College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences webinar: A look at current outcomes of the Affordable Care Act for Integrative Medicine and Healthcare

Collage%20of%20photos - College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences webinar: A look at current outcomes of the Affordable Care Act for Integrative Medicine and Healthcare
Dr. Luann Fortune and Lindsay Johnson Chang

Webinar: November 18, 2015 – 5:30pm to 7pm Pacific Time

Saybrook University’s College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences will present a webinar on Wednesday evening November 18 on the outcomes and opportunities that the Affordable Care Act has created for integrative healthcare.

The College invites all Saybrook instructors and students and any interested others to join us for the webinar.  In this open session, faculty member Dr. Luann Fortune and doctoral student Lindsay Johnson Chang will offer an assessment of outcomes associated with implementation of the ACA, including the current atmosphere surrounding its use, effects, public opinion, political environment, and potential implications for the trends of the future. They will also explain how certain provisions of the ACA encourage practices related to integrative medicine.

The two-part presentation and discussion is planned as a friendly, scholarly conversation for those interested in integrative healthcare systems.

Part 1: The Affordable Care Act: Can It Improve the Status of the U.S. Healthcare System?

Lindsay Johnson Chang

This presentation discusses the current status of the U.S. healthcare system and explores how key elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may help to improve it.  The discussion includes information about world health care rankings, a summary of key elements of the Affordable Care Act, and what has happened with the ACA since March 2010 in terms of results, issues, and attitudes.

Bio-sketch:  Lindsay Johnson Chang is a second-year doctoral student in the Healthcare Systems track of the CIMHS program.  She currently works for VOX Telehealth as Vice President of Program Management, where she develops online platforms to enhance patient engagement, education, and compliance in high-cost areas such as orthopedic surgery and palliative care.  She has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biomedical engineering from Duke and UT-Austin, respectively.  She also spent 10 years in the medical device industry making implants for cartilage repair and bone regeneration.  She is interested in developing tools to help transform the healthcare system.  She resides in Austin with her husband Joseph and puppy Chloe.

Part 2:  The Affordable Care Act and Opportunities for Integrative Medicine and Healthcare

Luann Drolc Fortune

Integrative medicine and healthcare proponents claim that the Affordable Care Act has opened a window of opportunity for clinical practices and practitioners.  However, the size and life-span of that opening remains unclear.  If we define integration in terms of integrative medicine services (which is one way that integrative medicine shows up in surveys), then a point of entry and expansion is via the integrative medicine practitioners themselves.  Accordingly, the Affordable Care Act offers one opportune portal through the non-discrimination clauses of the law.  This aspect is receiving some attention from proponents and advocates of Complementary and Alternative Medicine services (e.g., the professional associations for chiropractors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists) because of perceived opportunity.  However, others argue that the regulatory impact of national healthcare policy is limited.  This brief presentation will focus on the provisions that could provide support for integrative medicine practitioners working in practice throughout the U.S.

Bio-sketch: Luann Fortune, LMT, PhD is Director of Instructional Excellence and the Practice and Health Care Systems (HCS) Specializations in Saybrook’s College of Integrative Medicine and Health Systems.  She teaches research and HCS courses, and mentors individual students and supervises research projects.  Luann also has extensive management background in the private sector, and owned and operated a private practice delivering wellness consultation, educational services, and consulting to businesses and individuals in the greater Washington, DC area.  Her research focuses on the holistic aspects of massage and alternative wellness practices, as well as somatic awareness and embodiment techniques for scholarship, research, and practice.  Her writings and publications span multiple disciplines, invoke systems thinking, and promote translational value in scholarship and practice.  Many of her conference papers are published on ResearchGate:  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luann_DROLC_Fortune 

Luann currently lives in southwest Florida where she often works on her balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and Sanibel Island.

Anyone who wishes to attend must register in advance for the Webinar. Please register at the following link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9192566290260082434

Individuals who would like to learn more about the Affordable Care Act before the Webinar, may wish to review the following recent publications:

 

References

Brookings Institute (2015, March 20).  Employment impacts of the Affordable Care Act.  Retrieved from

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/health360/posts/2015/03/20-aca-five-years-employment-impact-burtless (Links to an external site.)

Edgren, L. (2008). The meaning of integrated care: A systems approach. International Journal Integrative Care, 8, e68-73. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2581661/pdf/ijic2008-200868….

Horrigan, B., Lewis, S., Abrams, D., & Pechura, C. (2012). Integrative Medicine in America:  How integrative medicine is being practiced in clinical settings across the United States. Minneapolis, MN: The Bravewell Collaborative. Retrieved from http://www.bravewell.org/content/Downlaods/IMinAm.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Jacobson, (2015, Feb 24).  Did the health care law give ‘elevated legitimacy’ to alternative medicine?  Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/feb/24/jonah-goldberg/did-aca-give-elevated-legitimacy-alternative-medic/

Kulesher, R. (2012). The evolution of U.S. health care delivery policy

. LaupusLibrary. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcOvZ0Fn0_Y

Maizes, V., Rakel, D., & Niemiec, C. (2009). Integrative medicine and patient-centered care: IOM Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public. February, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Quality/IntegrativeMed/Integrative%20Medicine%20and%20Patient%20Centered%20Care.pdf (Links to an external site.)

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Healthcare (NCCIH) (2015).  Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: What’s in a name?  NCCIH Pub No. D347.  Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health website: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/integrative-health

Pear, R. (2015, June 19).  Mixed Effects Are Seen on an Affordable Care Act Repeal.  New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/20/us/politics/mixed-effects-are-seen-on-…

Prasad, K., Ziegenfuss, J. Y., Cha, S. S., Sood, A., & Tilburt, J. C. (2013). Characteristics of exclusive users of Mind-Body Medicine vs. other alternative medicine approaches in the United States. Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, 9(4), 219-225. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2013.04.001 (Links to an external site.)   (Saybrook University library: ScienceDirect Health & Life Sciences College Edition database.)

Robertson, L. (2015, June 11).  Obama Exaggerates Effects Of Affordable Care Act.  Huffington Post.  Retrieved fro http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/11/obama-affordable-care-act_n_756…