Complementary Alternative Medicine & Integrative Medicine Models Reviews

A National Prescribing Survey (NPS) survey revealed that:

• Approximately 30% of GPs in Australia describe themselves as practising Integrative Medicine
• Two-thirds of Australian consumers have used one or at least one Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the previous 12 months
• 28% of Australian consumers use Complementary medicine regularly

So, the question arises, why there are relatively few Integrative Medicine (IM) centres in Australia. There is a lack of understanding of the concept of Integrative Medicine by the:

1. Healthcare professionals – some sceptics’ think that Integrative Medicine is a rebranding of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
2. General public –do not understand the concept of integration
3. Government- who follow the advice given by policy directors and have also not understood or recognised the value and benefits of Integrative healthcare/medicine
4. Few publicised successful models of Integrative Medicine centres
5. Being the last port of call – when all else has failed then conventional medical practitioners willingly refer patients to Integrative Medicine centres.

An immediate difficulty in understanding Integrative Medicine is that it has no uniform definition. Confusion has arisen from the variability of definitions and subsequent application of Integrative medicine. These are the current definitions of some of the commonly used models and practice;

1. A healthcare model that combines treatments from Conventional healthcare and Complementary  Alternative medicine for which there is some high-quality evidence of safety and effectiveness
2. Focuses on person-centered (holistic care) and uses all appropriate therapeutic approaches
3. Focuses on preventative maintenance of health by paying attention to all relative components of lifestyle
4. The integration of traditional, metaphysical and allopathy regardless of scientific evidence

The Benefits of Integrative Medicine Model

A few studies have estimated the cost-benefit of using Complementary  Alternative medicine therapy. For example;

• Vitamin supplementation has been shown to reduce hospital costs in US by$ 20 billion (Bendich et al 1997)
• In Peru they compared the results of patients from clinics and hospitals; treatments were compared for selected pathologies with the same degree of severity including: moderate osteoarthritis, back pain, anxiety neuroses, asthma, migraine headache and obesity. The overall cost effectiveness of Complementary Medicine was 56-63% higher than that of conventional treatments for these diseases (WHO traditional Medicine Strategy 2010)

If we consider the above examples, it follows that Integrative Medicine when structured in a framework with timelines rather than the standard referral system will yield better outcomes and reduce the burden in current healthcare system.

As our global population grows older and sicker, placing an ever-increasing strain on healthcare systems worldwide, a multi-disciplinary approach is required more than ever before. A structured, strategic and innovative Integrative Medicine model is now a necessity and not a luxury. Future blogs will discuss how these can be successfully implemented. These blogs will focus on how to strategize therapiesfor successful cost-effective clinical outcomes and how to generate a healthy revenue growth.

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