The Problem
Conventional Medicine as practiced in the United States today, has one way of looking at things. In an acute care setting can be an absolute lifesaver and thus it is important to incorporate this medicine as an vital treatment modality. It is Disease-centered, parcels the body up into different organ systems requiring many specialties to assess.
It has become a volume based business in which health care providers see many patients in a short timespan to maximize reimbursement and keep costs down. The shorter the appointment time, the less the patient can bring up, the less money he is going to cost the healthcare system. It rewards the use of physician extenders who see complicated patients with less than half the education and training of a physician and may be inadequately supervised. This system is driven to alleviate symptoms, not address the underlying cause. It focuses heavily on the use of pharmaceuticals because that is about all a provider has time for in a 10 minute appointment.
Integrative Medicine | Conventional Medicine |
---|---|
Patient-Centered | Disease-centered |
Searches for Root Causes | Symptom-based |
Nutraceutical emphasis | Pharmaceutical emphasis |
Holistic | System-based |
Modifies Lifestyle | Adds more medication |
Empowering | Fear-based |
Preventative/Proactive | Reactive |
Functional Assessment | Standard Diagnostic Testing |
Integrates many Medical Modalities | Allopathic |
Open-minded | Narrow-minded |
Psychospiritual Connection | Emphasis on the Physical Body |