Integrative Medicine Summit

Healthcare reform now. There's talk in Washington, now let's see some action. In February, I attended the Institute of Medicine (IOM) "Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public" in Washington, DC. The IOM's tagline is "Advising the Nation. Improving Health." - and it does just that as it frequently releases reports to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. With the modest naturopathic representation at the meeting, I have hope that when change happens, NDs will be included.

The Summit opened voicing the need for "patient-centered" care that includes multiple modalities of care and a focus on prevention. The speakers that morning, who were mostly reknown MDs, were describing naturopathic medicine, yet disguised as what they called "integrative medicine". In integrative medicine, 1) the physician acts more as a mentor (Docere), 2) there needs to be continuity of care, 3) the focus should be not on disease but on health & prevention (Prevention), 4) the patient ought to be empowered instead of ordered by the physician, and 5) physicians should identify and minimize risk instead of "find it & fix it" (Tolle Causam). The Summit only shed light on the problem, what needs to change, and how to do it. One topic discussed is that to truly have a patient-centered approach, there needs to be team-care with use of electronic medical records. Other topics included: integrative medicine models, the science behind integrative medicine (mind/body/spirit, the environment, and social economic status), CAM modalities, and the workforce & education. After two-and-a-half days, it ended with the feasibility of healthcare reform. The economic burden of chronic disease was discussed, as well as the insurer’s perspective. Can this happen? The reality is that that healthcare reform involves changes in education, policy, behavior, and attitudes.

I would like to thank the Institute for Natural Medicine (INM) for sending me to this informative and inspiring Summit. I left Washington with hope. In the workforce orientation discussion, Dr. Richard Cooper said that there will be a (primary care) physician shortage and projected that by 2025, it will be down by 20%. Senator Tom Harkin mentioned that: "we cannot just rely on people with white coats and a MD behind their name". This country will need to reach out to chiropractors, nurse practitioners, naturopaths, and others to fulfill the growing need for primary care. Some MDs and lawmakers are aware of this, I only hope that others are listening and concur.