J Ambul Care Manage. 2002 Apr; 25(2): 1-16.

The CAM movement and the integration of quality health care: the case of chiropractic.

Smith M, Greene BR, Meeker W.

Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, Davenport, Iowa, USA.

High and increasing consumer demand for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) services necessitates a concerted focus to determine the effectiveness of such practices and to ensure that future possible integration of CAM with conventional medicine is founded on sound evidence-based principles of quality health care delivery. The example of chiropractic provides useful insights to guide further research and integration of evidence-based CAM into mainstream health care in the United States. A critical point of departure for this area of inquiry is identifying and addressing barriers to conducting scientifically sound and meaningful cross-disciplinary, practice-based research.