A study from the Netherlands entitled “Patients Whose GP Knows Complementary Medicine Have Lower Costs and Live Longer” was reported in mid-2010 by researchers Peter Kooreman and Erik Baars. A selection from the abstract follows: “… Using a data set from a health insurer, this paper documents that patients whose GP has additional training in anthroposophic medicine, homeopathy, or acupuncture have substantially lower health care costs and lower mortality rates. The lower costs result from fewer hospital stays and fewer prescription drugs. Since the differences remain once we control for neighborhood specific fixed effects at a highly detailed level, the lower costs and longer lives are unlikely to be related to differences in socio-economic status. Possible explanations are selection (e.g. people with a low taste for medical interventions might be more likely to choose CAM) and better practices (e.g. less over treatment, more focus on preventive and curative health promotion) by GPs with knowledge of complementary medicine.” In one example, patients 75 and older seeing a doctor with anthroposophical training spend over 1000 Euros less per year on health care. Over all, costs are roughly 7% less for patients of general practitioners with CAM practices, compared with those practicing conventionally, or 170 Euros per person per year. The overall conclusion: “The results provide strong evidence of substantially lower costs for general practitioners who have additional training in complementary medicine.”
