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

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.