Alternative Link

Description

Alternative Link was founded by Melinna Giannini, an insurance agent and third party administrator who designed and sold self-funded medical plans and monitored employer claim funds. In 1995, Giannini recognized the need for an NCQA-certified network of integrative healthcare practitioners, including acupuncturists, bodyworkers, chiropractors, holistic physicians, homeopaths, ethnic and minority healthcare professionals, massage therapists, midwives, naturopaths, nurses, oriental medicine practitioners, osteopaths, somatic educators, spiritual healers and others. As she explored methods of contracting with such practitioners, Giannini discovered a critical and missing element of the national health information infrastructure (NHII): codes that characterized integrative healthcare interventions. She knew these codes were essential to the financing, administration and delivery of healthcare, especially in areas other than conventional physician-driven medical practices. Giannini also knew that incomplete, inaccurate and imprecise coding resulted in misleading data that sometimes led policymakers to make harmful policy decisions. Without proper attention, the gap in coding and the NHII was resulting in suboptimal healthcare access, quality and cost-management and, tragically, lost lives. Through third parties, Giannini approached existing coding authorities and encouraged them to accelerate development of effective codes for integrative healthcare...

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