Issue #30-#3- July-Aug 2007
August 30, 2007 mailing - Issue #32August 30, 2007
Colleagues have
twice recently shared their views with me that for their complementary
healthcare discipline to seek coalition with other complementary
healthcare fields is little more than forming a "CAM ghetto." Better to
spend a discipline's precious political capital angling for an
advantage for that discipline in the mainstream system. To clarify my
thinking, I contacted author-speaker Paul Loeb, an expert on citizen
action, empowerment and social change, for his perspective. What do you
think? More ...
August 29, 2007
Bravewell
fellowships boost University of Arizona program ... A fall conference
bridges "holistic" and "integrative" and promises certification of
medical doctors in "integrative holistic medicine" ... Details on the
internet-based masters in Integrative Health & Wellness at the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey ... 160 massage
therapists turn out for Oncology Massage Healing Summit ... Foundation
led by a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist seeks to start an
integrative inpatient facility in Portland ... Jacobs' work at
Revolution Health now includes a regular
blog ... Natschke and Mittman receive top awards from their
professional associations ... plus Mayo brings in speaker on rituals in
healing, and more. More ...
August 29, 2007
Studies have
found that patients with complex and life-threatening health conditions
are more likely to seek out complementary and integrative services.
This article focuses on two companies, Florida-based Yellow Courtyard
and Colorado-based Lynxcare which were established by integrated care users to support people in these times of
need with integrative, medical-records-based solutions. Both claim
health value; one is increasingly focusing its business model on anticipated cost
savings. Their target markets range from high-income seniors to groups and payer
organizations, such as Medicaid. More ...
August 24, 2007
Michael Moore's movie about US healthcare, Sicko,
stimulates strong response across the board. This third set of comments
suggests that the integrative medicine and integated healthcare
community is not without its own strong opinions. We hear from Sue Haddow, MD, a
Minnesota family physician with international experience who is a
clinical faculty member at the University of Minnesota, from Daniel Redwood, DC, an associate professor at Cleveland Chiropractic College on potential CAM impacts; from and from Chuck Simpson, DC,
a co-founder of a Portland, Oregon-based Complementary Healthcare
Plans, on many of the confusions inside the discussions. Good stuff!
August 24, 2007
The
story on the success of a group-focused services clinical strategy for
a Chrysler employee population led by Robert Levine, PhD, for Henry
Ford Health Systems (HFHS),
prompted Lisa Rohleder, LAc, with the Community Acupuncture Network
(CAN) to stimulate a dialogue and real-time link with Levine in the CAN
Blog. The HFHS outcomes promoted Adrian Langford, who runs a
patient-focused program with a Medicaid population with Alternative
Medicine Integration Group to comment on what promotes the positive
patient outcomes. Taylor Walsh wonders at the use by Karlo Berger, ABT,
LMT, of "collective healing" to describe some of the power of these
setting ... In other notes, the COCSA-AMI relationship stimulated a
note from COCSA executive director Janet Jordan ... Chris Huson, LAc
opens a dialogue about a suggested integrated pathway for asthma and
Rik Cederstrom , DC, responds to another attack on supplements by
author Michael Hurley, this one broadcast for Medscape. More ...
August 23, 2007
Integrative
medicine leaders have identified employers as the healthcare
stakeholder, next to consumers, with the strongest alignment of
economic interest with the advance of complementary and integrated health care. All aspects of that potent
connection can be explored at the October 17-19 meeting of the
Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM). IHPM will
offer a multi-segment track on Integrative/Complementary Healthcare,
co-chaired by Brent Bauer, MD, integrative medicine leader with Mayo
Clinic. Mayo and the International Foundation for Employee Benefit
Plans are co-sponsoring the meeting. Attendees with a stake in
integrated care will have a chance to deeply explore the most
progressive, global thinking about an employer's investment in
healthcare. Integrator adviser Ken Pelletier, PhD, MD (hc) will keynote. Check it out! More ...
