He recommends consumers stick with products from reputable companies and check product labels for the percentage of active ingredients, which indicates a standardized product. Patients are also commonly advised to inform their doctors of any supplements or remedies they are taking, and to beware of complications that could result from taking certain combinations of herbal supplements and drugs. On the cutting edge of these concepts are Consensus Health and a handful of other companies that have recently begun to offer multispecialty networks of CAM providers to health plans around the nation. Consensus Health, founded in San Francisco in 1996, boasts one of the more diverse packages available. Consensus Health is slated to begin offering alternative health services through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina in August.
Studies suggest a growing number of managed care programs want in on the action.
A survey underwritten by the Sacramento-based company Landmark Healthcare shows more than half the nation's HMOs already offer some form of alternative health care, and more plan to jump on the bandwagon. More than 100 senior executives at HMOs were interviewed by telephone for the study, according to Landmark's Web site . Marber, who is Consensus Health's senior vice president of marketing, says people are turning to alternative health care partly because of the current trend toward thinking of health as part of a lifestyle, not just a way of fixing something that's already broken. The focus on prevention comes at a time when employees are increasingly being required to contribute more for their health premiums. Then there are those who believe traditional doctors have failed them, particularly those who suffer from chronic fatigue or pain.