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Few hospitals profit from complementary care

Healthcare Strategist Trend Watch, August 18, 2006

While a quarter of U.S. hospitals offer some form of alternative or complementary care to patients and employees, many lose money on those services, according to a survey of 1,390 hospitals by the American Hospital Association in Chicago.

Of those who offer the services, 64% said they do not expect to break even on alternative care; 71% had no strategic plan for the services; and 59% did not use a business plan when designing the services. The motive in offering non-traditional medicine, many hospitals reported, was patient satisfaction rather than direct profit. The most commonly offered service was massage therapy. It was available to inpatients at 37% of the participating hospitals, and to outpatients at 71%.

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