The mission of Integrative Medicine Access (IMA) is to facilitate accessibility to integrative medicine services among those with low incomes and those in medically underserved populations.
IMA accomplishes this primarily through education on the conditions for which Integrative Medicine modalities would be helpful and through connecting underserved individuals with practitioners who will treat them for low of no cost.
Integrative Medicine (IM) is patient-centered care that focuses on prevention and maintaining health and utilizes western and traditionally non-western, but science-based, therapeutic modalities (for example, nutrition, acupuncture, naturopathy, chiropractic, etc.).
The Goals of Integrative Medicine Access are as follows:
Education
Foster an understanding of integrative medicine among low-income, medically underserved populations
Accessibility
Allow those with medical needs that would benefit from an integrative approach to find affordable and accessible services addressing those needs
Connection
Connect IM practitioners and agencies who are willing to accept reduced fees / subsidized health exchange coverage with underserved patients who would benefit from their services
Integration
Foster Integration among practitioners with particular conditions that would benefit from a multi-modality approach
Role Model
Serve as a model for care that focuses on wellness and prevention, offers a low cost, patient-centered approach (in terms of cost, geography, times, culturally sensitive, individualized)
Education
Provide a locus of education for medical students, physicians, non-allopathic clinicians and policy-makers on the benefits of integrative medicine and the role it can play in health care in the United States
Research
Conduct research on utilization and outcomes in order to show the medical and cost benefit of integrative medicine services among the underserved