August 22, 2007
All of the Integrator
articles from January-June of 2007. This resource is meant to assist
you in locating articles of interest. The articles and the (#) in each
category are organized as follows: Academic Action/Education (10), Brief Notes, Links and Personnel
Changes (4), Commentary from Readers (14), Federal/State Politics (8),
Hospitals/Health Systems/Integrative Clinics (11), IAYT-Sponsored
Series on the Future of Yoga Therapy (2), Insurance/Employers/Payment
(8), Media Reviews & Trends (12), Natural Products (12),
Professional Organizations, Other Guild Politics and Turf (19),
Research (11), and Integrator News - Polls, Advisers, Sponsors,
Top 10 (2). Some are listed in more than one category. This page can
be accessed on the right column of the home-page. Contents may also be
found through the search function on the right side of the home page. More ...
August 20, 2007
On June 20,
2007, the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine held a Stakeholder Dialogue. I thought it would be interesting to
do a little analysis of the attendees to see who showed up. How many
from conventional medical institutions? How many from the natural
healthcare institutions? Was your discipline represented in this
dialogue over how the biggest money in integrative medicine is
dispensed? Do you consider yourself or your discipline a "stakeholder"
in NCCAM? If not, why not? Here is the chart, plus some observations.
What are your perspectives on the importance of activism relative to the NCCAM agenda? More ...
August 19, 2007
The
past 20 years of the dynamic renewal of naturopathic medicine as a
discipline have created a new set of pressures and opportunities for
the profession. A multi-faceted Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine
(FNM) Project has recently emerged, under the leadership of Pamela
Snider, ND, and with participation of all of the profession's leading
agencies. The focal product of the FNM Project will be the first
textbook of naturopathic medicine in more than a half century, to be
published by Elsevier Publications. But the two dozen editors and over
100 authors see that what is at stake here is more fundamental than a
typical textbook. Through a series of retreats and written products,
the FNM Project has a goal of "codifying (naturopathic) knowledge." The
project may cast interesting light on the parallel emergence of
integrative medicine. More ...
August 8, 2007
The Integrator recently
published an article on the integrative pain pilot project at Chrysler
led by Robert A. Levine, PhD. The pilot found that group-oriented
services performing better than complementary and alternative medicine
or conventional services for a chronic pain population. Reader Karlo
Berger, ABT, LMT, a shiatsu therapist and founder of the Boston-area
Integrative Medicine Alliance tells how the Connecticut-based Centering
Pregnancy and Parenting Association has similarly used group-focused
integrative services to positive effect. Berger see great potential in
accessing more people with such services. He "encourages those interested in developing a for-profit, group-oriented,
low-cost, replicable, community-based integrative healthcare model to communicate with each other." More ...
August 8, 2007
Gathered here in one place are all of the Integrator
articles from March-December of 2006. This resource is meant to assist
you in locating articles of interest. The articles and the (#) in each
category are organized as follows: Academic Action/Education (20), AMA
Scope of Practice Partnership (7), Brief Notes, Links and Personnel
Changes (13), Commentary from Readers (7), Federal Politics (15),
Hospitals/Health Systems/Integrative Clinics (21), IAYT-Sponsored
Series on the Future of Yoga Therapy (5), Insurance/Employers/Payment
(18), Media Reviews & Trends (7), Natural Products (7),
Professional Organizations, Other Guild Politics and Turf (26),
Research (17), and Integrator News - Polls, Advisers, Sponsors,
Top 10 (12). Some are listed in more than one category. This page can
be accessed on the right column of the home-page. Contents may also be
found through the search function on the right side of the home page.
Coming soon: Jan-June 2007 content. Enjoy! More ...
August 3, 2007 mailing - Issue #31
August 3, 2007
The natural
products industry in the United States has a boatload of stories of
businesses started in homes and garages that grew to become dominant
players. The Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) for dietary
supplements document recently issued by the FDA promises to significant
change the terrain. What effect will it have on the industry? Integrator adviser
Michael Levin addresses this topic in Part 2 of his analysis of the
cGMPs. Levin also addresses questions regarding his first article which
were raised by Michael McGuffin, executive director of the American
Herbal Products Association. More ...
