We value dialectical exchange among people from disparate backgrounds, a lively conversation that can shape new ideas. We convene cross-disciplinary forums and working groups to focus on emerging fields such as complexity science and comparative effectiveness research. Our intention is to broaden the evidence base, to help patients, clinicians, and payers make better informed decisions at the level of both individual and population health.

Stakeholder Symposium on the Evidentiary Framework for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, November 9, 2009

On November 9, 2009, the Institute for Integrative Health partnered with the Baltimore-based Center for Medical Technology Policy (CMTP) to convene a Stakeholder Symposium on the Evidentiary Framework for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM). This meeting grew directly out of the February 2009 Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public, sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and the Bravewell Collaborative. The February conference highlighted a compelling need for more – and more useful – research in the field of integrative care. Now focusing on the hot-button issue of comparative effectiveness research, the Institute and CMTP brought together 45 diverse experts and stakeholders to examine opportunities and obstacles in carrying out rigorous, clinically useful integrative medicine studies.

A concluding round-table discussion is posted online and welcomes public comment. The Institute is using its new media initiative SpeakHealth to spark broad discussion and search for consensus among many stakeholders – CIM and conventional researchers and clinicians, patients, third-party payers and government health agencies. During 2010, a follow-up working group will draft guidelines for the design of effective CIM research.

You're invited to comment online and check back for reports on progress.