What is integrative medicine?

Integrative medicine is care that uses standard medicine together with selected complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, yoga, or meditation, in one coordinated plan. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) describes it as treating the whole person rather than one organ system. Some of the therapies it uses have good evidence for specific conditions. The whole model has much less direct study.

What is integrative medicine, and where did the term come from?

Integrative medicine is a way of organizing care, not a single treatment. The Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health defines it as care that values the relationship between clinician and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and uses all appropriate therapies, lifestyle approaches, and professionals. Eight academic medical centers started the group in 1999.

The World Health Organization uses a similar definition: an evidence-based approach that combines standard medicine with traditional or complementary practices. These definitions come from groups that promote the field, so they describe its goals. They are not evidence that a given treatment works. Integrative medicine overlaps with functional medicine, which centers on finding contributors to chronic illness.

How is integrative different from alternative medicine?

The difference is whether standard care stays in place. NCCIH calls a nonstandard therapy "complementary" when it is used together with standard care and "alternative" when it is used instead of it. Integrative care brings standard and complementary approaches together and coordinates them, so a clinician should know about everything you are doing.

Term	What it means	Example
Alternative	A nonstandard therapy used in place of standard care	Herbs taken instead of a prescribed medicine
Complementary	A nonstandard therapy used alongside standard care	Acupuncture added to physical therapy
Integrative	Standard and complementary care planned together	One plan that covers medicine, exercise, and mindfulness

Interest has grown quickly. In national survey data, the share of US adults who used at least one of seven complementary approaches rose from 19.2% in 2002 to 36.7% in 2022, with meditation the most used (Nahin and colleagues, JAMA 2024).

What happens at an integrative medicine visit?

Expect questions about your symptoms, medicines, supplements, sleep, stress, food, and activity. The plan may combine a standard step, such as a prescription or a referral to physical therapy, with a complementary one, such as acupuncture, massage, or a mindfulness class. Care may involve several professionals, and NCCIH says integrative health aims for well-coordinated care among them.

What a visit includes varies a lot by clinic. Before you book, ask how long the first visit is, which professionals you will see, and whether the clinic also provides primary care or works alongside your current clinician. Also ask about fees, since the label does not tell you how a clinic charges.

Does integrative medicine work?

It depends on the therapy and the condition. Some complementary therapies have guideline support for specific problems, mostly pain. The integrative model as a whole has little direct study. A 2019 systematic review of integrative healthcare for chronic disease found few controlled studies comparing it with usual care. All had design weaknesses that raise the risk of bias, and results were inconsistent (Leach and colleagues).

An earlier review of trials in outpatient integrative clinics found five, four of them in low back pain, and called them a small yet critical base for larger studies (Grant and colleagues, 2015).

Evidence	What it found	What it can tell you
American College of Physicians 2017 guideline, which ACP now lists as inactive because of its age (checked October 22, 2026)	For chronic low back pain, it recommends starting with options such as exercise, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction, tai chi, yoga, or spinal manipulation	Some therapies used in integrative care are standard first steps for back pain
SIO and ASCO cancer pain guideline, 2022	Acupuncture is recommended for joint pain from aromatase inhibitor drugs; evidence for most natural products for cancer pain was low or inconclusive	Support depends on the specific therapy and condition
Randomized trial in primary care, 2026	In adults with chronic low back pain, a telehealth mindfulness group visit program run through primary care improved pain and its effect on daily life more than usual care. The published abstract reports that the difference between the groups fell short of the trial's own threshold for a meaningful change	Adding one integrative piece to primary care helped modestly
Veterans Affairs Whole Health study, 2022	Veterans with chronic pain who began complementary therapies had prescribed opioid doses fall 12.0% more in a year than similar veterans in standard care	An association, not proof; patients chose their care

For dietary supplements, the record is weaker. NCCIH notes that large, rigorous studies of a few supplements often found they did not work for the conditions studied.

What credentials should you check?

Check the clinician's state license first. As of October 2026, integrative medicine is not on the American Board of Medical Specialties list. Physician board certification is offered by the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), a separate board, through its American Board of Integrative Medicine.

To qualify, a physician must hold current or past board certification in another specialty, such as family or internal medicine, and usually must have finished an accredited residency. ABPS also accepts a current board certification granted on or before December 1, 2001, in place of that residency (eligibility rules). As of October 2026, ABPS requires a fellowship in integrative medicine approved by the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health, and ABPS says each approved fellowship provides at least 1,000 hours. Other team members, like acupuncturists and massage therapists, have their own licenses, which vary by state.

Is integrative medicine safe with my current medicines?

Herbs and supplements need the most care. NCCIH warns that St. John's wort can lower the levels of many drugs, and that people taking medicines such as warfarin or digoxin should be especially careful to report any herbal products, since a small change in those drug levels can cause serious problems.

Questions to ask before you start:

1. Which parts of this plan are standard care for my condition, and which are optional?
2. What evidence supports this therapy for my specific problem?
3. Could this herb or supplement interact with any medicine I take?
4. What will this cost in total, including visits, classes, and products?
5. How will we know if it is working, and when will we review the plan?
6. Will you share notes with the clinician who prescribes my medicines?

Bring a written list of everything you take, with doses. People who are pregnant or breastfeeding, children, and people taking several medicines should review any plan with a licensed clinician first. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without talking to the prescriber.

This page is general information. It is not a diagnosis, a treatment plan, or advice for one person. You can read more on the patient page.