In-house nutrition: A better alternative
By Joseph Messino and Michael Traficante

As you contemplate nutritional products for your practice, here is some food for thought (pun intended):

• High use of supplements. A survey published by the American Dietetic Association in 2000 found that 50 percent of the American population (more than 125 million people) take nutritional supplements daily. And the same survey showed that 32 percent take nutritional supplements occasionally.

These statistics suggest that approximately 82 percent of your patients are interested in and— in many cases — already take nutritional supplements.

• Worry over prescription medications. Recent problems over widely used prescription medications that are known to have adverse effects have heightened consumer interest in nutritional alternatives.

• Spiraling costs of medicine. All of this is occurring in the shadow of spiraling costs of prescription medications and many elderly citizens being thwarted from obtaining more affordable prescriptions from Canada.

• Misleading news. In addition, the media continues to bombard consumers with news on nutrition that is often incomplete or misleading. It is not uncommon to read or hear news reports of the latest clinical study on a given nutrient followed a few weeks later by a conflicting report on the same nutrient.

When you digest this food for thought, you can see why consumers are confused about the viability of medications and nutritional supplements.

That confusion is a natural opportunity for you, their healthcare provider, to give them answers. Your patients rely upon you for the proper diagnosis and treatment for their individual health conditions.

To help them, you can either recommend supplements (which your patients would buy from an outside retailer). Or you could offer them nutritionals that you carry in your office.

If you send your patients on a nutritional scavenger hunt, however, you can’t be sure what they’ll be doing with your well-thought out treatment plan. For example they may not get the exact product you recommend. Products may contain additional ingredients in a formula that may or may not be beneficial.

Or, patients may buy whatever is on sale and get the right products but wrong dosage — or worse — the wrong products with the wrong dosage.

A BETTER ALTERNATIVE

A better alternative is to provide your patients with specific supplements and specific dosages while they are in your office. If you do this, you’ll improve treatment outcomes and both you and your patients will know that they are getting the correct nutrition, proper dosages, avoid harmful contraindications (conflicts with prescription medicines and/or other supplements) and a quality product.

How to get started on this better alternative for your patients? Here are six steps:

1. Identify health issues. Begin by identifying the types of health issues you treat within your practice. Besides the standard joint, muscle and osteo-related concerns, determine what other conditions your patients experience and share with you.

2. Establish protocols. Once you identify these health conditions, establish specific and straightforward nutritional protocols to address each.

If you are new to nutrition or don’t feel comfortable creating protocols, ask your nutrition consultant at your supplier for established nutritional protocols that address those patient health issues you have identified. The better nutrition providers will be able to provide protocols containing well-established and clinically-supported solutions for a variety of health conditions.

If you have a specific condition-state that is not addressed by standard protocols, contact the company’s formulation/technical services area to assist you.

3. Provide a basic protocol for everyone. In addition, all of your patients can benefit from a basic nutritional protocol that addresses four widely accepted nutritional deficiencies related to the standard American diet.

This protocol consists of a comprehensive multi-vitamin, essential fatty acids, antioxidants and probiotics.

4. Educate your patients. Administer the protocols you’ve established and stress to your patients that nutritional therapies are generally not instantaneous and results are seen over time. Addressing the cause of a health issue is not as simple as masking a symptom.

Educate them on the benefits and advantages of nutritional supplementation. Your nutritional consultant/advisor can provide you the data to share with patients and address their questions.

5. Train your staff. They need to know how to manage the administration of the nutritional dispensary. Again, your nutritional consultant/advisor will be able to assist in the training of your staff.

6. Make reordering convenient for your patients. Outside of regular office visits and adjustments, allow your patients to order supplements from you.

Consider dispensing your protocols in convenient single-dose packets to simplify the daily regimen for your patients. Even the best protocols are ineffective if they are too laborious or complicated to implement. Simplifying the supplementation process improves patient compliance and ultimately their health outcomes.

Some nutritional manufacturers even offer order forms or dedicated programs to capture this patient business that is often overlooked or neglected. This is a simple way to provide the same quality supplements to your patients and is helpful for practices who may not have the time, staffing or space to dedicate to a nutrition dispensary.

WHAT’S THE PAYOFF?

Beyond the added income generated by nutrition sales, your patients will experience more positive health outcomes through the integration of nutritional therapies. Addressing your patients’ overall health conditions in addition to any acute issues is at the very core of preventive medicine.

Healthier patients are satisfied customers who share their positive experiences with family, friends and co-workers. This results in referrals and practice growth. The trusted doctor/patient bond will grow stronger and your role as healthcare provider grow beyond strictly adjustments and injury/pain management.

Over time, you will witness more positive patient outcomes which provide examples to share with new patients as well as reaffirming the efficacy of your overall treatment approach. As the adage says “nothing breeds success like success.”

Joseph Messino, a certified nutrition specialist and anti-aging specialist, is director of sales and product training for Douglas Laboratories (www.douglaslabs.com). He can be reached at jmessino@douglaslabs.com