News

IHPC strongly endorses the bi-partisan formation of this important education and community learning resource for members of Congress as non-pharmacologic treatment options for pain management and addressing opioid-driven addiction become central to US health care and public policy.

IHPCs joins integrative health partner organizations to establish the Moving Beyond Medications campaign to emphasize the value of non-pharmacologic treatments for pain and opioid addiction. This position has been emphasized itself by the actions of 37 state attorneys general urging insurance payers to reimburse these treatment options. See the NAAG letter here.

Seasoned Advocacy Leader, Susan Haeger, Appointed Interim ED — After four years leading significant growth of IHPC, Executive Director Alyssa Wostrel has stepped down to focus on new professional opportunities. Veteran policy and advocacy leader, and IHPC board member, Susan Haeger, has taken the reins as interim Executive Director of IHPC.

In this short video, IHPC Executive Director Alyssa Wostrel speaks to the policy imperatives IHPC has pursued in support of Section 2706, the non-discrimination provisions of the ACA. Read More

IHPC submits “Comments on proposed 2016 Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain” to Centers for Disease Control. Letter available here. Read More

CAM professions are too often defined politically — by treatment modalities — rather than by full professional scopes, preventing licenses being honored in insurance coverage. Read More

IHPC and AIHM encourage the new NAM to embed integrative practitioners into its important initiatives such as Healthy America, and Grand Challenges in Health and Medicine. Read More

In August, IHPC’s Alyssa Wostrel introduced the real-world experience and benefits of integrative pain care to policy and legislative leaders of several of the nation’s primary pain advocacy organizations Read More

In addition to their important leadership experience in integrative health, Elizabeth Goldblatt and Martha Menard have contributed 20 years of volunteerism to ACCAHC. Read More

AANP is partnering with The Foundation for Care Management (FCM) to accredit naturopathic education programs for MDs, NPs, PAs, dietitians and others in the health care team. Read More

The Oregon Association for Naturopathic Physicians is preparing for its 20th Annual Conference in Portland in December and is accepting abstracts until June 30. Read More

IHPC congratulates John for his 8+ years of innovative leadership as ACCAHC’s Executive Director. He led many important initiatives with colleagues during this seminal time. Read More

IHPC is one of 38 organizations providing live testimony to an FDA review panel as part of its two-day hearings evaluating the current regulatory framework for homeopathy. Read More

John Weeks, Publisher and Editor, ‘Integrator Blog News & Reports’, publishes his latest edition of his annual Integrator Top 10 list for the emerging field of integrative health and medicine. Read more…

IHPC’s Call to Action on “The Expanding Care for Veterans Act” — H.R. 4887 — which would expand Federal support for complementary and integrative health (CIH) services for veterans — has generated more than 1900 letters of support . Read More

On September 29, 2014, more than 125 leaders and advocates for CAM and integrative healthcare met at the Georgetown University Conference Center to attend an invitational policy symposium entitled “A Call to Action on Integrative Health and Medicine Policy, Advancing the Legacy of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.” Presentations assessed the state of the complementary and integrative health field in light of Senator Harkin’s immeasurable vision and legislative efforts in the last 20-plus years. Morning Session “From the 2010 Stakeholder Report Forward: Integrative Health in the ACA:  Where Have We Come From?  Where Do We Go Next?” Moderator, Len Wisneski, MD, and IHPC chair. Speakers included: Michael Traub, ND: Non-Discrimination in Health Care Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT: The National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council Christine Goertz DC, PhD: The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Courtney Baechler, MD: Integration in Practice:  Accountable Care and Patient Centered Medical Homes John Weeks: Healthcare Workforce Interprofessional Practice and Education   Keynote: Eric Schoomaker MD, PhD, former Surgeon General, US Army Introduced by Wayne Jones MD, CEO, Samueli Institute “The Imperative for Integrative Health and Medicine in the United States”   Afternoon Session “Emerging Trends and Opportunities in Integrative Health & Medicine” Moderator: Margaret Chesney, PhD, Chair, the Consortium of Academic Health Centers of Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM). Speakers included: Josephine Briggs, MD: “Building the Capacity for Real World Effectiveness Research for Integrative Health” Clem Bezold, PhD: “intersecting Futures for Public Health, Primary Care and Integrative Health and Medicine” Christopher D’Adamo: “Mission Thrive and Nature as Health” Wayne Jonas MD: “Creating Wellbeing Leadership Group” Ahmed Calvo, MD, MPH: “Wholistic Approaches to Community Health and Wellbeing”   Gerry Clum, DC, moderated the following small group discussions: “Where Do We Go From Here.” Mary Jo Kreitzer, RN, PhD, FAAN offered reflections on the day at the close of the program. Testimonial Dinner for Sen. Harkin The symposium was followed with a reception and dinner program honoring Sen. Tom Harkin, who was introduced by U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski.  Tributes were made by the major sponsors of the event including Life University, the Institute for Integrative Health, Georgetown University, the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care, the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine, the Integrative Healthcare Policy Consortium and the Samueli Institute.

The US Senate’s primary supporters of integrative health and medicine, Sens. Tom Harkin and Barbara Mikulski have moved for the second straight year — and the Senate has passed unanimously — a resolution declaring this week Naturopathic Medicine Week. Read More

Creating a defined new place — and role — for licensed complementary, alternative and integrative health practitioners in the nation’s redefined workforce: the Community Health Center. Read More

The national leadership of the integrative health and medicine fields meets in Washington Sept. 29 to honor the contributions of retiring US Sen. Tom Harkin. Harkin has been the leading voice on Capitol Hill demanding inclusion of integrative therapies in the country’s healthcare system. Read More

This Fall, IHPC will launch its consumer-facing education and information web site CoverMyCare which recently appeared in The Integrator Blog, and the integrative health business and marketing web site FON Therapeutics. Read More…

Follow this summary to download a IHPC’s response to the “Request for Information Regarding Provider Non-Discrimination” sent in early June to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Read More…

IHPC grant from Emerson Ecologics will support creation of an important reference booklet on the cost-effectiveness of integrative health services, in data and in patient stories. Read more…

John Blum on Section 2706: Opportunities for CAM … in major areas of population health … to better utilize alternative practitioners, not as re-invented primary care doctors but as licensed professionals within their current scopes of practice.
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Senate and House briefings on “Easing the US Healthcare Crisis: The Role of Integrative Health Care” brought CACHCIM and Allina Health Systems together with IHPC for presentations for congressional staff. Read more…

IHPC strongly endorses the letter from its partner, the Coalition for Patients’ Rights (CPR) to the FTC supporting agency efforts “to address the negative effects of healthcare monopolies on patients.” Read more…