Lobbying Congress was one step in
the process of keeping biofeedback in the health care system. We need to do more. While
the congress wrestles with the financing issues, it has become clear that states and
separate insurers and the major employers will continue to play a big role in determining
what gets reimbursed. Here are some ideas to keep biofeedback making progress in gaining
acceptance. Now congress is gain looking at health care and patient
rights. We need to get them to include the right to self reliance and self responsibility
in health care--getting options which self empower us, ratherr than only being given
options which take away self control, ie., drugs, surgeries, passive therapies..
1-delineate specific applications it helps.
headache, incontinence, pain, anxiety, ADD, closed head injury, stress disorders. Break
these down into more specific diagnoses. Then compare average course and cost of
biofeedback treatment with other medical/pharmaceutical approaches.
White papers are important and necessary, but too long. We need a paragraph for each
application.
[We need to send these statements out and post them on our website, not wait
passively for people to ask for them.. ]
2- We need to re-evaluate how biofeedback economics are calculated.
It is not cost-effective to charge for a Ph.D. level's services for biofeedback. The
psychologist or physician providing the initial evaluation does not need to provide the
actual training. It should be done by a competent ancillary trainer at much lower cost.
The cost for a course of treatment, if thus calculated, would be much less, and insurers
might reimburse more easily and willingly. They might even reimburse for the whole course,
rather than by the sessions.-- Say $800-$100 for a course of training which included an
initial psychophysiological assessment and treatment plan by a psychologist or physician
followed by training by a therapist. The training might be expected to take 6 to 12
sessions, with some requiring 20. Explore the model used by numerous government facilities
and the Menninger Foundation-- offering group biofeedback training at an even lower cost.
Some groups of Biofeedback PPOs have already formed. BCIA needs to loosen up or it could
choke the life out of biofeedback.
3-Market BF to major managed care companies and at managed care meetings.
[We now know that managed care companies respond to consumer demand. Every person
who contacts you who is not covered by their plan should be given a form letter to send to
their carrier, complaining and asking to have biofeedback included.]
4-Lobby FDA to acknowledge efficacy. Currently they only acknowledge it's usefulness
for relaxation and incontinence.
[There are new, less stringent requirements from the FDA now, and we have some
better resources for knowing how to cope with the FDA (Anand Akerkar) so there are
actually less problems now. But we should still be working to have the FDA add approvals
for specific applicaitons, without manufacturers having to use drug study methodologies.]
5-Work directly with the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services Agency for Health Care
Policy and research 800-358-9295
6-Educate the largest corporations, with the biggest health plans (Fortune 200). Call
for clinicians in AAPB who provides services to employees of these companies to identify
contact people in the companies who are supportive. Show the corporations that biofeedback
not only saves money in terms of medical bills, but that it also decreases employee costs
caused by absenteeism, motivation, alertness, accidents, employee and customer relations,
job burnout and job turnover and re-training. Develop company profiles where biofeedback
has been enthusiastically endorsed for employees. Ford, Apple, Hewlett Packard are
examples of this. Lets get the story out there.
[Do a mailing to the Fortune 1000 list of companies, sending the benefits
administrators how including biofeedback can cut costs and improve employee performance
and morale.]
[7- Start seeking contributions from wealthy individuals, foundations and
individual beneficiaries for a Biofeedback Beneficiaries Foundation, which advocates for
and supports the field of biofeedback. Some organizations depend primarily upon these
contributions for the bulk of their income. This would require having a plan for seeking
and soliciting funds. This is often the role of the executive director.
[8- Develop a long term, continuous PR program, with continuous efforts and
follow-ups to successes.]
[9- Expand the growth of interest areas within the field. Create
"incubators" which nurture the development of special applications, as compared
to some in AAPB who seem to try to inhibit such growth. Continue with the development of
new sections in AAPB.]
[10- Develop formal affiliations and encourage biofeedback interest groups in
other organizations, with coordination between them.
[11- Develop a pooled list of biofeedback providers and researchers, whether they
are members or customers or not, so they can join together for advocacy.
This [list of strategies] is a job which crosses the boundaries and
responsibilities of several committees. A team needs to be created-- probably recruited--
which will identify finite steps and tasks so that these goals can be accomplished. Unlike
the massive single goal of getting Biofeedback included in legislation, this project
includes many small goals which, separately and independently, will move biofeedback
forward.
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