have realized it yet. Selling begins when a child asks her mother for a candy bar, and the mom says no. With each

Integrative Health Prescription for 2018 w-text

Integrative Health Prescription for 2018

Though 2017 is closing with a booming stock market that equals wealth for the U.S., the subject of health [care] for our population will not end quite as positively. In addition to rising insurance costs and deductibles, the U.S. population is dealing with deep-seated confusion and anxiety over tax reform law that takes coverage away from millions, and threatens medicine. We live within a broken system with few incentives to

Advancing the Global Impact of Integrative Oncology

There is an incredible amount of inaccurate information on holistic, integrative, and alternative approaches to preventing cancer, treating cancer, managing the symptoms of cancer treatment, and supporting long-term survival. The importance of clarifying and disseminating vital information led to the founding of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) in 2003. The organization’s mission is to bring scientific rigor to the evolving field, and to help translate these findings to most

Quality Counts: A Clinician’s Guide to Supplement Quality

Quality: It’s a Clinical Issue Dietary supplements have become an integral part of American life—and American healthcare. Despite the recession, the supplement industry has grown steadily at 5%-6% per year–twice the rate of OTC drugs. According to a 2011 report from the National Center for Health Statistics, more than half of all U.S. adults regularly take supplements. A 2016 survey sponsored by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, puts the figure

Integrative Health’s Place in Medical School Curricula

The Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine & Health has grown to over 70 members comprising leading academic institutions, hospitals, and health systems. Its members are actively involved in clinical services, research, and educational programming specific to the field of integrative health and medicine. Is there any doubt that medical school curricula will follow this same trajectory? It’s actually been happening for some time, but only recently thrust into the news

When Alternative Cancer Care Kills

If given a cancer diagnosis, we each ultimately determine whom to trust to manage our care. We are in control of how we research, consider, and source treatment options, and the best path toward long-term survival. Though there can be geographical access issues, financial considerations, and legal limitations to weigh, the choices are largely ours to make. For some folks, closely-held faith-based or spiritual beliefs influence the type of care

Now, More Than Ever, Professional Dietary Supplement Quality Counts

Practitioner brands must deal with an absence of consensus on the criteria that define optimal quality. “Be prepared to compete on the battlefield of quality,” said nutrition industry consultant Michael D. Levin. Speaking at Holistic Primary Care’s 2017 Practitioner Channel Forum, Mr. Levin said he expects, “increased demand for transparency in all channels, but especially in the practitioner channel.” The quality imperative was a recurring theme throughout the Forum, which

Independent Contractor Physician—Kickback or Compensation?

If you’re a successful physician, chiropractor, acupuncturist, or other licensed healthcare provider, and you want to provide overflow patients to another practitioner you hire, is it a kickback if you pay that second practitioner as an independent contractor? Are payments to an independent contractor physician a kickback? Kickback Basics Let’s review some kickback basics, to start. Stark (or self-referral) arises when the physician refers patients to an entity in which

Ultimate Guide: Using Community Events to Gain More Patients

Live presentations are the most powerful communication medium. Nothing touches people like an ‘in-person, living, breathing, experience’. Whether it’s sports, music or … yes, even health and medical information—LIVE (done well) will always engage more than books, television programs, or websites. Successful integrative and functional medicine solo practitioners, practices, and centers that know their stuff inside-out have an incredible amount of passion and confidence for their specialty, and share another