Dual Roles, Clear Lines: How Osteopathic Providers Can Serve Veterans in VA Community Care and Offer Medical-Cannabis Evaluations—Including Telehealth
Executive Summary (with Telehealth) Osteopathic physicians (DOs) can legally do both: Keeping these workflows separate avoids confusion, protects compliance, and makes your practice run smoothly. Telehealth key point: CCN telehealth visits are reimbursable when billed with the correct place-of-service (POS 02 or 10) and modifier (commonly 95), and the services are authorized. VA’s TPAs (TriWest/Optum) […]
Cannabis Use Disorder, DNA, and Veterans’ Medical Cannabis Care for PTSD: What We Know and How To Move Forward
Why this matters now More veterans are exploring medical cannabis for chronic pain, sleep, and trauma-related symptoms. At the same time, daily use has climbed nationally, and with it, concern about cannabis use disorder (CUD)—a pattern of use that causes clinically significant impairment or distress. Public-health agencies estimate that roughly 3 in 10 people who […]
Mendry’s Role – Clearly Stated: Veteran Education on State-Legal Medical Cannabis, Without Clinical Services
What Mendry does What Mendry does not do For veterans: how to use Mendry’s education-only materials Necessary: Mendry cannot review your case, contact your doctor, or store your records. We exist to educate, not to manage care. For osteopathic physicians (educational perspective, not medical direction) Osteopathic physicians practicing within state law often emphasize whole-person care, […]
Expanding the Circle of Care: How VA Community Care is Recognizing Nontraditional Providers
Introduction For decades, Veterans turning to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mostly found themselves in traditional healthcare settings, hospitals, primary care offices, specialty clinics, and pharmacies. These services are still essential, but they don’t cover every need. Veterans’ health journeys are diverse. Some conditions respond well to standard treatments, while others improve when supported […]
The Hidden Cost of Pain Denial in Veterans
Introduction Pain is more than just a symptom—it’s your body sending a message. For Veterans, that message is often layered: physical pain from training, injuries, or combat, and emotional pain from the weight of service. But in military culture, pain is often treated as something to ignore, push through, or deny. Silence becomes a badge […]
Osteopathic Physicians, VA Policy, and Medical Cannabis: What 2025 Proposals Could Mean for Veterans
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Current VA policy: VA clinicians can talk with you about cannabis use and document it in your record. Your care will not be denied because of cannabis use. What VA providers cannot do under current rules is prescribe cannabis or fill out state certification paperwork (VHA Directive 1315; VA public […]
Federal Cannabis Policy & Veterans (2025): Access, Rules, and What Could Change
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Here’s where things stand today: VA clinicians can talk with Veterans about cannabis use and record it in the medical chart. Importantly, care is not denied if a Veteran uses cannabis. That said, VA clinicians currently do not prescribe cannabis or complete state certification forms under existing policy (VHA Directive […]
Veterans and Caregivers: Osteopathic Cannabis Care
How VA Community Care Fits—Step-by-Step Short version: Your very first visit with a qualified, state-authorized osteopathic physician (DO) will almost always be out-of-pocket. That’s because VA cannot certify patients for state medical cannabis programs or pay for cannabis itself. After that initial certification, though, many veterans continue follow-up care with a DO for conditions like […]
Osteopathic Care for Veterans: 2 Separate Lanes
A Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) can legally serve Veterans in two different ways: by participating in the VA Community Care Network (CCN) and, separately, by offering state-authorized medical cannabis evaluations in private practice. This model works when the two roles are kept completely separate different encounters, documentation, billing, locations, and marketing. Inside VA care, […]
How Expanded Medical Cannabis Access Impacts Texas Veterans with PTSD and Chronic Pain
What Texas Changed (HB 46) Texas passed HB 46, the most significant update to the Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) since its start in 2015. Effective September 1, 2025, the law brings these key changes: Bottom line: HB 46 isn’t just about adding diagnoses—it reshapes eligibility, dosing, delivery, and supply so clinicians can better match products […]