The healthcare industry plays a significant role in maintaining the health of citizens within a region. Healthcare facilities are often entrusted in preventing and curing disease and easing the pain of individuals. Currently, the healthcare industry has been faced with some challenges due to some long-term illnesses that have no cure. This has led to the emergence of health facilities aiming to take care of patients with chronic diseases who need special attention. Advancements in technology has led to the evolution of medicine with many integrative techniques being employed (Omachonu, & Einspruch, 2010) . However, majority of the population is still skeptical on the use of integrative medicine. Like any other industry, dilemmas will often arise that require an ethical component while the administrators are making decisions on the best measure to approach a situation. Creating awareness on the importance of integrative medicine in long term health facilities minimizes the challenges faced when making decision to employ the same, as discussed below.
Integrative medicine in the healthcare industry involves personalizing medication to suit the all-around needs of a patient (Omachonu, & Einspruch, 2010) . Integrative medicine goes beyond just curing. It entails monitoring the physical, mental and emotional health of a patient and analyzing their background to come up with the best diagnosis and preventive measures that will prolong the lifespan of a person. It combines both complementary and conventional approaches to medicine thus making it more effective in the practice. Many long-term health care facilities are incorporating integrative medicine in their treatment as it has been known to ease pain in patients suffering from chronic diseases. The aim is not only to relieve pain but also to decrease the emotional distress faced by these patients as well as to improve their overall wellbeing. Thus, to ensure its effectivity, hospital staff members need to be equipped with the knowledge necessary to implement this practice.
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Despite the praises that integrative medicine receives, there still exists a number of challenges when implementing the practice. Firstly, there is the rising costs in the healthcare industry (Scott et. al ., 2010). This makes this practice only affordable to wealthy section of the population. The dilemma arises when a poor person in need of such medical attention but it is evident that this patient cannot afford to pay for the service. In such instances, hospital administrators have to make a decision on whether to offer the service or not. Most of the time, people will call for a fundraising to help poor patients receive the services they need. The government also aids in taking care of the medical costs of the poor population. However, there are a few cases who have no external help and the decision lies solely on the administrators.
Another challenge faced by integrative medicine in long-term health care facilities in the administration of the service. There are a number of gaps that exist in the administration of the practice that determine the success or failure of the approach. If not done well, the results may be far much worse leading to suing. Any alteration in the process may need to be approved by the top administration and medical leadership. A letter to support the changes should also be provided. Therefore, the integrative medicine practice requires the delivery service team to be business savvy and have a lot of commitment to ensure its success ( Jüni, Altman, & Egger, 2001). The management team should also execute a lot of ethical practices to ensure decisions made work for the best of the patient.
The above issues can be well addresses if all parties, patients, and hospital staff, work together. For instance, the issue of the rising healthcare cost can be addressed by having alternative protocols for surgery especially for the poor people who can afford surgery. As explained, the government can also increase the coverage of such groups of people by increasing the insurance margin. Lastly, the doctors and administrators need to evaluate the needs of a patient on a case to case basis. The life of a person should be far much important that monetary value attached to a practice (Scott et al., 2010). Secondly, the medical staff should receive extensive training in the integrative medicine approach. Being a sensitive area, the staff members should be well trained in how to handle patients with long-term chronic diseases as their all-around recovery is pegged on how well they are treated. The top management should also have extensive knowledge on the same so as to make proper decisions on when to alter or not to alter a particular process.
Currently, there are still few challenges existing in this field. Healthcare givers have been able to turn this practice into an advantage. Measures to educate the public on advantages of integrative medicine have also been a success in hospital CSR activities. Nevertheless, there is need to continue doing more research on the practice to enable administrators to make more just decisions. In the United States, there are more than 850 healthcare facilities employing this approach. Addressing the challenges arising from it early enough will ensure its success in future practices.
References
Jüni, P., Altman, D. G., & Egger, M. (2001). Systematic reviews in health care: assessing the quality of controlled clinical trials. BMJ: British Medical Journal , 323 (7303), 42.
Omachonu, V. K., & Einspruch, N. G. (2010). Innovation in healthcare delivery systems: a conceptual framework. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal , 15 (1), 1-20.
Scott, A., Sivey, P., Ait Ouakrim, D., Willenberg, L., Naccarella, L., Furler, J., & Young, D. (2010). The effect of financial incentives on the quality of health care provided by primary care physicians. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews , 2011 (9).
