Publisher-editor John Weeks, back from a 3-year working sabbatical in Central America, speaks of vision and the mission of the IBN&R site, target participants, initial sponsor NCMIC Group, the blog form offerings of polls and forums, and his "Blanche DuBois business model" ...
The long-awaited follow-up to the Bill Moyers'
1994 "Healing and the Mind" will introduce a broad audience to
"integrative medicine." The show and related websites are proving
controversial for the MD-centrism of the new medicine presented.
CME demonstration projects on multi-disciplinary cardiac programs developed by Dean Ornish, MD, and the Harvard Mind Body Medical Institute are part of the reasons for this historic step in coverage of multi-disciplinary, natural health care for a chronic condition.
A
subset of licensed acupuncturists have fought for years to keep needles
in the hands of only distinctly-licensed practitioners. Now an AOM
school, the Five Branches Institute, is directly training MDs
in a short course in acupuncture. Course leaders suggest that it might
be a smart strategy for mainstreaming not just acupuncture but the
licensed AOM profession.
Perhaps the most influential current player in the "integrative medicine" world is the 30 member Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, backed by the Bravewell Collaborative. IBN&R interviews Consortium's chair Folkman on the group's priorities.
The not-for-profit Global Medicine Education Foundation
plans to begin offering a new course to help with the transition of
physicians and other practitioners into an integrated health care
world. The course, developed by and open to all licensed disciplines,
may prove a useful choice to many looking into the field.
Some
leaders of the chiropractic profession view this as the midnight hour
for chiropractic - a time when the profession needs to engage more
profound self-regulation and also find greater access to public
resources. This article reports outcomes of the first step of a
consensus conference of 70 leaders.
Clem Bezold and the other futurists associated with the Institute for Alternative Futures
have assisted dozens of national organizations, corporations and
federal agencies in creating their preferred futures. Now IAF, as part
of its own program for reducing disparities, is calling for CAM data
and partners ...
An
unusual collaboration of nine national CAM organizations, led by the
AOM field, have put forth a joint proposal for a new way to regulate
"traditional medicines". The proposal is open for comments.
Let
me know if you have an article or poll idea, interest in starting a
forum, or news to report.
April 19, 2006 mailing - Issue #2
Special Report: The De-Facto 2006 Federal Agenda for CAM and IM, Part 1 Federal priorties for the conventional
academic consortium (funding a practice-based research network), AANP
(Indian Health Services), ACA (DoD, Veterans), AAOM (Medicare) and AMTA
(IHPC). Is this an agenda you would support? Would success in the
priorities of all these disciplines move us in the direction of your view of optimally integrated care?
Okay, the good stuff early: short notes
for the time-challenged and ADD-addled -- on your colleagues, and
brief notes on other recent developments in the areas of clinical
practice, education and policy.
Connecticut-based managed specialty care organization Triad Healthcare, led by Agostino Villani, DC, helps make the IBN&R reports and services available to you.
The supplement and natural food industries are both part of quality CAM and IM practice. Tom Aarts of Nutrition Business Journal provides hard data on growth and losses in different categories, plus industry perceptions of challengs ahead.
Jerome Kassier, MD, takes conventional medicine to task about corruptive industry relationships in a Medscape editorial which also raises issues about other CAM disciplines, and even the sponsored IBN&R ...
The weekly newspaper from the American Medical Association
takes a look at naturopathic physician state licensing campaigns and ND scope of practice issues raised
by some conventional doctors. Neither the AMA or the AAFP is formally
opposed to ND licensing but ...
Poll #1 results. Page views: what are you reading? And how many have you crossed over the threshhold to actually look at the IBN&R Forums. One "Sophie" from Canada, is the first of you to open a forum in an area of her research and practice interest, on developing quality inter-professional relationships in an integrated clinic setting ...
In the IBN&R Forum on Bravewell and the PBS The New Medicine,
past president of AHMA and co-founder of the ABHM Bill Manahan, MD,
shares his vision of what it will take to transform heathcare. We
highlight it here ... as we will highlight other strong and useful (if
not necessarily agreeable to you) views which are expressed in one or
more Forum. Let
me know if you have an article or poll idea, interest in starting a
forum, or news to report.