Alternative Care Finds Mainstream In Fitchburg | HealthAlliance Hospital bridges gap between Western, Eastern medicine
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RELAXATION TECHNIQUE: Employees at HealthAlliance Hospital in Fitchburg try out the massage chairs at an open house of the hospital's new alternative medicine center.
When the Simonds-Hurd Complementary Care Center opened at HealthAlliance Hospital’s Burbank campus in Fitchburg this spring, it reflected a growing trend in the world of health care. Increasingly, the mutually suspicious fields of traditional Western medicine and alternative therapies are willing to work together.
Many practitioners on both sides of the divide say it can be useful to bring the two types of medicine together, say, to offer meditation classes as a form of support for patients suffering the side effects of chemotherapy. But the alliance can be an odd one, not just because it brings together radically different ways of looking at health but also because the insurance-centric world of traditional health care finance is very different from alternative medicine, where patients typically pay most costs out of pocket.
Affordable Care
Simonds-Hurd opened its doors with a series of free classes in May, taught by local practitioners of Reiki, Pilates and a diverse collection of other alternative therapists, many of whom run their own small practices. The hospital employs the alternative practitioners as independent contractors, according to spokeswoman Mary Lourdes Burke.
Burke said the hospital is well aware of the financial burden that alternative treatments can place on patients.
“Many complementary and alternative therapies can be expensive and often are not covered by insurance,” she said.
Burke said a few insurance plans do cover such treatment. In other cases, patients may be able to use employer-based flexible spending accounts to make them more affordable.
Burke said that as HealthAlliance rolls out new classes and treatments funded by user fees it is working to keep prices reasonable and exploring the possibility of sliding scale charges based on patients’ ability to pay. She said the hospital is also considering using grant funding and donations to help offset the costs of the therapies.
“That might be a little bit unique compared to other complementary care centers,” she said.
Business Alliance
Simonds-Hurd is in some ways a collaboration between the hospital and the alternative practitioners it works with. A number of the free introductory classes in May were taught by instructors from Dr. Smith & Associates, a Westminster alternative health center. Linda Smith, a family doctor who heads the 10-practitioner center, said she and her colleagues helped HealthAlliance figure out what to offer at Simonds-Hurd.
Smith said she sees the new center as a chance for doctors and patients to learn about complementary therapies. But she said there could be some confusion as doctors begin referring patients to the complementary services.
“The doctor may not be telling the patient it’s not covered by your insurance,” she said.
For her, Smith said, the HealthAlliance center represents a way to reach out to people who might not otherwise think about alternative care, particularly those who are in treatment for serious illnesses. She said she isn’t worried that Simonds-Hurd represents competition for her own practice.
“There’s such a need for complementary care in this area I have no concerns in that area whatsoever,” she said.
No Overhead
For the alternative practitioners, working with HealthAlliance also provides a way to earn extra income without the expense and hassle involved in running their own businesses.
Dorine Russo, a yoga instructor who previously owned Optimal Health Associates in Leominster, said that after retiring from running that business she now teaches private classes for women with chronic illness and is picking up work at Simonds-Hurd.
“This, for me at this moment, is a much better relationship, just to go in and do the class,” she said.
So far, the instructors said classes haven’t been packed, even when they’ve been offered for free, and Russo said she thinks HealthAlliance is still working out its marketing strategy for them. To help out, she said, she’s planning on making up her own flyers to draw more attention to the alternative care services.
“It won’t benefit me per se, but it will get the word out that this is happening,” she said.
The alternative practitioners said the complementary care center represents not just a business opportunity for them and a chance for patients to find out about different types of health care, but it is also a smart business move for HealthAlliance.
Kimberly Casto, owner of Bodylines Pilates studio in Lancaster, said she sees a trend toward patients taking more initiative in cobbling together health care services that work for them.
“I’d like to think that HealthAlliance is really onto something,” she said.
Smith said Simonds-Hurd is good for the community and could also provide a revenue source for the hospital that is independent from insurance companies.
“Hospitals are fairly well strapped from the insurance companies right now, and it wouldn’t hurt them to have other sources of income right now,” she said.
Smith said she also sees complementary care becoming a standard service for hospitals, with major players like the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston offering alternative therapies.
“It is, I think, the way that all hospitals are going to be going,” she said.
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