Technological advances in medicine over the past 75 years have been the driving factor behind improved patient outcomes. However, one area of medicine, particularly in the outpatient setting which has lagged behind is a collaboration between independent providers. And this is one of the top complaints among patients who have been ping-ponged from one provider to the next in search of answers to their health concerns. The complaint being that each doctor takes a narrow approach in alignment with their expertise, and often does not know or understand what diagnostics or treatment have been performed by the other providers working with this same patient.
For the past 25-30 years, a very limited number of forward thinking health care providers in the outpatient treatment setting have developed practice structures that allow for a team approach and collaboration between many providers. But these practices are few and far between—and this type of model is far from the norm in health care.
In 2013, Advanced Medical Integration (AMI) took a proven business model of integrated health care and began exporting it to doctors across the country. Now, seven years later, there are over 500 independent practices in 46 states that provide conservative care, physical and regenerative medicine services in a collaborative model. The collaboration is between medical doctors, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, physical therapists, rehab assistants, and in some locations nutrition providers.
This collaborative approach, with providers of various disciplines working together on each patient case, is the dream that has been espoused in whitepapers for decades. And it’s extremely appealing to patients who want real solutions to their health problems.
AMI provides the business structure and administrative procedures that make this collaboration possible—along with training for the doctor’s staff. All of this is aimed at creating remarkable businesses that provide excellent patient care.
AMI’s purpose is to improve people’s lives through better health. And a primary target is to shift the focus of health care from symptom management toward functional improvement. The focus in these practices is conservative care. Treatments offered are in alignment with the innate healing process of the body. The few drugs or surgical interventions offered are minimally invasive, and offered because of their relative safety, and used only after more conservative options have been exhausted.
The AMI practice model is aimed directly at the continuing devastation caused by the opioid epidemic. Opioid prescriptions are a primary cause of drug addiction and research has shown that many heroin users trace heir addiction to opioid use. Building conservative care practices in the physical medicine space, AMI is creating a health care option for America that does not involve the use of heavy narcotics for pain relief.
Better than that, AMI clinics are helping patients restore function, and rehabilitate chronic and acute injuries to ensure long-term health.
The demand for integrated health care combined with the fact that back pain is the number one diagnosis in most medical offices means that future expansion for AMI is practically unlimited. As the public has become aware of the danger of using drugs to solve chronic pain, and the fallacy of covering up problems with medication, more and more people are looking for health care providers that offer real solutions.
It’s taken AMI 7 years to export its model into 500 practices across the country. And now the company has plans to boost that number to 1000 practices in the next two years. With our focus on helping our clients to develop a positive employee culture with straightforward administrative procedures and effective treatment options, we believe that AMI is building the model for independently owned physical medicine practice of the future.
How is AMI innovating Healthcare
Essay by Dr. Mike Carberry
