An unusually multi-disciplinary and inclusive flavor marks the upcoming, US-Canadian research meeting on CAM-IM. IBN&R spoke with program chair Adi Haramati, PhD, on this historic, not-to-miss meeting which, given the preparation, is unlikely to be held again for another 3-4 years ...
Working in the IM field calls for new competencies for CAM professionals. The Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College-Berkeley
has initiated a new program to certify AOM professionals for this new
world. But what will this program achieve? What do we want to see from
an optimal IM certification for CAM professionals?
Former directors of two Midwest IM programs make new lives for themselves; Sita Ananth, MPH, reports on participation at the Health Forum conference on integration into health systems; snapshot of a robust Oregon IM center, and more ..
Researcher-clinic developer "Sophie" set up an IBN&R Forum
to ask for help in creating quality collaboration in an integrative
setting. Lee-Engel, a deeply experienced practitioner in integrative
settings (as well as a director of the integrative CAM Camp at Bastyr University, offered wisdom from her experience.
Site use grows (thanks to all of you who helped with IBN&R's outreach), Manahan forum note and IBN&R's People section are hits, blog poll and forum on DeFacto CAM agenda each a bust ...
A concerted push by the AMA
works to limit scope of practice expansions of allied health and CAM
disciplines. Easy to complain, but are "holistic" CAM-IM fields showing
behaviors that might product reform between disciplines or are they
merely recapitulating the turf-orientations which have
fragmented and harmed health care?
A review of a Chicago professional Lisa Yater's network business experience suggests that a Rotary Clubservice mission may be a missing ingredient in this informal effort to create integration without walls ...
April 25, 2006
Trends in Natural Health Care as Captured in Time Magazine's 2005 Review Extracts from Time magazine's year in medicine from A to Z gives some indications about what research is being prioritized for feeding to the general public by one significant mainstream magazineregarding CAM, natural health care and supplements.
Let
me know if you have an article or poll idea, interest in starting a
forum, or news to report.
The upswelling of popular and institutional interest in Yoga is provoking an exploration among leaders of the International Association of Yoga Therapists
(IAYT) of steps to advance the role of Yoga in health care - without
losing the field's best qualities. The IAYT is sponsoring an IBN&R
series which will explore the possible futures for Yoga therapy through
the lens of the good, the bad and the ugly of the sometimes-felt-as
Faustian bargains which other disciplines have cut in their integration
with the medical industrial complex.
The Integrative Medicine Center of the Shore Health System quickly shined on the outcomes of the nationally-used Press Ganey patient survey. The system's chief IM leader, David Mercier, LAc, then led theclinic
to an operational break-even and an award-winning inpatient Reiki
program. Mercier is now exploring an unusual strategy for enhancing
CAM-IM's economic role for the health system - savings on the
$50,000-$80,000 hospitals must spend to bring in new nurses.
The chief medical officer for a top employer health and wellness organization, the Institute for Health and Productivity Management,
calls for a new "contract" with physicians under which they would
significantly increase their focus on outcomes like increasing
functionality, lowering side-effects, and limiting the debilitating
effects of pain and fatigue. Wouldn't most CAM-IM practitioners sign up
in a minute?
Boomers
are aging. Thoughtful developers are beginning to create new
communities which target this new set of, demanding and
health-conscious seniors. A feature of these communities is often a
health center which may have diverse integrative medicine offerings. IBN&R contacted integrative clinic founder and healthcare consultant Ira Zunin, MD, MBA, MPH, for his insights into this phenomenon and the opportunities for integrated health care.
Long-time integrative medicine leader and author Milt Hammerly, MD,
is now working under the title of vice president for medical operations
and integrative medicine for 19-state healthcare system Catholic Health Initiatives.
The new role has thrust him into the national effort to combat our #3
killer -- medical intervention. What are the implications of this hard
context for integrated health care? Is there opportunity in this crisis for CAM-IM?
The NCCAM's first bioethics fellow in CAM, Jon Tilburt, MD, MPH,
outlines his views of top ethical issues facing the field. His
refreshing perspective shows respect for how much the most significant
integration dialogue is not around therapies, per se, but around whole practices and distinct disciplines.
AMA Group to "Thwart" Practice Expansions of Others, and a Challenge to the CAM-IM Fields
IAYT Sponsors IBN&R Series on the Future of Yoga Therapy: Part 1 - Context and Current Initiatives
Proposed Employer-Physician "Contract" Suggests Cost-Case for CAM-IM
