Page 6 - Summer 18

The Economics of Homeopathic Prescribing by Sara Fox Chapman, USA
At one time or another, all of us have had a client complain about the cost of our services. It’s what some people do, isn’t it? Generally, we just ignore it.
We know that we are providing medicine that aims to improve the patient’s health, not just solve the problem temporarily. Fortunately, most of my clients arrive in the exam room expecting me to take plenty of time with them, and expecting to pay me for that time.
I have had a few interesting experiences in practice where a client initially came to me for holistic / homeopathic care for their animal, then when a problem arose, they went to one of the conventional doctors in the practice. One such patient was Joker, a castrated male blue heeler / Lab cross, whelped September 2008. I had treated two previous dogs for this family, and the owner is somewhat frugal. She had resisted switching the dogs from kibble, but was now
feeding raw and canned because this dog could not tolerate kibble.
Joker first showed signs of otitis in Jan ‘11, and the owner treated it with over the counter products, believing it to be a mite infestation. I saw the patient for the first time for this problem in Mar ’11, and a culture of the black waxy material showed heavy growth of yeast. I started Joker on Zymox, an enzymatic treatment
[cost: exam, C/S, Zymox - $280]
and suggested that we conduct a homeopathic intake to prescribe constitutionally.
[proposed cost: detailed consult, homeopathic med $212]
This seemed too expensive to the owner, so from July to September 2011 she brought Joker for nine visits to a conventional vet in the practice for repeated ear flushings and bouts of antibiotic treatment.
Joker had become so sensitive about his ears that it was difficult to touch them, let alone treat them.
[total cost: $1,614.06]
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It is nice when they see the difference, isn’t it?