August 2, 2007
Correction
on article about AANP ... Bill Manahan, MD on CDC chief Gerberding's call for "schools of
health" ... Yoga therapist/PT on integration challenges ... Susie Kidder, PhD adds
observations on the legacy of former NCCAM director Straus .... Heads
up on alt-med interests of New York Lieutenant Governor David Paterson
... Annie Appleseed Project founder
on the 40,000 years of research needed for the current single agent
research approach to play out ... A South African member of the International Actuarial Association on the Integrator series on the influence of coding on DC/ND
practices ... Milt Hammerly, MD suggests a method for CAM/integrative
practitioners to participate in the health reform dialogue ... AHMA board member Kjersten Gmeiner, MD offers kudos ... A
prospective student weighs MD and ND school ... A query-response on
data on the cost of ND services ... plus more More ...
July 25, 2007
This is
an occasional look at professional action related to integrated care. A
possible American Medical Association legislative strategy related to
the restrictive Scope of Practice Partnership against other disciplines
noted ... Work of the American Chiropractic Association supported the
development of a favorable piece in the Washington Post ...
Naturopathic leader Jane Guiltinan, ND, president of the American
Association of Naturopathic Physicians itemizes accomplishments and
unfinished business in a term near to completion ... Indiana becomes
the 38th state to regulate massage therapists ... Clinician and writer
Eliot Tokar explores a role for Tibetan medicine in the Western world
... Washington State establishes an integrated clinical group to assess
healthcare technologies and inform coverage decisions. More ...
July 24, 2007
Cathy Rogers, ND, suggested a forum on Michael Moore's Sicko
would provide an interesting take on perspectives in the integrated
care community. One set of perspectives were already published. In this
second round,m we hear from Integrator advisers Michael Levin,
Bill Manahan, MD and Lou Sportelli, DC. Then Michael Shor, MPH, a
business of integration expert weighs in, as does academic Geoff
Barkley, LCSW, PhD. What are your thoughts? More ...
July 24, 2007
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has a
web-based Masters in Integrative Health and Wellness. The program seeks
a faculty member to run it ... Palmer Center has three top-level
research openings ... Care to cross disciplines? See the Integrator list of discipline-specific annual conferences ... CodeBlueNow's Opinionaire asks
you to consider trade offs as you choose a healthcare reform strategy
... The Bravewell Collaborative gala will be held November 8, 2007 and
chaired by Christy and John Mack and Sherry Lund and MC-ed by Mehmet
Oz, MD ... His Highness the Dalai Lama will participate in an October
20 day-long session on meditation and depression ... Advances in Mind-Body Medicine to be published again ... Kenneth Pelletier,
mind-body pioneer, will have a series of CDs published through The Healing Mind .. Andrew Weil on Colbert, and more ... More ...
July 23, 2007
Preliminary data from two pilots projects from the Henry Ford Health Systems (HFHS) on chronic low back pain, one involving Chrysler employees, showed significant findings. One showed that one-on-one care involving chiropractors,
acupuncturists, neuromuscular therapists, hypnotherapists, massage
therapists and somatic education practitioners performed better than a
typical physical therapy protocol. The second, a group intervention
using complementary healthcare approaches, topped the other outcomes.
The group intervention succeeded in resolving pain to zero in over 50%
of the Chrysler employee participants. Chrysler has asked the program
designer, HFHS's research director for complementary and integrative
medicine Robert A, Levine, PhD, to start up 4 new groups this fall.
When will complementary healthcare disciplines begin exploring the
powerful potential for group-focused services? More ...
July 19, 2007 mailing - Issue #30
July 19, 2007
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention director Julie Gerberding, MD, has
stepped out of the box of the health reform debate. Gerberding believes
that true reform of the US medical system requires us to establish
"schools of health" in which professionals start their education together. The paradigm shift will foster
cooperation and a sense of common mission.
While not referring directly to the complementary and alternative
professions, Gerberding's vision is deeply aligned with recommendations
in a 2005 National Education Dialogue report from educators representing 12 complementary and
alternative healthcare and integrative medicine disciplines. These
pushes for multi-disciplinary collaboration also echo recommendations
from the Institute of Medicine in its report on CAM in the United
States. An Integrator reader urges a campaign to urge Gerberding to continue to promote this direction to limit turf wars wars." More ...
