Clinician Perspectives on Referring Medicaid Back Pain Patients to Integrative and Complementary Medicine: A Qualitative Study

Objective: To increase understanding of referral processes from primary care to integrative and complementary medicine (ICM) under an Oregon Medicaid policy that restricted opioids and expanded access to ICM for back pain patients. Methods: Four asynchronous online focus groups with 48 medical clinicians were conducted. Themes were constructed using thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were constructed related to the clinician's experience: (1) high patient receptivity to ICM, (2) difficulty finding ICM providers who accept Medicaid beneficiaries, and (3) uncertainty of the effectiveness of ICM among clinicians. Conclusions: Findings suggest that health systems expanding access to ICM for Medicaid beneficiaries may benefit from establishing and supporting linkages between clinicians and ICM providers, especially in rural areas.