29C. The University of Arizona Integrative Health Center: The Development and Testing of a New Business Model for Integrative Primary Care

Focus Area: Sustainable Business Models This session will advance the development of sustainable complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) practice models by presenting the business plan for a model integrative primary care clinic, its results to date, and the plan for its continuous evaluation. The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine recently opened the University of Arizona Integrative Health Center (UAIHC), an adult primary care clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in affiliation with District Medical Group. Developed through an extensive planning by interdisciplinary experts and a strategic market forecasting approach, the business plan includes the clinic's mission and vision, market assessment, organizational structure and staffing plan, projected patient flow, and financial estimates. A hybrid financing approach that combines health insurance reimbursement with patient membership fees (in some cases partially underwritten by employer contributions) prevents barriers to a full IM approach including complementary medicine treatments, individual health coaching sessions, health promotion classes and groups, and extended visit lengths. By the time of the Congress, the UAIHC will have been in operation for 1 year. This presentation covers the development of the business plan, the components of the plan, the challenges involved in moving from the plan to current operations, and a description of the clinic patient population. Data will be reported on the number and characteristics of patients seen and use of clinic services, as well as the clinic's financial viability. An overview will be presented of the ongoing UAIHC multidimensional evaluation study (IMPACT) that assesses the effectiveness of integrative care provided, as well as the implementation of the practice model itself and how this may (or may not) contribute to patient and/or cost outcomes. It is anticipated that detailed evaluation of this clinic will provide future CIM clinics and practitioners with the data needed to successfully develop new practice models.