Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) is effective by preventing, identifying and treating the root cause of disease development before major disease manifests. Prior to exhibiting symptoms of infection or chronic debilitating illness, conditions within the body change, creating a "dis-ease" or imbalance in an otherwise healthy system. Utilizing subtle, non-invasive diagnostic techniques, CAM physicians catch these early warning signs of disease drivers long before conventional medicine physicians are trained to recognize them.

Complementary Alternative Medicine remains critical to the healing process, particularly in the event of a disease crisis. In fact, as reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in May of 1998, the majority of individuals who use alternative medicine are those whose health has not been appreciatively improved or restored through the use of conventional medicine. CAM not only offers these patients effective low risk and less expensive non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical treatment options, but supporting therapies for pain management, stress management and nutritional deficiencies experienced during the disease intervention and recovery process. This underscores the importance of an integrated approach to delivering health care...a foundation of AMI's integrative wellness model.

CAM not only reduces total medical service expenses, but also improves productivity as well by keeping employees and their dependents healthier through prevention and the ability to manage and control disease drivers such as stress through nutrition, exercise and other lifestyle related behaviors. With 75% of disease either caused or aggravated by stress, the opportunities for cost reduction and productivity improvement are startling. Here are some statistics:

• According to former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D. in his 1988 Report on Nutrition and Health stated that "dietary imbalances" were the leading preventable contributor to premature death.

• The Center for Disease Control found that the following percentages of disease categories were preventable through lifestyle modification:

• • 54% of heart disease

• • 37% of cancer

• • 50% of cerebrovascular disease

• • 49% of artheroschlerosis

• By incorporating true prevention into benefit plans, virtually half of an organization's most frequent and expensive health care expenses would be reduced in the short-term and ultimately eliminated in the long term. AMI's results in the first seven years of serving patients validate these numbers, reducing our clients' total medical service expenses by 66%.

Carveout chiropractic networks have emerged over the past few years to respond to the demands of the American health care consumer. Although well intended, these organizations have by their very nature as stand alone programs - using minimally credentialed and narrowly trained chiropractors - not been able to stand the tests of quality and cost savings by which conventional health plans are measured.

Alternative Medicine Integration (AMI), however, differs significantly from these early pioneers. Designed as an "integrated wellness model", AMI has demonstrated the tangible return on investment of spending health benefit dollars appropriately on preventing disease and its root causes before conventional medical interventions and their associated risks and expenses are necessary. Combining the "best of both worlds", AMI's MD directed, patient oriented integrated alternative and western health care delivery system is responsible for many "firsts". They include:

• Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) physicians credentialed equal to medical doctor (MD)/osteopathic doctor (DO) NCQA criterion.

• Doctors of Chiropractic credentialed as Primary Care Providers for Blue Cross Blue Shield's HMO Illinois (HMOI).

• Prevention and wellness care offered as core benefits of closed panel and open access plans for group health.

• "Trusted Guide" relationships encouraged between patient and physician through benefit design to facilitate healthier behavior and wellness lifestyle.

• Exclusive national accreditation body for the American Academy of Doctor of Chiropractics (AACP)

• From program inception to date, AMI's integration of alternative and western medicine resulted in a 66% decrease of total medical service expenses as compared to the other participating HMOI conventional medical IPA's. These savings occurred over the same period of time, in the same geography, with similar patient demographics and disease profiles.

AMI as an integrative wellness model is the first of its kind to be offered as a primary care Independent Physician Association (IPA) for a large regional HMO owned by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. AMI's network of CAM and conventional medicine physicians are NCQA credentialed along with accredited tertiary, acute and community hospitals and outpatient facilities. As such, the HMO of your choice can offer AMI as a fully integrated primary care IPA. Of course, AMI will work with the HMO to meet any and all other requirements it may have for participating primary care groups. AMI will work with your organization to customize the most appropriate and effective marketing and educational program for your employees and your industry. They will then have the choice to select AMI for high quality preventive alternative therapies as well as conventional disease interventions on an individualized medically managed basis.

For PPO and EPO plan designs, AMI offers a "carve-in" type of program for complementary alternative medicine care and its integration with conventional medicine. Innovative disease management programs such as AMI's program for Integrative chronic pain management are also available as menu options to help reduce the overall health care cost burden. AMI's credentialed network of CAM physicians will replace those currently participating within the PPO/EPO as the in-network CAM providers. AMI will invite all existing CAM participants to join AMI; credentialing them to our proprietary NCQA enhanced standards. In addition to managing the CAM network, AMI will also provide the same level of preventive and wellness care, MD team leadership, integrated individualized medical management, marketing and educational services for employees and their dependents as offered in the HMO program. AMI works directly with the Third Party Administrator or Insurer to make implementation and transition as stress-free as possible!