Taipei Veterans General Hospital International Medical Service Center

Holistic and Multidisciplinary Medicine

Integrative Internal Medicine

Overview

        Since the establishment of Holistic and Multidisciplinary Medicine, we provided acute inpatient care, outpatient care, terminal hospice care, and transferal to local hospitals or clinics in the patient’s best interests. We pay emphasis on patients with multiple comorbidities, frequent emergency visits, and frequent hospitalization to address their medical needs. Aside from inpatient and outpatient care, we provide a communication channel with local nursing facilities for patients that require integrative medicine. Holistic and Multidisciplinary Medicine provided a multidisciplinary medical concept to the field of medicine.

Features

       The features of integrative medicine in our unit offer a unified medical experience for patients with multiple comorbidities. Holistic and Multidisciplinary Medicine provided the efficiency of the patient’s overall healthcare and prevented the waste of medical resources.

Procedure

        Our unit is the first medical department to introduce the concept of Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) to our patients. The POCUS is an advanced diagnostic ultrasonography that is performed and interpreted by the attending physician at the patient’s bedside. It has been widely used in many disciplines as a rapid diagnostic tool to aid the diagnosis of multiple medical conditions, including the heart, lungs, abdomen, and extremities. The POCUS emphasized the importance of non-radiologist physicians’ early screening to decide on further radiological imaging. The advantages of integrating POCUS into daily clinical routine include the utility of combining patients’ medical history of clinical results during bedside rounds. A bedside POCUS eliminates the need for additional ultrasonography examinations which reduces the time for preliminary results. The POCUS approach allowed physicians to focus on the assessment of core competencies and builds expertise from multiple specialties and background.

Notification

        It is important to discuss with physicians regarding long-term risks and benefits of multiple medications. All integrative management should be discussed thoroughly with a physician.

Estimated Cost

       For estimated medical costs, please contact International Medical Services Center.