The Future of Integrated Care

There is a movement afoot where practitioners are looking at ways to offer the most optimum means of treatment in a patient-centered healthcare approach. This method of integrated care is an exciting departure from what we have seen previously as the dominant model in our health care system.One group that illustrates a great model of integrated care is called TRIARQ, headquartered in New York. TRIARQ was started by a number of physicians and physical therapists who recognized that they were both working with the same patients, but were not benefiting from a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the all the treatment approaches used.Because musculoskeletal injuries make up a huge segment of healthcare expenditures-often requiring months of treatment-greater collaboration between those professionals who treat these injuries will save money as well as provide better care. TRIARQ recently opened up their membership to massage therapists and actively encourages the participation of massage professionals in this interprofessional dialogue.

Damon Lacovelli, Lead LMT at PDX