The Service Tree lists all services in "branched" groups, starting with the very general and moving to the very specific. Click on the name of any group name to see the sub-groups available within it. Click on a service code to see its details and the providers who offer that service.
Specialized Treatment and Prevention
Related services
Programs that offer health care and treatment procedures that fall outside the mainstream of conventional medical practice. Most alternative approaches provide preventive care in addition to treatment of established conditions, define health as more than just the absence of disease, focus on natural healing as the treatment of choice, avoid invasive procedures to the extent possible, and approach individuals holistically dealing with their mental, emotional and spiritual needs in addition to the physical body. Many have their origins in the medical systems of non-Western cultures or in ancient healing traditions. Some alternative therapies are used instead of traditional Western "biomedical" procedures; others are complementary, used in addition to conventional care.
Observational and interventional research studies conducted with human volunteers that seek answers to specific questions that relate to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and/or management of diseases, disabilities or other related conditions. Clinical trials may be conducted by government health agencies, researchers affiliated with a hospital or university medical program, independent researchers or private industry; and test the efficacy of new drugs, new combinations of existing drugs, new dose schedules and routes of administration, and new ways of integrating multiple treatment modalities. They may also assess new screening tests, evaluate the application of new diagnostic tests in choosing treatment regimens, evaluate supportive care methods, test the safety and effectiveness of medical devices, teach lifestyle changes or investigate options for improving the quality of life for people who have serious medical conditions. Clinical trials are conducted according to a protocol which describes the types of patients who may enter the study, schedules of tests and procedures, drugs, dosages, and length of study, as well as the outcomes that will be measured. For some patients, clinical research trials represent an avenue for receiving promising new therapies that would not otherwise be available. Included are programs that maintain lists of currently available clinical trials and refer patients who want to become volunteers as well as the research projects themselves.
Programs that provide comprehensive medical and/or surgical services on an inpatient or outpatient basis for people who have a targeted disease, condition or disorder.
Programs that make necessary medical services available in the homes of people who are aged, ill or convalescing.
Programs that provide a full range of supportive services for terminally ill individuals who are in the final stages of their illnesses and for their families. Services may include medical care, pain and symptom management, home nurse visitation, case management, emotional and spiritual support, and bereavement services for the patient and members of the family. Hospice care may be provided at home, in a freestanding hospice facility, a hospice unit of a hospital or in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. In order to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement, an individual must have a life threatening illness and must be certified by their physician to have entered the last six months of life.
Health care facilities that are equipped with airtight tanks in which individuals who are suffering from decompression illness can be treated. After entry into the chamber, the barometric pressure is increased to the level which relieves the patient's symptoms, and then is very slowly decreased until the pressure in the tank is equal to outside pressure. Hyperbaric chambers are also used to treat gas gangrene, burns, lesions that have failed to heal, radiation-induced tissue damage, air embolism, smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning and chronic osteomyelitis, a bone infection.
Programs that provide inoculations or other prophylactic measures to prevent susceptible individuals from contracting specific diseases for which means of control have been developed including immunizations recommended specifically for newborns and young children, booster shots to prevent the occurrence of childhood illnesses in adolescence and adulthood, inoculations recommended specifically for pregnant women and immunizations against illnesses such as shingles and pneumonia for older adults.
Programs that administer necessary medication either undiluted or in a solution with other fluids directly into a vein. The amount of medication administered is strictly controlled as are the intervals for administration.
Programs that specialize in the surgical replacement of organs or living tissue in people whose own organs are dysfunctional.
Multidisciplinary programs that specialize in the treatment of individuals who have chronic, severe pain of organic origin that has not responded to medical or surgical therapy. Treatment is individualized and may include occupational therapy, muscle relaxation, behavior modification, stress management, biofeedback, psychological and psychosocial counseling, nutrition counseling, food allergy testing, exercise programs and a variety of physical intervention techniques including electrical stimulation of selected peripheral nerves and laser biostimulation.
Programs that provide for the comprehensive management of the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and existential needs of patients with the objective of helping them achieve the best possible quality of life through relief of suffering, control of symptoms and restoration of functional capacity while remaining sensitive to personal, cultural and religious values, beliefs and practices. The focus of palliative care is on people with incurable, progressive illnesses who are in the early stages of their illness. Palliative care may be provided in a wide variety of health care settings including hospitals, nursing facilities, hospice facilities and the person's own home; and may be coordinated with other services including curative therapies.
Programs that provide alternative methods of obtaining daily nutritional requirements for people who are unable to take food and/or liquids orally due to an obstruction in the alimentary tract, the inability to swallow, nausea due to chemotherapy or other causes, or postoperative complications.
Programs that provide instruction and/or postoperative care for people who have a permanent or temporary incision in their trachea and require a cannula (tube) to keep the air passages open in order to breathe. Care involves insertion of the cannula, irrigation of the cannula to ensure that the air passage remains free and removal of the cannula when necessary.
Programs that offer hormone replacement therapy for transgender individuals who are beginning the anatomical and psychological transition to another sex and gender. The therapy involves taking estrogen (for male-to-female transition) or testosterone (for female-to-male transition) before, during, and after the surgical transition. The purpose of hormone therapy is to change the physical appearance of the individual to look like the other sex and to feel comfortable. The feminizing effects of estrogen and the masculinizing effects of testosterone may appear after the first couple of doses, though it may be several years before a person is satisfactorily transitioned.
Programs that utilize one or a variety of techniques including nutrition education, exercise, special diets, protein sparing fasting, behavior modification, hypnosis, medication or surgery to help individuals who have a weight control problem gain or lose weight to achieve a more healthful body weight and develop a lifestyle that allows them to maintain that weight.