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background resources in PDF |
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some CAM/IM publication links |
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Issues #33-#34- Sept 2007 |
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Written by John Weeks
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Issues #33 & #34 - September 2007
September 28, 2007 mailing - Issue #34September 28, 2007
Are effectiveness and cost-effectiveness the
most useful questions about natural healthcare and integrative
medicine? My guess is that for consumers, employers, government
agencies and policy makers, the answer is undeniably yes. Not so the
NIH. Since 2002, just 1% of the principal grant making at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has targeted these questions. The Integrator
reported last issue on an exciting new NCCAM initiative which may begin
to address this awful shortcoming. Here are the supporting data and the
recommendations from the Institute of Medicine that are behind the new
NCCAM program as presented by Richard Nahin, PhD, MPH, the NCCAM
officer in charge of this program. More ...
September 28, 2007
Bill Manahan, MD, a former
president of the American Board of Holistic Medicine believes it's time
from the ABHM to integrate its faculty ... Bill Wulsin, ND, LAc, MPH
(cand.) questions whether the arguments made in an Integrator article
by author Paul Loeb (The Impossible Will Take a Little While) will
convince anyone of the value of an alliance of CAM disciplines which
they see as a "CAM ghetto" ... Integrative oncology organizer Ann
Fonfa wonders at the ghetto created when separate officers were set up
in the NIH ... Entrepreneur Taylor Walsh, makes a case for the
complementary/integrative space being poised for lift off ... More ...
September 19, 2007
Vitamin Relief
USA, operating in 300 sites in 33 states, expands reach and programs
with change of name to Nourish America ... An in-school program
organized by naturopathic physicians is featured in the Institute for
Alternative Futures' newsletter for IAF's high profile Disparities
Reducing Advances Project ... The 63-year-old Foundation for
Chiropractic Education and Research changes leadership and embraces new
evidence-based resource project ... Acupuncturists Without Borders
engages Veteran's project ... Natural Doctors International, led by
Tabatha Parker, ND, to expand to 4 new countries, plus. More ...
September 19, 2007
American Association for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine pushes
acupuncture codes at WHO ICD meetings ... American Holistic Nurses
Association and American Nurses Association publish holistic nursing
text ... Leaders of homeopathic organizations see outreach power in
Dana Ullman, MPH's book on famous people who have used homeopathy ... American
Association of Naturopathic Physicians to assist US Department of Labor
in definition project ... Multi-disciplinary Integrated Healthcare
Policy Consortium reports plan to push anti-discrimination legislation
at the federal level ... American Massage Therapy Association media
campaign awarded ... American Holistic Medical Association leader
reports satisfaction with legislation passed in Louisiana in 2002 which
protects integrative and holistic practices by MDs. More ...
September 15, 2007
Recent Integrator columns
have explored the meaning of the FDA's current Good Manufacturing
Practices for dietary supplements. But what impact will these cGMPs
have on the actions of individual practitioners who prepare products
for their patients? Might they influence educational programs and
institutions where instruction in herbal preparations, for instance,
may be part of the clinical practicum? The American Association of
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) recently sent its members
advance notice of the AAAOM's analysis of these issues. Their answers
are yes, and yes, with caveats. Here are the AAAOM's key points. More ...
September 15, 2007
On receiving an invite to the November 8, 2007 Pioneers of Integrative Medicine Award Event of the Bravewell Collaborative, a Bravewell observer contacted the Integrator
with a question. Hasn't the Bravewell board changed significantly?
Hasn't it shrunk? The question is interesting for two reasons. The
Bravewell has had a profound influence in seeding and nurturing the
MD-centric part of the broader integration movement. And payment of the
Bravewell's $50,000 per year of dues earns one a seat on the board. I
took a look at the list of the boards in the invitations to the
Bravewell events for 2003, 2005 and 2007. Here are the comparative
lists and a little analysis and speculation. More ...
September 13, 2007 mailing - Issue #33September 13, 2007
Time for
congratulations. On September 5, 2007, the National Advisory Council to the NIH National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) affirmed a concept paper for a
new program. Finally, NCCAM will support "those studies examining the
effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of CAM as practiced in community
settings." Here is the concept paper, some commentary - appropriated from Dr. Seuss - and the link. There is much to be pleased about here.More...
