Common forms of CAM include:
| • | Acupuncture and acupressure |
| • | Aromatherapy |
| • | Chiropractic care |
| • | Massage therapy |
| • | Meditation |
| • | Nutrition |
| • | Tai Chi |
| • | Yoga |
Employer focus
Holistic medicine goes mainstream
To stem the tide of rising health care costs, employers have shifted their perspective of wellness ROI in favor of building cultures of health. They have challenged employees to assume the role of health and health care consumer and offered them supportive environments and resources to make behavior and lifestyle changes. What is the next step on the path to decreasing medical spending – and to developing happier, healthier employees? Progressive employers are taking a look down a road less traveled and incorporating integrative holistic medicine into their organizations and their health plans.
What is it?
According to Minnesota Medicine, integrative holistic medicine is a healing-oriented approach to medicine that looks at the whole person – body, mind, and spirit – and uses appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative, to improve the health of an individual. This approach addresses the fundamentals of lifestyle and self-care which correspond directly to the preventive health model and mindset many employers are trying to instill in their employees.
Despite its novel sounding title, integrative medicine is far from a fringe approach. The number of people considering and accessing complementary and alternative therapies, versus conventional medicine treatment options alone, is growing. According to the July 2009 report released by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medication (NCCAM), 39 percent of Americans use CAM therapies, spending $33.9 billion of their own money to do so.
Generally, those who choose complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for health care are seeking new ways to improve their health and well-being or to relieve symptoms associated with chronic illnesses for which conventional treatments have provided little or no relief. Other reasons for choosing CAM therapies include a desire to subscribe to a holistic health philosophy and wanting to take greater control over one’s own health.
From an employer perspective, integrative medicine may be just what the doctor ordered for transforming medical spending within their organizations. According to Mary Jo Kreitzer, Ph.D., R.N., director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, “what we have had until now is a disease-management model that pays for coronary bypass surgery, but won’t pay for the nutrition and exercise counseling that can help prevent heart disease.” Kreizter recently testified before the U.S. Senate on the impact integrative medicine can have on health care reform.
The ongoing interest in consumer-directed health care makes considering – and implementing – CAM therapy timely. Employers providing consumer-directed health plans need employees to become savvier health care consumers and decision makers. According to a study of managed care plan members in the state of Minnesota (published on the web site of the American College of Physicians), CAM use was higher among individuals who said they wanted a high level of involvement with their health care decisions. The message is very clear: helping employees access appropriate CAM treatments, products and services can reinforce the responsible approach to individual health care that is the cornerstone of consumer-directed health care.
Forging new alliances
Increasingly, health plan insurers are helping to make CAM therapies available to members. Some health plans offer discounts or reduced rates on certain CAM treatments (sometimes through a preferred provider-type of network), on over-the-counter vitamins or supplements or on natural products, such as aromatherapy. Typically, discounts are through arrangements the insurer has negotiated with the provider or vendor of the CAM product or service.
Billing itself as a “global well-being company,” Healthways in Franklin, TN has been offering alternative solutions for three decades to decrease healthcare costs and enhance performance. According to Healthways, 60 percent of adults utilize less traditional, integrative health care services; a number even higher than reported by the CDC. To satisfy the growing consumer desire for more care options – and in response to demand from health plans and employers – Healthways has created a program called WholeHealth Living . This program provides access to CAM practitioners and therapies to supplement overall health and wellness education.
State governments are jumping on the CAM bandwagon as well, making such coverage mandatory. A leader in the integrative holistic medicine movement for more than 25 years, the State of Minnesota passed the Equal Access to Acupuncture Act in 2009. This new law guarantees that consumers have access to a qualified provider of acupuncture for conditions covered by their medical insurance.
Changing the dialogue
Holistic. Self-help. Prevention. Well-being. Regardless of the labels used, the goal of integrative medicine is not only to lower medical spending, but also to find the right combination of treatment and therapies that produce the best long-term health outcomes. Brent Bauer, M.D., director of Mayo’s complementary and integrative medicine program in Rochester, MN hopes integration replaces all of the various terms used today. “In the future, we will refer to the best possible therapies for each individual as ‘just good medicine,’” he says.
Sources
CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Statistics Report, December 10, 2008.
Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal, October/November 2009.
Minnesota Health Care News, January 2010.
Minnesota Medicine (multiple articles), May 2009.
USI Affinity, Employee Benefits Newsletter, February 2008.
