Having just returned from an American Hospital Association Conference, my commitment to change is ever more reinforced. It was my honor to share the podium with some top notch CEO’s of hospitals and health systems across this country. One thing that we all agreed upon is that the current system is going down the drain. Excuse the water metaphors, but it is crystal clear to those of us in the corporate suites that one major problem is our lack of insurance for the our citizens.

To quote a song from The Music Man: “We’ve Got Trouble. Right Here in River City.” That starts with T and it rhymes with P and stands for “Poor.” The spread between rich and poor in this country has evolved over the last several years to a separation in income that is 500% greater than the same spread in Japan and other industrialized countries. As we attempt to maintain our hospitals, staff our emergency rooms and hold back the litigation wolf from the door, our challenges grow exponentially each and every day. We are headed up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

The one piece of very good information that we brought back from this conference is that, over the past decade, the quantified value of complimentary, alternative or integrative medicine has become more and more compelling and better documented. We are seeing lower lengths of stay, fewer to almost no infections, lower mortality and readmission rates and much lower depression levels in the patients.

Maybe, just maybe, our peers will begin to embrace these modalities and methods to reduce costs. In our hospital alone our settlements from malpractice, slips and falls and all forms of liability are less than 5% of premiums paid out. Let’s see. Patients feel better, get out sooner, have lower depression levels, fewer infections, fewer readmissions, and die less often. Anything wrong with that picture?

Maybe one of our paddles for our water tour will be integrative medicine: Massage, aroma, pet, reiki and music therapy along with accupuncture, manipulation, drumming and 24/7 visiting hours. Try it, you’ll like it.