Use and Effectiveness of a Model Integrative Care Clinic in an Academic Hospital: Study 1-Survey

Brigham and Women's Hospital1,509 enrolled

Overview

Despite widespread and growing popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the US, there currently exist significant gaps in our knowledge regarding CAM use, clinical effectiveness, safety and cost- effectiveness. With previous funding support from NCCAM, the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Osher Research Center established and trained a multidisciplinary integrative team of CAM and conventional providers to work collaboratively to provide state-of-the-art "integrative care" in a coordinated and individualized fashion. The Osher Integrative Care Center (OCC) was opened in fall 2007, physically located within the Ambulatory Care Center of the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) at 850 Boylston Street in Chestnut Hill, MA. The focus of this survey study is to characterize the decision-making process of both patients and conventional providers with respect to communication about and referral to an integrative care team in an academic hospital outpatient setting.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

1,509

Conditions

Medical Care

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 21 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * New patient coming into Osher Clinical Center for any medical reason. * Physician affiliated with any of included division/department (see above). Exclusion Criteria: * Patient has been seen at Osher Clinical Center within past 3 months for any reason.

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Characterization of decision-making process for patients of CAM therapies and conventional providers

Surveys will be sent to: 1) 1500 consecutive new patients seen at the OCC over 3.5 years, to characterize the chief complaints; their medical history; referral sources; communication with their physicians; barriers to use of CAM; views regarding and previous use of CAM; and expectations for CAM therapy as adjuncts to their conventional care; 2) 300 BWH physicians from five divisions (Women's Health, Orthopedics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Medicine, and Rheumatology) most likely to refer to the OCC, to assess their use of, feelings about, and knowledge of CAM.

Time frame: 3.5 years