Alternative Medicine

4 Pages 1003 Words

The sophistication of consumers in retail markets is being duplicated in the healthcare field, driven in part by patients’ disillusionment with the current state and cost of healthcare. At the same time, the costs of mainstream healthcare are increasing rapidly, and some experts believe they will double between 2003 and 2008 without some source of revolutionary change. Forward-thinking payors are adding coverage for select Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies to their benefits plans to attract customers and in some cases, reduce costs.
As a result, healthcare companies today are adopting corporate strategies that focus on consumer demand that will change the industry. Employers and insurers that create benefits packages will tailor their offerings based on market segmentation and differentiation strategies to the benefit of all involved: practitioners, hospitals, and patients. This will culminate in a wider array of benefits offerings, including wellness promotion and disease prevention. The Mind, Body and Spirit Balance Center will benefit from these packages.
Consumers’ use of and expenditures for CAM have increased significantly in the last 13 years. The baby-boom generation has had a strong impact on this growth. Consumers from other cultures and the chronically ill are also frequent users of CAM services at the Mind, Body and Spirit Balance Center.
CAM use in the U.S. has grown rapidly in the last 13 years, to an estimated $82.4 billion in expenditures in 2003. For some health problems, patients use CAM therapies more than they use conventional therapies. CAM use is growing as a result of many consumers’ concerns about the adverse effects of drugs. For these patients, CAM offers a less invasive and gentler way of avoiding and managing disease than allopathic medicine. The Mind, Body and Spirit Balance Center focus on the total patient experience on physical, mental, and spiritual.
CAM customers also t...