The chair of the Medical Association says a more professional screening process is needed for alternative therapy funded through the Accident Compensation Corporation.
The chair of the Medical Association says a more professional screening process is needed for people getting alternative therapy that is funded through the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
Dr Mark Peterson says while there is some value in treatments such as acupuncture, osteopathy and chiropractice, there isn't enough evidence about them to warrant their levels of funding.
The amount ACC spends on alternative therapies has more than doubled in a decade, to $43 million annually.
Dr Peterson says with ACC spending so much money on alternative therapies, a system is needed where people are referred for treatment by their GP.
He says currently there is an open self-referral process to the providers.
"One of the problems is that people are able to self-refer there rather than being screened and filtered by their general practitioner."
ACC says the majority of the money is used for physiotherapy, with alternative therapies making up just a very small fraction of it.
