Using the framework of corporate culture in mergers to support the development of a cultural basis for integrative medicine – guidance for building an integrative medicine department or service

摘要

BackgroundAn increasing number of clinics offer complementary or integrative medicine services; however, clear guidance about how complementary medicine could be successfully and efficiently integrated into conventional health care settings is still lacking. Combining conventional and complementary medicine into integrative medicine can be regarded as a kind of merger. In a merger, two or more organizations − usually companies − are combined into one in order to strengthen the companies financially and strategically. The corporate culture of both merger partners has an important influence on the integration.