Acupuncture, a form of traditional Chinese medicine, has gained attention for its use in managing pain and side effects of cancer treatment, including but not limited to neurological disorders. In fact, more than 70% of National Cancer Center-designated comprehensive cancer centers offer acupuncture to cancer patients. However, the practice of other forms of traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbal medicine, is not a mainstream option for every cancer patient’s care plan. To understand the range of barriers that can limit the use of acupuncture and herbal medicine in the treatment of cancer patients, Dr. Susan Verbel of the Integrative Medicine Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center gains important insights. reviewed several integrative health centers and led a study investigating acupuncture providers. . This study integrated cancer treatment report that the main limitation in implementing this form of care for cancer patients is the cost of acupuncture, suggesting that policy changes are needed to increase implementation.
“In this paper, we investigated various integrative oncology practice business models to identify the facilitators and challenges of providing acupuncture in cancer centers,” said Dr. Veleber. Researchers evaluated five of his oncology facilities where acupuncture services were provided and collected survey data primarily from practicing physicians. Oncology centers include: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY), California Cancer Associates for Research and Excellence (San Diego and Fresno, CA), Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine (San Francisco, CA); Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (Seattle, WA), Lefuot (Tel Aviv, Israel). Patients seeking care at these centers are suffering from pain, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), general support during active treatment, insomnia, fatigue, nausea/digestive disorders, hot flashes, and poor quality of life. I was treated for symptoms such as care. The five oncology centers varied in the types of insurance they accepted for payment, with only one center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, accepting private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid. The initial acupuncture consultation and treatment cost $130 to $150, and subsequent acupuncture treatments cost $65 to $125 (inpatient acupuncture was provided free of charge at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). For herbal medicine consultations, prices ranged from a flat rate of $150 to $295 per hour. These centers also differed in the number of providers available, with four centers having 1 to 6 providers and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center having 6 oncology providers. We have 35 providers, including (two part-time) and four acupuncturists. Due to the demand for acupuncture and limited availability of integrative care providers at our four oncology centers, waiting lists can be 2-4 weeks or longer. Taken together, these findings highlight the high cost of treatment, limited number of providers, and long wait times as potential barriers to treatment. Furthermore, the researchers commented that access to integrative health centers is generally limited across the United States, as “50% of licensed acupuncturists live in California, Florida, and New York.”
The researchers also distributed questionnaires and received responses from medical practitioners, primarily medical oncologists and nurses, as well as allied health care providers, administrative staff, and caregivers. These people were asked to answer several questions, such as, “What are the main barriers to referring to an acupuncturist?” In response to this question, 70% ranked cost as their number one barrier, and 36% said concerns about competency and training were their number two barrier to care. “Another well-founded question concerned the safety of using herbal medicines in patients undergoing cancer treatment,” said Dr. Verbel. “We hope to contribute to research into the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicine during and after cancer treatment.” To address these notable barriers, loosening cost restrictions on receiving treatment requires the involvement of policy makers to improve cancer patient care, as well as additional research on the use of herbal medicine in cancer patient care, training of more health care providers on herbal medicine approaches, and continued discussion among integrative medicine. It is. Healthcare providers, oncologists, pharmacists.
