Study shows growing demand for acupuncture
A national survey conducted by Landmark Healthcare of Sacramento, CA, showed that 70% of the HMO professionals responding reported an increase in requests for alternative care therapies from their plan members. Of those, acupuncture was identified more frequently than any other therapy. Expressions of interest were ranked as follows:• acupuncture, 56%;
• chiropractic, 45%;
• massage therapy, 25%;
• acupressure, 22%;
• biofeedback, 22%;
• other, 18%;
• hypnotherapy, 8%.
The survey, conducted in the fall of 1996, was sent to medical directors and marketing executives at 156 HMOs in 13 states — states identified as having at least 10% HMO penetration. Of the 156 HMOs, 80 responded to the survey.
Other key survey findings include the following:
• Of the HMOs responding, 38% said they thought offering alternative therapies would increase their enrollment.
• A majority of the respondents (58%) indicated they plan to offer alternative care therapies to their members in the next one or two years.
• Of the respondents, 71% said their members are only "somewhat knowledgeable" about alternative care therapies, while 24% said their members were "not knowledgeable at all."
• Chiropractic and acupuncture were both rated as the top alternative care therapies that HMOs plan to offer in the next one to two years.
[Editor’s Note: For more information about this survey, contact: Kevin Buron, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Landmark Healthcare, 1750 Howe Ave., Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95825. Telephone: (916) 569-3307. Fax: (916) 929-2293.]
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content