FON: THE BUSINESS OF INTEGRATIVE HEALTH & MEDICINE

Social Media: Opportunity or Risk for Growing Integrative Medicine Practices?

By Glenn Sabin Today more integrative medicine professionals than ever are using social media sites like LinkedIn for peer-to-peer connections that span the globe and allow for the sharing of ideas. Facebook has over 2 billion monthly users. Twitter has over 300 million monthly users. While it’s hard to ignore this explosive growth, many integrative medicine clinics have not jumped on the social media train to engage current and prospective patients

The Role of Philanthropy in the Evolution of Integrative Medicine

By Glenn Sabin Over time philanthropy has contributed greatly to the maturation of integrative medicine/oncology clinical programs. This is especially true within the academic medical center setting, and has had a profound effect on the growing consumer base of integrative medical services and natural products–an industry now estimated at over $50 billion annually. Philanthropic leaders with a passion for integrative care have helped give these services a formal presence in some

How to maximize readership of your blog content

By Glenn Sabin This is the third post in a series of three.Why Your Blog Strategy is So ImportantCreating a Sustainable Blog Strategy for Your Integrative Center Once your new blog strategy is up and running, you are on your way to creating interesting, relevant content around your center’s (brand’s) integrative medicine mission.  Creating great content is an important start, but now you’re ready for your content to be read more

Why You Should Attend This Year’s Society for Integrative Oncology Conference

By Glenn Sabin If your center provides conventional or integrative oncology care with medical oncologists on staff, or otherwise offers supportive cancer care services across a spectrum of interventions–i.e., nutritional support,  exercise physiology, mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques, acupuncture and psychosocial counseling–you should attend at the Eighth International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO), November 10-12, 2011 at the InterContinental Hotel and Conference Center in Cleveland, Ohio. This year’s CME event

A Patient’s Perspective on the Atlantic’s “The Triumph of New Age Medicine”

By Glenn Sabin Photo on left by Stephen Webster, as seen in the Atlantic article: The Triumph of New Age Medicine (Note: For those of you who missed David H. Freedman’s piece in the July 2011 edition of the Atlantic, I urge you to read it and the debate that followed.  This post was originally intended as a response to appear on the Atlantic’s Web site, but that debate has since closed.) I have employed an

5 Reasons Why Content is King for Growing Integrative Medicine Services

By Glenn Sabin   Does your center have a content creation and distribution strategy? Consumers interested in a patient-centered approach to their healthcare spend a lot of time learning about preventive medicine and general wellness.  When they or a family member face a health challenge, they are quick to consult the Web for their health information needs.  So when it comes to evidence-based integrative medicine, your center or clinic has a

Leveraging the Science

By Glenn Sabin Most integrative medicine clinics and centers do a poor job communicating to their patients and prospective patients about the evidence supporting their clinical recommendations and interventions. While it’s accurate to say that the science base for integrative medicine is a mere fraction of that for conventional interventions and pharmaceuticals, the amount of quality research and positive outcomes is growing steadily. Now is the time for integrative centers to

Integrative Oncology Featured at ASCO Annual 2011 Meeting

By Glenn Sabin Integrative oncology research and discussions will be featured prominently during the ASCO 2011 Annual Meeting this weekend in Chicago, with several presenters among Society for Integrative Oncology leadership. After many years advocating for integrative oncology research to be presented at the meeting, I am pleased to note that evidence-based complementary interventions are becoming part of the vanguard for oncology care, driven be consumer demand and a growing science base. The

H.R. 3590 & Executive Order 13544–Integrative Medicine Game Changers?

By Glenn Sabin House Resolution 3590, aka the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and House Resolution 4872, aka the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, combined to create the monumental healthcare reform law of 2010. Executive Order 13544, a requirement under H.R. 3590, established the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. Over time this executive order may profoundly change our healthcare delivery model. In