A complementary and integrative approach occurs when the patient's doctors know about the complementary care, agree that it will not be harmful, and continue to monitor the patient's progress while keeping an eye on the effects of both the complementary and the conventional therapies. In integrative medicine, practitioners in both areas (conventional and complementary) work together to provide the patient with the safest and most appropriate treatments.

Complementary, alternative, and integrative approaches may include the same therapies--for example, if someone with cancer chooses to be treated by a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine instead of having conventional cancer treatment, that would be alternative medicine, while someone who has acupuncture to help with the side effects of chemotherapy would be taking a complementary approach.

Physicians who practice integrative medicine focus on the whole person. And, just as they must keep abreast of current research in conventional medicine, they also review the latest research results for complementary therapies. This ensures that the treatments don't conflict with each other and don't cause any harm to the patient.