Integrative Med Telehealth

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Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine - Integrative Telehealth Network Tech ID: UA21-054 Invention: Integrative health emphasizes a holistic, patient-focused approach to health care and wellness. Integrative medicine addresses a wide range of health influences, including physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and environmental. This technology uses an integrative approach to medicine and provides a telehealth approach. The telehealth approach allows for the integrative healthcare to be distributed to patients via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. Background: Traditional western approaches to medicine often fall short when it comes to treating chronic illnesses in patients. On the other hand, a holistic, patient-centered approach has been shown to be effective to treat and prevent chronic illnesses and other health ailments because this integrative approach focuses on more than just the specific ailment at the time. Integrative medicine addresses the physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and environmental influences that affect an individual’s health, making it more apt to provide effective long-term solutions. With the COVID-19 pandemic, access to healthcare has been difficult, due to closures of healthcare facilities and high capacities of sick patients, at a time when reliable access to healthcare is most important. This telehealth technology for integrative medicine helps to address that issue because the telehealth services can be accessed regardless of facility closures. Telehealth provides a convenient alternative to usual appointments that will be beneficial to patients long after the pandemic.