Rachael Herndon DunnFrom Kansas City to St. Louis to Poplar Bluff and on your computer, doctors are setting up shop, ready to consult with Missouri patients hoping to apply for a patient care card.
The Department of Health and Senior Services Medical Marijuana Division began accepting patient applications starting on Friday, June 28. Patients must include a physician certification with their application, which the Department has 30 days to process and return a patient care card. The cards come with a $25 fee, but patients can also apply to home cultivate their cannabis, which is an additional $100 fee.
The Green Clinics opened their St. Louis location on June 20. This location is in addition to clinics open and operating in Kansas City, St. Joseph, Butler, Versailles, and Poplar Bluff. Their original location in the Kansas City River Market area has already seen hundreds of patients, whose certifications have been mailed for including with applications. The company plans to continue to open further locations.
Dr. Khalsa of CannaTherapyMD
CannaTherapyMD in Clayton opened its doors on June 18. Drs. Radhika Ratnabalasuriar, a.k.a. “Dr. Rad,” pictured, and Hari Khalsa, right, both MDs, are enjoying their first official week open.
“Our grand opening went great! We are enjoying meeting people from all different backgrounds and ages,” the CannaTherapyMD doctors said. “There are a number of patients that are completely new to medical cannabis and are open to trying something different; especially given conventional treatments are not working well for them.”
They said patients have entered their office initially nervous, not knowing what to expect, but are leaving empowered and hopeful.
“Our hope is that medical cannabis can improve their quality of life and prevent them from using addictive medications such as opiates,” they said. “We also intend to reduce the stigma around this medication. We have seen people from all different walks of life that are connected by a common desire to use natural therapy.”
CannaTherapyMD’s Clayton office
The doctors said the most common qualifying condition they have seen so far has been chronic pain, especially from those wanting to reduce or stop the use of opioids for pain management.
CannaTherapyMD joins the movement of doctors with websites allowing patients to make their appointment online. Their grand opening was on June 20.
Also launching is Missouri Marijuana Card, a sister company to Ohio Marijuana Card. MMC has locations in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield. The clinic is offering free patient visits to veterans.
“As part of our launch, we wanted to give back to those that have served this country,” said Missouri Marijuana Card President, Connor Shore. “We’ve witnessed firsthand in Ohio how many Veterans use medical marijuana to alleviate PTSD symptoms, but unfortunately, the lack of insurance coverage has made access prohibitively expensive for some. We don’t believe that anyone, let alone veterans, should be denied access to this incredible medicine because they can’t afford it.”
Clinics do not accept insurance and appointments range between $99-399. Most clinics and doctors offer a veteran discount and/or a sliding scale for billing based on income. Flexible pricing and online appointment scheduling are perks of the majority of cannabis-focused doctors.
A fundraiser on Monday, June 25, sought to raise money for Ayden’s Alliance to assist low-income families with the financial cost of acquiring a patient care card. More information on resources from Ayden’s Alliance and assistance applications can be found at aydensalliance.com.
Going into the next frontier of medicine, telehealth, is HelloMD, an online network of physicians who are available to patients online.
“Initially, HelloMD started as a telehealth service designed to connect medical cannabis patients with doctors in California from the comfort their homes over live video,” said HelloMD co-founder Pamela Hadfield. “The service was an instant success, attracting thousands of customers each month and quickly growing into the largest service of its kind both nationally and internationally. We’ve seen over 100,000 patients in North America.”
Over the past four years, HelloMD has evolved into a digital healthcare platform offering education and product selection for both cannabis marijuana and hemp derived CBD. Today, HelloMD has become known as the largest online community of health and wellness cannabis consumers. We are expanding internationally operating in Canada, and soon within South Africa and South America.The digital healthcare platform offers general doctors consultations, education, and product sales. The company’s intention is to meet patients and consumers wherever they are within their cannabis journey. HelloMD only offers online visits but is rolling out in-person visiting in parts of the country. The service is available for follow up visits to update and monitor cannabis treatment.
Telehealth was legalized in Missouri in recent years.
“Telehealth is a wonderful way to see a qualified physician from the comfort and privacy of your home. Many of our patients remark about the time saved and the feeling of satisfaction they get from the efficiency,” Hadfield said. “Also, for some people, walking into a cannabis clinic or walking into their general practitioner’s office would be uncomfortable.”
Also doing telehealth is Cassville, Mo. doctor Dr. Lisa Roark. Roark has also gone on-site to some events to do patient visits.
Visiting patients at advocacy events is also Dr. Zinnia Thomas out of St. Louis’ healTHCity.
Other open clinics for patient certifications include the Kathmandu Clinic in Kirkwood, Green Health Docs in Columbia, Cannabis Doctors US in Ferguson, and Bluebird Wellness Center in Lee’s Summit. All have websites.
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