Specific knowledge of headache diagnosis, causes and treatments are essential to a beneficial and ultimately cost-effective treatment approach. Physicians who are educated to effectively diagnose and treat headache can reduce the number of office visits a patient needs and eliminate the need to see multiple practitioners. Doctors who know how to prescribe appropriate medications and eliminate unnecessary tests cut costs dramatically. Doctors familiar with the specific characteristics of chronic headache recognize when to refer to a headache specialist and know when care in an inpatient hospital setting is medically indicated. This knowledge is thus conducive to patient trust as well as to cost savings.
Patient education is the other factor.
It is imperative that headache sufferers learn what they can do to reduce the frequency, severity and duration of their headaches. When patients understand ways to control their headaches, further reductions of headache-related costs result. The NHF exists precisely to fill the education gap that exists for both physicians and patients. Funding comes from membership dues, donations and grants. One of the most important initiatives NHF has undertaken is the development of the Standards of Care for Headache Diagnosis and Treatment.