Need to Ensure Quality Care

Before the mainstream healthcare system will be open to fully integrating complementary therapies and healing practices, it needs assurances that these therapies offer a standard, regulated quality of care.

For the most part, regulation of complementary therapies is done by state governments and healthcare facilities. Because of this, regulation varies from state to state, facility to facility, and therapy to therapy! Regulation of complementary therapies is a complicated issue.

Generally there are three distinct levels of regulation at the state level: permits, certification, and licensing.

Facilities and third-party payers usually use credentialing and privileging to regulate who can practice at a given facility and the scope of their practice (which ailments they can treat and which techniques they can perform).