Conventional and Alternative Approaches
The Duke Center for Integrative Medicine is a classic model of integrative care. It combines conventional Western medicine with alternative or complementary treatments, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, yoga and stress reduction techniques—all in the effort to treat the whole person. Proponents prefer the term "complementary" to emphasize that such treatments are used with mainstream medicine, not as replacements or alternatives.

Integrative medicine got a boost of greater public awareness—and funding—after a landmark 1993 study. That study showed that one in three Americans had used an alternative therapy, often under the medical radar.

In the past decade, integrative medicine centers have opened across the country. According to the American Hospital Association, the percentage of U.S. hospitals that offer complementary therapies has more than doubled in less than a decade, from 8.6 percent in 1998 to almost 20 percent in 2004. Another 24 percent of hospitals said they planned to add complementary therapies in the future. Patients usually pay out of pocket, although some services—such as nutritional counseling, chiropractic treatments and biofeedback—are more likely to be reimbursed by insurance.

The Appeal of Integrative Medicine
What makes integrative medicine appealing? Advocates point to deep dissatisfaction with a broken healthcare system that often leaves doctors feeling rushed and overwhelmed and patients feeling as if they're nothing more than diseased livers or damaged joints. Integrative medicine seems to promise more time, more attention and a broader approach to healing—one that is not based solely on the Western biomedical model, but also draws from other cultures.

"Patients want to be considered whole human beings in the context of their world," says Esther Sternberg, MD, a National Institutes of Health senior scientist and author of The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions.