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FON: THE BUSINESS OF INTEGRATIVE HEALTH & MEDICINE

Free Access: Seminal Paper on Integrating Top 10 Dietary Supplements Into Cancer Care

A new paper titled Integrating Dietary Supplements Into Cancer Care, authored by the Clinical Practice Committee of the Society for Integrative Oncology, will be published in the October/November 2013 edition of SAGE’s Integrative Cancer Therapies, edited by Keith I. Block, MD. SAGE has graciously made the article available, accessible here for 30 days, starting September 1, 2013. A significant portion of cancer patients are now using dietary supplements. However, patients

Integrative Medicine: Solution to Primary Care Crisis?

Reading the striking 80-plus-page report, Meeting the Nation’s Primary Care Needs, led by Dr. Michael S. Goldstein from UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research and John Weeks, executive director of Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC), made clear to me that the tipping point for integrative medicine as the standard of care is nearing. The Goldstein/Weeks report, published by ACCAHC, is responsive to innovative care structures emphasized

Of Course Preventive Medicine Will Save Money—But Not the Government’s Current Definition of the Intervention

Sharon Begley’s recent Reuters piece, Think Preventive Medicine Will Save Money? Think Again, brought renewed attention to the seemingly low economic benefits of preventive medicine, as currently defined. New findings are out from Trust for America’s Health’s new report, and their outlined plan “to move from sick care to health care in four years.” Begley’s piece homed in on screenings that have shown positive economic impact, such as education efforts

PCORI Includes ‘CAM’ in First Funding Announcement

PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute) is the independent non-governmental (like Institute of Medicine) entity mandated from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. With over $1 billion dollars in hand to be used exclusively for comparative effectiveness research over the next seven years, the Institute is charged with investigating the “relative health outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness” of various medical interventions, products and procedures by assessing existing studies and implementing

UPDATE: Insurance Coverage for Integrative Healthcare Services in 2014

Section 2706 of the Affordable Care Act prevents health insurance plans from capriciously excluding a range of integrative health practitioners from coverage, based solely on licensure. The law empowers patients to obtain care from any licensed provider in a state for a specific benefit covered through an exchange health plan. Specifically, this includes licensed naturopathic doctors, acupuncture and Oriental medicine practitioners, midwives, chiropractic doctors and massage therapists. Recently Integrator Blog

Yoga Milestone—First CME-Approved Conference Supports Therapeutic Value

The Mountain Pose Medicine & Yoga Symposium took place in gorgeous Copper Mountain, Colorado August 22—26, 2012. The seminal gathering marked the first CME (continuing medical education) accredited program for yoga in the United States. The annual Mountain Pose Medicine & Yoga Symposium is the brainchild of Satkirin Khalsa, MD, a longtime yoga instructor, integrative medicine physician and scientific program chair of the conference. Khalsa is deeply concerned about the

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

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 is

Integrative Oncology Featured at ASCO Annual 2011 Meeting

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

HHS Shuns Congressional Intent on ACA’s Practitioner Non-Discrimination Language

In an April 24, 2015 e-mail made available to the Integrator by Mike Jawer of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP), the US. Department of Health and Human Services effectively told those following “non-discrimination in health care” (Section 2706) that HHS will not, anytime soon, abide by the law. The background, captured in this article, relates to Section 2706 Non-Discrimination in Health Care of the Affordable Care Act. More