Week 6 Assignment 3 Research Plan
HSA505 Health Services Planning and Management
Dr. Point-Johnson, Instructor
Strayer University
Berlin Boxley
May 13, 2012

Alternative health care is a growing industry in medicine. Canada has one of the highest rate of their population seeking alternative medicine in the U. S. According to the National Population Health Survey by Statistics Canada (1998-99) found that 3.8 million Canadians aged 18 and over had consulted an alternative health care provider at least once during the previous 12 months.
This is just one state out of 50 for the U.S. Imagine the popularity of this type of treatment being sought as medical attention for sicknesses.
A definition frequently referenced in research comes from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in the United States. They define alternative medicine as a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine (medicine as practiced by medical doctor or doctors of osteopathy and their allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses).
Alternative health care is sometimes referred to as complementary and alternative health care. The terms “alternative” and ‘complementary” refer to using the same therapy in many different ways. That is, alternative refers to using a particular type of therapy instead of conventional treatment. Also complementary treatment is used along with conventional medicine.
There are other terminology that can be used to describe alternative medicine which include; * alternative and integrative medicine’ * alternative therapies; * complementary care; * complementary and alternative medicines; and * alternative medicine.
All successful businesses have extensive knowledge about their customers