Resources To Stay Informed
Integrative Medicine- The Time Is Right
It’s hard to believe that we’ve been debating the best way to provide health care in our country for well over 100 years. “Compulsory health care” (universal health care) was introduced by Teddy Roosevelt as part of his Progressive Party strategy in the early 1900s. Back then, the system was uncertain how much it wanted the government to be involved with our health care decisions and how health care was delivered. Even though nothing happened then, health care was introduced as a political issue for the first time. (A little tidbit for perspective- we’ve been talking a long time)
During this time we’ve talked a lot about different approaches to change the health care delivery system. But, either private interest challenged it, public interest didn’t support it, or other items buried it in the list of priorities. We’ve made incremental changes here and there, but nothing that changes the basic way health care is delivered or changes the direction we were (and are) inevitably heading. So, over 100 years later, we’ve patched together a system that is confusing, fragmented, expensive, and (for the most part) has been designed around providing “sick care” as opposed to “health care” for our citizens.
This month, we’re going to talk about a concept that makes a ton of sense- and could help make a dramatic shift in our way of thinking about health care delivery; integrative medicine and complementary medicine. We’ve followed the integrative/complementary medicine industry for some time and have always been fascinated with the possibilities with its application- but, the concept has never moved as far along as it should. We think its time to stop the debating and the turf protection that has become part of our current system mind-set, and collaborate together to take some real action with exploring innovations that can make a difference. Integrative medicine is an idea that could make a dramatic influence in changing the focus of health care delivery today. Let’s see if we can move it along.
