Alternative Medicine in Managed Care Pharmacy

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe selected alternative medicine practices and discuss their value in managed care settings. DATA SOURCES: Recent clinical and alternative medicine literature. DATA SYNTHESIS: A central difference between conventional and alternative medicine lies in their philosophies about their roles in affecting or controlling illness. While conventional practitioners attempt to cure the patient by acting as authoritative experts, alternative practitioners try to teach the patient to tap his or her own inner healing resources. Alternative practitioners hold that the individual has the capacity to maintain health and that people get sick when they are out of balance with their environment or society. Alternative medical practices typically address a spiritual component of health and illness largely ignored in conventional medicine. Because of the increasing acceptance of alternative medical practices, managed care organizations should be aware of their potential medical benefits and cost savings. Several types of alternative medical practices are described, including Ayurveda, Oriental medicine, homeopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy, natural medicine, massage and manipulation, movement and meditation, and energy healing. CONCLUSION: Conventional and alternative medical practices have an increasingly good chance of becoming integrated with each other. Managed care organizations and pharmacists should be aware and accepting of consumers' preferences regarding alternative medical practices.