July 18, 2007
On July 18, 2007, the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations
(COCSA) announced an endorsement of Chicago-based complementary and alternative management company Alternative Medicine
Integration Group (AMI). COCSA
explained their endorsement of AMI as a belief that the firm's
outcomes-oriented chiropractic care management approach "is not
business as usual" for managed chiropractic. COCSA asserts that AMI's
approach is better for patients, practitioners and purchasers. This
article takes a look at this surprising "joint venture" between a
managed care firm and a national association of practitioner
associations. More ...
July 17, 2007
The Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium (IHPC) and Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC) recently alerted the NIH National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) that they are significantly out of compliance on a key
Congressional mandate. NCCAM's
advisory council is mandated to include among its members at least 50%
who are licensed in CAM disciplines plus 3 consumer members. The
current council has just 27% of its members from chiropractic,
acupuncture and Oriental medicine. naturopathic medicine and massage
therapy. None are consumer representatives. Since alerting top NCCAM
officials of concerns about the situation, ACCAHC and IHPC have since
received assurances that NCCAM will work promptly to meet the
requirements of the law. More ...
July 14, 2007 - Bastille Day
After a
12 years of unsteady and politicized process, the US Food and Drug
Administration last month finally issued its new Good Manufacturing
Practices (GMPs) for dietary supplements. Integrator advisor Michael Levin is making his way through the 831 pages of the GMP document. In this Part #1 filing for the Integrator,
Levin reveals a strange conceptual approach to GMPs which will allow
companies to make claims that sound equivalent (ie, "we follow GMPs")
which actually give the consumer no information about the quality of
the products. For those wishing to know more about the likely impact of
the GMP on consumers and manufacturers, a September 13-14 conference
led by Loren Israelsen and
the United Natural Products Alliance will explore the full meaning of
the new GMP. More ...
July 11, 2007
So what do people in the integrated care community think about Sicko, Michael Moore's documentary on the US medical madness? The Integrator invited your comments and reviews - and still does. Eric Goldman, the New York-based editor of Holistic Primary Care was the first to respond, thoughtfully and at length. I attach comments up front from Integrator
advisor Milt Hammerly, MD, director of medical operations and
integrative medicine for Catholic Health Initiatives, a multi-state
health system; Tom Ballard, ND, a clinician with 25 years of practice;
Marc Diener, a Hollywood lawyer and activist with the Integrated
Healthcare Policy Consortium, and Kathleen O'Connor, journalist and
executive director of the citizen's healthcare reform organization Code
Blue Now! Then, the main course of Goldman's column, in which he
compares Moore's approach to that other major recent documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Enjoy! More ...
July 11, 2007
The Integrator article on a challenge of economic bias at the Cochrane Collaboration which ran in Medscape General Medicine
stimulated a defense of Cochrane's policies, meant to "minimize
financial conflicts," from Eric Manheimer, MD and Brian Berman, MD, who
head up Cochrane's Complementary and Alternative Medicine effort. The
Integrator asked David Cundiff, MD, the author of the Medscape
commentary for his thoughts on the Manheimer/Berman defense, and for
details on his disturbing charges of undisclosed conflicts of interest
among Cochrane reviewers. Poet Walt Whitman raises questions about whether even the most heroic
efforts to diminish conflicts are sufficient in a world so saturated
with Big Pharma's cash infusions. More ...
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Integrator Pot-Pourri: Academic Integrative Medicine, Marketplace, Business, 
Are Your Services Good for Employee Health and Productivity? IHPM's Employer-Focused Conference Includes Integrative Medicine and Complementary Healthcare Track
Was Your Discipline
Present at the NIH National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Stakeholder Dialogue?
Integrator Adviser Speaks: Levin on the Impact of the FDA's GMPs on the Dietary Supplement Industry
Professions and Politics: Possible AMA Scope of Practice Strategy, DCs Viewed Positively in Washington Post,
DC and ND on Washington Tech Assessment Committee, Reflections on
Leadership of AANP's Guiltinan, Indiana Regulates Massage, Role of
Tibetan Medicine
More Voices on Sicko: Integrator Advisers Manahan, Sportelli and Levin, plus Reviews from Shor and Barkley
Congress of Chiropractic State Associations Endorses
NCCAM Out of Compliance with Mandated Advisory Council Make-up: IHPC and ACCAHC Urge Correction
