Estimating the Economic Impact of Integrative Healthcare CJ Rhoads, D.Ed., Kutztown University, PO Box 730, PA, United States Overview The purpose of this research is to investigate different options to estimate the economic impact of integrative medicine to individuals/families, to insurance companies, to employers, and to the healthcare providers if it were used routinely as part of the standard of care. Public healthcare decisions are different than individual healthcare decisions. When considering healthcare decisions for one person, the resources of the individual can be assessed in conjunction with the proposed outcome for that one individual. But when considering an entire population of people, researchers must be mindful of both patient outcome and resources available to treat the population. This panel will bring together several different people from several different areas of expertise to work on solving the problem of demonstrating and communicating a way of lowering the cost of health care by incorporating low-cost integrative healthcare solutions into the Standard of Care followed by physicians throughout the country. Currently, even if physicians wanted to incorporate integrative healthcare, they may risk censure from insurance companies, other physicians, medical boards and other organizations because the medical system does not recognize the value of many integrative health practices despite the growing body of evidence. This panel will discuss opportunities and programs to evaluate the economic impact, which might convince others of the value of these practices, especially when dealing with chronic health problems. Rationale There has been quite a bit of upheaval recently in the healthcare community due to the legislative changes, most notably attempts to overturn, repeal, and/or replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which was signed into law in March of 2010. Change provides interesting times, which causes a lot of energy being directed at the proposed change, both positive and negative. The number of academic articles on this topic has exploded, eclipsed perhaps only by the heaps of articles regarding Obamacare itself. The United States has gone beyond the critical point in a healthcare crisis. According to the Population Reference Bureau, over forty-six million Americans are over 65, and the percentage is growing each year as the baby boomers enter their senior years. By 2060 there will be 98 million over the age of 65; 24% of the population (as compared to 15% today). People are living longer, too. By 2050 there will be over 600,000 centenarians in this country. Medicare's hospital insurance fund is projected to run out of money by 2024. The basic healthcare system developed to handle broken arms and traumatic accidents is not optimized for the chronic illnesses which are so common among older people. The resulting crisis is bankrupting the nation, lowering healthcare quality and increasing healthcare costs everywhere. The first attempt to help with rising healthcare costs was the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare. As the current administration continues to attempt to repeal Obamacare, the healthcare world is in a state of flux. According to the Chronic Disease Report published by the CDC, each year we spend 128 billion on patients with arthritis, 148 billion dollars on patients with Alzheimer's disease, 174 billion dollars on patients with preventable type II diabetes, and over 432 billion dollars on heart disease and stroke. There are also other costs that are impacted, though not typically thought of as directly healthcare. For example, the 2011 annual federal budget allocated $1.7 billion for drug abuse prevention programs and $3.9 billion for treatment services, an amount which is dwarfed by the $15.5 billion spent on domestic law enforcement and imprisonment for drug abusers. The disconnected, bureaucratic, and for-profit competitive nature of our current healthcare system eats up more than 30% of the expenditures in unnecessary administrative costs and procedures. There are many proposals for lowering the costs of healthcare, but there is little empirical data to suggest which of the many proposals would provide the most efficient and effective answer to the healthcare crisis dilemma while simultaneously improving both the quality and quantity of a healthy life. Objectives This research will investigate the possibility that Integrative Healthcare Practices might influence the overarching economic issues facing public healthcare systems today. After participants have attended this panel, they will be able to... 1. Understand the current economic issues facing healthcare, especially public healthcare. 2. Recognize the role of economics in the current decision-making process and documented standard of care. 3. Delineate several unique attributes of healthcare that make typical economic research inaccurate. 4. Identify several different options for resolving the current economic issues. 5. Analyze the role of Integrative Healthcare Practices might have in resolving the economic issues. 6. Contribute to the brainstorming of possibilities for researching, demonstrating, and communicating that analysis. Methods/Session Format The panel would be composed of representatives from different aspects of publish health decision-making: Medical Doctor Health Economist Public Health Administrator Patient Advocate Integrative Healthcare Practitioner After the moderator provides an overview of the issues, obstacles, and lays out the problem of current healthcare system (disjointed, rising prices, ineffective treatments, wasted admin costs, etc.) each panelist would provide their response for solving the problem in a 10-15 minute presentation. The moderator would then take questions from the audience (or provide questions to the panelists) for the remaining time of the presentation. Optimum timeframe for this panel would be 90 minutes. Once the topic for the panel has been approved, the moderator will contact the already-vetted list of experts for each role, and will approach them in order to invite them to serve on the panel until all the roles have been fulfilled. Those who are on the list are already established in their field, and have demonstrated the ability to speak well on their expertise. Outline Current economic issues Rising costs Administrative and overtreatment waste Difficulty of dealing with chronic health issues Difficulty of dealing with growing senior population Influence of surgical and medical device industry Influence of pharmaceutical industry Influence of information technology industry Difficulties Third-party payer system Limited knowledge of domain by patients (i.e. customers/consumers) Social influences on decision making Entrenched Standards of Care Malpractice insurance issues Discussed solutions Changing the payment model Expanding covered expenses Torte reform Education Telehealth Role of Integrative Healthcare practices Lower cost alternative to high-priced treatments More effective with fewer side effects Strongly rejected by majority of physicians Growing research base of evidence Possibilities for Researching, Demonstrating, Communicating Behavioral Double-Blind Students Sources of Funding for Research Clarification of Options Comparison of Treatments Other methodologies RETURN TO ABSTRACT OVERVIEW