Many chiropractor practices are exploring or including medical integration into their practices. The objective is to serve their patients better and improve the efficiency and efficacy of treatments.
Medical integration can happen on a number of levels. Integrations can vary from simple therapies to complex stem cell applications. The more thorough the integration, the more extensive help they can provide for the patient.
Each practice generally takes a slightly different approach to how deep and the nature of the integration becomes. Some of the most successful practices, like Adjustin Chiropractic, have formed partnerships with many of the top experts in each field to offer the widest range of integrations possible.
What is medical integration?
Chiropractor medical integration in the practice of complementary therapies working together in unison to achieve better patient outcomes. Up until fifteen years or so, chiropractor practices would largely be standalone clinics concentrating on core chiropractor services with perhaps one or two complementary therapies.
The situation has altered in that a more integrated approach to medical care was seen as the way forward. This has been driven by patients, chiropractors themselves and insurance companies who saw economies available in a more integrated system.
Integration has gradually become more profound as the imagined benefits have become realized. It is even now not uncommon to see Medical doctors and Doctors of Osteopathy working together. However, whatever the integration, it is clear a more holistic approach, with a broad range of other treatments being available under the same practice, is the way forward.
Which therapies are considered complementary
The depth of integration will vary from practice to practice but the directional travel is for the integration to go as deep as possible. On the more focused scale, a chiropractor clinic could coalesce around core functional medical therapies such as neuropathy, acupuncture, massage, and naturopathy among others.
On a more extensive scale, practices can form partnerships to provide more complex medical integration, including fields such as regenerative therapies using advanced stem cell research procedures.
Irrespective of depth, multi-speciality models are now becoming the norm, with patients rightly demanding more from their chosen clinics.
Access to regenerative therapy
Medical therapies are advancing at a fast rate. Science is providing new ways in which we can deal with health problems. A clinic that has decided to follow the path of deeper medical integration has more opportunities to access and better use these therapies for their patients.
Regenerative therapy has proven to be a significant innovation in the field of Osteopathy. It provides a way of fixing what was previously considered just manageable, but using stem cell technologies to regrow degenerated tissues, revolutionises the ability to treat long-term chronic pain
How does medical integration benefit chiropractors
Besides being able to provide their patients with a more holistic process, the control of the process and efficiencies that result from a multi-speciality model are the principal benefits of medical integration for the chiropractor.
Control of the process is possibly the most crucial aspect. Prior to integration, the chiropractor would only have the ability to influence one part of the treatment process. Knowing that the patient might need a broader range of health treatments, he would have to place the patient in “new hands” for these separate procedures.
Other practitioners would rightly concentrate on their own field and the patient would be passed from one therapy to another with limited control over the management of the process being possible.
Under an integrated practice, there is central control and medical records. Many of the therapies are carried out in the same building, so there can be a direct connection between all the practitioners involved with a particular patient.
How does medical integration benefit the patient?
In many ways, integration has been patient-driven as they can see significant benefits for their care in a more patient-centred approach. An integrated approach to healthcare will almost always produce better outcomes for the individual patient as the chain between therapies is more closely controlled.
The second benefit for the patient mirrors that of the chiropractic practice itself in having the majority of the services and therapies available from one location. This single-location solution, allows them to be more familiar with their surroundings and prevents unnecessary travel.
From a patient’s insurance point of view, it can also help. A single billing point and insurance companies have become more particular about the practices that can be used. The refusal to pay out can be an issue for both the patient and the clinic, so it helps with peace of mind.
Takeaway
Medical integration is likely to be the path that all practices will eventually have to follow. There are significant benefits for all parties involved in the treatment from central control of the process.
It is particularly beneficial from a patient’s perspective and places them at the centre of the process chain while simultaneously helping the practice deliver better results. An additional benefit is that medical integration can be cost-saving, allowing more money to be spent on actual healthcare and new transformative treatments such as regenerative therapy.
Ellen Diamond, a psychology graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, has a keen interest in the fields of mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
