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Availability of CAM

• Eighty-three percent of MTFs offer one or more of a variety of CAM services with relaxation therapy, acupuncture, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and chiropractic being the most common.
• MTFs most commonly cite not having the necessary providers as the reason for not offering CAM.
• In general, our study's findings about CAM in MTFs are quite similar to results of the VA's CAM survey conducted in 2011, such as percentage of facilities offering CAM and the number of CAM types offered, among other findings.

Usage of CAM

• These CAM services are used for a variety of conditions, many of which can be difficult to treat with conventional medicine — e.g., chronic pain, stress, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.
• CAM services make up a substantial portion of the MHS: roughly 76,000 patient visits per month with 1,750 full-time equivalents of staff and contractor time involved in delivering these services annually, and a minimum labor investment of $112.7 million per year.
• Patient visits for CAM make up a small but nontrivial portion of total outpatient MTF visits.

Documenting CAM services

• There is some inconsistency in the criteria used for credentialing and privileging CAM providers.
• There is also a need for better documentation and coding of the use of CAM services.