New Rheintal Health Center: Conventional Medicine Meets Alternative Medicine

Short Paths for Patients: Synergies Between Doctors & Therapists

The location is strategically well chosen. Situated at the quadripoint, patients from Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein can be easily and quickly cared for. The advantage of the Rheintal Health Center is obvious. Short paths are guaranteed. For example, the general practitioner can directly send their patients to the neighboring specialist or physiotherapist, or simply seek informed advice just around the corner. Topics such as alternative medicine, alternative therapy options, and phytomedicine are also high on the agenda. The goal is to create synergies between conventional medicine and alternative approaches. The aim is to build bridges and utilize these synergies in the interest of the patient! The dentist from Götzner, Thomas Kogler, is the initiator of this project and is involved in its implementation and marketing. The motto is "by doctors for doctors." We at HANAFSAN are convinced of this project and are inquiring further.

Initiator Dentist Thomas Kogler: Vision & Experiences in Götzis

I studied dentistry in Regensburg, Bavaria, and received my license there in 2002. After a few months of practice with various dentists and at the military hospital in Vienna, the opportunity arose in 2003 to take over a well-established public dental practice in Götzis. I seized this chance. Since the beginning, I have recognized the importance of efficient home and professional oral hygiene, and over the following years, together with very motivated staff, I continuously expanded prophylaxis, increasing the percentage of our recall patients to over 90% of our patient base.
With the move to the Götzis medical center, prophylaxis also received architecturally appealing rooms that matched the professional quality in the current practice in 2010. Even after another 10 years, we have already reached our limits with the current 3 prophylaxis rooms. Consequently, there are now plans to outsource the entire prophylaxis to the new building of the Rheintal Health Center and to expand to 5 treatment chairs.

What inspired you to create such a center? What advantages do you see for doctors as well as for patients?

I got the idea during my studies in a lecture when a guest lecturer from Sweden talked about the health centers there. I was immediately enthusiastic about the idea and have since informed myself about this topic at every opportunity. With the construction of the Götzis medical center, I was finally able to implement the idea directly, albeit initially on a small scale. For 10 years now, an orthodontist, a maxillofacial surgeon, and I have been successfully collaborating. Each operates their own practice, yet numerous symbioses arise in purchasing, technical support, professional exchange, shared equipment, and even disposal.
My personal greatest advantage is discussing complex patient cases not in lengthy medical letters, but over a good espresso with colleagues.
Initially, my personal focus was not on the benefits for patients. However, it quickly became clear that they are also among the major "beneficiaries" of this symbiosis. Of course, we have no referral obligation among ourselves, but most patients understandably want to receive an appointment for further treatment as simply as possible and thus just go to the next practice and arrange an appointment personally and easily. Even after 10 years, it still leaves patients speechless when, for example, they go down a floor to the maxillofacial surgeon with a referral from me for a 3D jaw X-ray, it is done immediately there, and then they return to my practice to discuss it right away. Weeks of waiting for an appointment are a thing of the past.

What is specifically planned? How many doctors should be accommodated under one roof? Should other health personnel, such as physiotherapists, also find a place?

The Rheintal Health Center will expand the existing Götzis medical center by an additional 1300m² of office space on the adjacent property. A spatial connection between the two buildings and an increase of the existing medical center by another floor are also planned. Regarding the specialties and number of doctors and medical-related providers, I am open to all suggestions. I could also imagine a small shop for medical products. A good mix should simply be created to guarantee as broad cooperation as possible. Of course, medical-related professions also belong in such a health center. A collaboration for the benefit of the patient at all levels would be my personal wish mix.

As a dentist, you are a classic conventional medicine practitioner. However, you also value alternative medicine. Where does this interest come from?

Like all my colleagues of my generation, I received a very good classical conventional medical education. However, all alternative approaches were simply not mentioned. Soon after starting my own practice, I occasionally encountered patient cases where everything I had learned simply showed no effect and caused me sleepless nights. Thus began my self-study of alternative solutions for medical problems. For years, we have been recommending "Periodontal Drops" with purely plant-based ingredients and oil pulling to support periodontal treatments and also to prevent this initially mostly painless disease of the periodontal apparatus. These are, for example, two products for which there are not really any conclusive conventional medical studies on their effectiveness. Yet we see extraordinary success every day in supporting our work in periodontal therapy. Therefore, it would also be a great concern of mine that future partners in the health center bring this willingness to "look beyond the horizon" and do not have to find out through a laborious "learning by doing" process.

The use of hemp products and cannabidiol (CBD) is also not new to you. However, it is important to distinguish between medical use and cosmetic application of such products. What do you see as the advantages of a cosmetic natural product with CBD? When do you recommend oil pulling to your patients?

Basically, we have always left the decision open to our patients regarding which product they want to use. We only recommend certain active ingredients. The oil pulling treatment basically works with almost any high-quality plant oil, but some just work better. With the opening of the HANAFSAN Store in Götzis, our patients have naturally increasingly chosen the recommended hemp seed oil with a cannabidiol (CBD) content of 0.3%, and the success was excellently as expected. In the meantime, we even offer the oil for oil pulling from HANAFSAN in our prophylaxis shop and therefore use it more and more often to support our periodontal therapy or simply also prophylactically.

Image source: © 2020 Tabea Walch