September 13, 2007
Is the
growth of the $90-million Massage Envy due to the same principle as
that of group visits and community room acupuncture - meeting patient
needs? Lisa Rohleder, LAc, co-founder of Community Acupuncture Network and co-owner of Working Class Acupuncture,
offers a provocative perspective in response to two recent Integrator articles. She uses author Paul Hawken, in his influential new book, Blessed Unrest as a reference. Then Rohleder presents the struggle to create successful business models in complementary
healthcare as "a function of two classic attributes of adolescence: an unstable identity and extreme
self-centeredness." Might deeper connection with a service mission help integrative and natural healthcare models to thrive? More ...
September 12, 2007
Of the
licensed natural healthcare professions, chiropractic has far and away
the most third-party coverage. That profession's inclusion, despite a
hostile environment, is a function of an ongoing campaign involving
education, litigation, legislation and relationship-building. James
Rehberger, DC is chair of the Insurance and Managed Care Committee for
the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). I interviewed Rehberger
about the outcomes of ACA's multi-year campaign to better relationships
with insurers. I also asked about action related to discount products,
health savings accounts, battles with the CAM network American
Specialty Health Plans and the endorsement by another national
association of a managed care company, Alternative Medicine Integration
Group. More ...
September 10, 2007
Following a recent notice on the upcoming Scripps/American Board of Holistic Medicine (ABHM) conference, I commented
on the emergence of the "integrative holistic doctor." I then noted how
the educational content which leads to certification by the ABHM is
delivered entirely by MDs. I asked if this is appropriate since the
mission and principles statements associated with both Scripps and ABHM
speak directly to the importance of being able to work with
practitioners from other disciplines and systems. Lee Lipsenthal, MD,
an ABHM board member wrote back with an explanation. More ...
September 9, 2007
The struggle to
create successful business models in complementary healthcare appears
to have been licked by Scottsdale, Arizona-based Massage Envy. The
5-year-old firm, which offers convenient and inexpensive massages,
anticipates generating $90-million in 2007 at its 265 franchises. Some
15-20 more franchises are opening each month. Recently the firm began
marketing their memberships as an employee benefit
to the 2500 corporate members of Wellness Councils of America. The
model has some parallels in cost, convenience and access with the
Community Acupuncture Network business model. Is Massage Envy an
example of the emergence of a "thriving industry of health creation?" More ...
September 8, 2007
Kjersten Gmeiner, MD is a "group
visit" leader with Group Health Cooperative. Gmeiner, a board member of
the American Holistic Medicine Association, and believes that this
"innovative practice model" - which is being implemented at systems
like Cleveland Clinic and Kaiser Permanente - is a particularly good fit for
holistic practitioners: "If you have an educational or patient empowerment
focus, group visits are it." In this Integrator interview,
Gmeiner describes her incorporation of group visits in her practice, touches on
the national movement and speaks of the particular fit with whole person,
integrative and holistic healthcare. More ...
September 7, 2007
 Michael Levin
Integrator adviser Michael Levin continues with his analysis and commentary on the current
Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) finally published by the US Food
and Drug Administration. In this take, Levin looks at how the industry and
the FDA have defined "quality" and finds out they are not aligned. What
does this mean for practitioners and consumers? Levin brings it all
home for ginger lovers with his analysis of a July 2007 action on
imported ginger by a California regulatory agency. He credits AHPA, the
herb industry organization, for its demand that the FDA set the bar higher, and offers a forecast. More ...
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AAAOM Analysis: Neither Practitioners Nor Educational Institutions Exempt from FDA's cGMPs
Philanthropy: Is the Bravewell Collaborative for Integrative Medicine Losing Steam? - A Leadership Analysis, 2003-2007
Pure Blog: NCCAM to Examine "the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of CAM as Practiced in Community Settings"
Guest Rohleder: Meeting Patient Needs Links Successful Models of Massage Envy, Group Visit and Community Acupuncture
$90-Million Massage Enterprise, Massage Envy, Turns to Employee Benefits Market
