Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Dec 10;13(3):246-252.
doi: 10.1177/1559827618817294. eCollection 2019 May-Jun.

Lifestyle Medicine: Successful Reimbursement Methods and Practice Models

Laura L Jensen  1   2   3   4 , David S Drozek  1   2   3   4 , Meagan L Grega  1   2   3   4 , John Gobble  1   2   3   4
Affiliations

Lifestyle Medicine: Successful Reimbursement Methods and Practice Models

Laura L Jensen et al. Am J Lifestyle Med. .

Abstract

Preventable and reversible chronic diseases affect millions of Americans, costing the United States billions of dollars annually for treatments that slow the trajectory but fail to address the root cause of illness. Lifestyle medicine is efficacious, and research has shown that this medical approach garners a significant return on investment in the treatment of many chronic diseases. To obtain an overview of successful reimbursement and practice models used by practitioners, American College of Lifestyle Medicine members were invited to participate in an online survey regarding their experience with lifestyle medicine services and reimbursement models. Three hundred and fifty-one respondents with diverse practice structures, geographical locations, and educational backgrounds completed the survey. The results demonstrate that practitioners are utilizing a variety of lifestyle medicine programs and reimbursement and practice models. Seventy-four percent of respondents are currently providing lifestyle medicine, though the majority do not receive reimbursement for their services. This study provides examples of successful lifestyle medicine reimbursement and practice models, as well as demonstrates the need for continued advocacy for sustainable reimbursement of lifestyle medicine services.

Keywords: business model; compensation; lifestyle medicine; practice model; reimbursement.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Benjamin EJ, Blaha MJ, Chiuve SE, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2017 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017;135:e146-e603. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/cir.0000000000000485. Accessed August 22, 2018. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Diabetes Association. Economic costs of diabetes in the US in 2012. http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/diacare/36/4/1033.full.pdf. Accessed August 22, 2018.
    1. Hales CM, Fryar CD, Carroll MD, Freedman DS, Ogden CL. Trends in obesity and severe obesity prevalence in US youth and adults by sex and age, 2007-2008 to 2015-2016. JAMA. 2018;319:1723-1725. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.3060 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017: data & statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html. Published March 7, 2018. Accessed August 22, 2018.
    1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. MEPS summary tables. https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepstrends/hc_pmed/. Accessed August 22, 2018. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources