What is IMA?
IMA is an organization that helps bring together people who would benefit from seeing integrative health professionals, but who could normally not afford the cost of their services, with professionals who will treat such people for a reduced fee.
Why should I join?
Increase Clients
When you’re listed on one of the preeminent Integrative Medicine websites, more clients can find and contact you using our zip code and specialty-based search tool.
Vetted = Trusted
Our clients depend on IMA to help them find trusted practitioners that have been vetted and approved by a respected team of professionals. As an IMA certified practitioner, you are presented to a large pool of clients who take comfort in the knowledge that they are searching a database of qualified, vetted professionals who are committed to service.
Heal Those in Need
Being in the healing arts means you understand the importance of service. By donating a small percentage of your time, lower income clients, who cannot afford the normal cost of your care, will benefit greatly from your services.
Discounts
Gain preferred status and discounts on services with partnered organizations.
Bottom Line
You will be joining a respected and powerful group of health practitioners making a huge difference for individuals and proving the power of an integrated approach to health and healing. You will enhance the visibility of your practice among paying as well as low-income clients. You will be walking your talk as an integrative practitioner, making your services available to a few low-income clients a week.
What are the requirements for IMA membership?
Service:
In return for listing you on the site, we ask that you be open to donating 10% of your billable time (typical client load) to verified low-income IMA clients.
For example:
If you see 18 clients in a typical week, adding two VLI (verified low income) IMA clients qualifies you to be listed on our site.
IMA clients are verified by us as being low income and having a primary care provider. They are required to pay $20 for their initial visit and $10 for each follow-up visit. They are asked to pay at the time of service. Obviously, this is significantly less than your normal fee. The difference between this amount and your normal fee represents the in-kind charitable care you are donating to that individual.
License:
You must be credentialed in your modality of treatment. Credential requirements vary by modality, but in general, if your field is licensed in your state, you need to be a licensed practitioner. For non-licensed fields, you should be certified and show proof of up-to-date certification and education.
Office:
For now, we are requiring practitioners to have an office outside of their own home. It could be attached to your home, but it should have a separate entrance and work area from the living area of the home.
How does it work?
Application:
You complete an online application to be a certified IMA provider. The application can be completed online or printed and faxed or mailed to IMA. We will ask about your qualifications, education, and credentials. We will also ask you to allow us to check with two professional colleagues as references. We also ask for photos of yourself and your office in order to create your profile page.
How do I send in my application and proof of credentials?
You can submit your application online or you can print it out and mail or fax it to us. You must send us proof of your license by either uploading and emailing it to us or by mailing or faxing it in.
Why do you ask for references and office photos?
Low income individuals often have a history of unsatisfactory interactions with health care professionals. It’s very important to ensure that anyone our clients go to see is a caring and qualified practitioner. This also serves to enhance the reputation of IMA providers in general, adding to the value of being included on this select list of qualified and compassionate practitioners.
What happens after I send everything in?
The staff of IMA will review your application. If they have any questions, they will contact you. Once approved, you will receive and email with an complete instructions on how to use IMA and an agreement for you to review and sign.
Approval:
Once approved, you will be given a profile page on the IMA site, listing you as an IMA certified practitioner. Your page can be found using our practitioner search tool as well as web searches (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.).