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HEALTHBEAT SHOW NOTES .... Episode #93 - Recorded April 20, 2007

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of HealthBeat, Chiropractic OnLine Today’s Health, News and informational Podcast.

In this week’s news:  We’ll Look At –  

• NJ Chiropractors Prohibited from Adjusting Extremities

• ACA alarmed by Aetna Mid-Atlantic new policies

• Medicare chiropractic project comes to a close

• N.C. legislature vote could cost chiropractors

• Key to avoiding whiplash injury may lie in head restraint positioning

For HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

Welcome to HealthBeat Podcast #93, recorded April 20, 2007.  HealthBeat is Chiropractic OnLine Today’s radio program, providing current news and commentary about Chiropractic and Health.

This week’s Episode is sponsored by DaVinci Laboratories.  Please surf to our web site at www.ChiropracticRadio.com and click on the DaVinci link for your Health and Nutritional needs.

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And Now for some news ….

NJ Chiropractors Prohibited from Adjusting Extremities

In a story received into the COT HealthBeat news desk, just before going to air …. As of Wednesday, April 18, 2007, a state appellate court held that the extra-spinal adjustment of a joint outside the spinal column, in this case a knee, was outside of the scope of chiropractic practice in New Jersey.  This decision is official as of April 18th to the NJ group, the ANJC…. Following is information regarding the decision.

In the case of Bedford v. Riello, the Appellate Division, which is an intermediate level court in the state above trial courts and below the Supreme Court, reviewed a chiropractic malpractice case where a chiropractor was alleged to have deviated from the New Jersey scope of chiropractic practice by adjusting a patient’s knee without linking the condition to a spinal subluxation.  After reviewing the case on appeal, the court decided that the treatment of the knee by the chiropractor was outside of his scope of practice and sent the case back down to the trial court to be re-tried.

The decision specifically does not strike down the chiropractic regulation which has long allowed chiropractors to treat the articulations of the spine “and related structures.”   This regulation has been interpreted by the New Jersey State Board of Chiropractic Examiners (the “Board”) for decades to permit the adjustment of extra-spinal joints.  After conducting its own independent analysis of the regulation, the court, however, concluded that “the scope of chiropractic practice in New Jersey is limited to adjustments of the spinal column and does not include the adjustment of other joints.”  Such a conclusion is in direct contradiction with the position of the Board as well as common chiropractic practice on both state and national levels.

According to the NJ Group, the ANJC, this is a very bad decision based upon a limited number of facts.  Unfortunately, however, the court’s decision is clear that, as of April 18, 2007, chiropractors in the State of New Jersey should not perform extra-spinal adjustment of joints outside the articulations of the spinal column.  To do so would subject the chiropractor to the risk of financial liability or charges of professional misconduct for providing services outside of the scope of practice as re-defined by the Bedford court. 

Thus, it is the ANJC’s recommendation that, until this decision is overturned on appeal or a new chiropractic scope of practice is enacted, chiropractors should refrain from performing extra-spinal manipulation of joints outside the articulations of the spinal column from this date forward.  For more specific interpretation of what this decision means and how you may need to change your practice to comply with it, consult your attorney or other competent legal counsel. 

The ANJC will be formally requesting that the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners direct its Deputy Attorney General to file a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court confirming that the decision is incorrect and contrary to the long standing opinion of the state appointed experts on chiropractic scope and practice, the Board.

For more information, or to contact the ANJC, surf to their web site at – http://www.anjc.info

Click here for a copy of the NJ Appellate Court Opinion

ACA alarmed by Aetna Mid-Atlantic new policies

A new Aetna Mid-Atlantic policy distributed by American Specialty Health Networks treats interferential current therapy (IFC) and the use of manual spinal adjusting instruments as experimental and investigational, and are therefore not covered, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA).

According to the ACA, attempts to contact Aetna in regard to these policy changes, which became effective March 1, have not been successful and no response has been received. The ACA states it would continue to work with Aetna to develop policies, but will also explore other options if its collaborative effort is not productive.

The ACA is considering taking this issue to federal court if all other efforts fail. 

The Aetna Mid-Atlantic region includes: Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and southern New Jersey. 

Chiropractors who have patients affected by services deemed experimental/investigational can contact the ACA at 703-812-0227.

Surf to www.acatoday.com for more information.

Medicare chiropractic project comes to a close

The first phase of the historic Medicare Chiropractic Demonstration Project will come to a close March 31, 2007, ending a two-year program to collect cost and other data related to an expansion of chiropractic services offered in Medicare. 

The aim of the project, according to the American Chiropractic Association, was to convince Congress to enact permanent legislation to reimburse doctors of chiropractic within Medicare for common services beyond manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation, such as exams, plain X-rays, therapy services, and clinical lab services.

The first phase of the demonstration project has been underway since April 2005 in select geographic areas, including Maine, New Mexico, 26 counties in Illinois, 17 counties in Virginia, and one county in Iowa.

Under the next phase of the demonstration project, no additional chiropractic services will be provided within Medicare; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will concentrate on collecting and evaluating claims data — a process expected to require an additional two years. CMS will furnish Congress with a formal analysis and report on the findings of the pilot project in spring 2009.

For more information, surf to the American Chiropractic Association at www.acatoday.com

N.C. legislature vote could cost chiropractors

North Carolina House members voted to rescind a controversial law that prevents health insurers from charging their customers a higher co-payment if they want to see a chiropractor instead of their family doctor.

However, the law may be restored later this year. The parity law has been in the news because of an allegation of bribery of state officials to have the law passed.

The legislation passed 108-8, and now goes to the state Senate.

Chiropractic officials have acknowledged that North Carolina is the first state in the nation to give such a break to chiropractic patients.

Surf to our Show Notes for more information - www.charlotteobserver.com

Key to avoiding whiplash injury may lie in head restraint positioning

A study by Brian Stemper, Ph.D., who is an assistant professor of neurosurgery, resulted in the most comprehensively validated computer model for whiplash reported in scientific literature.

His work is published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention and data from the report has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation for possible use in determining safety rules for car manufacturers.

Whiplash injuries affect the soft tissues of the cervical spine (e.g., ligaments and intervertebral discs) and can be sustained in any type of crash but occur most often in low speed rear-end collisions.

The injury affects more than one million people in the U.S. each year and results in symptoms of neck pain, headaches and lower back soreness. A high percentage of all patients sustaining whiplash injury report long-term pain.   A 1999 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study found that 26 percent of rear-struck vehicle drivers reported neck injuries.

Dr. Stemper has investigated cervical spine ligament stretch during whiplash by comparing increasing distances between the back of the head and the head restraint. He has developed a mathematical computer model of the head and cervical spine that can be studied under simulated rear-end collision conditions. The model provides quantifiable data on soft tissue distortions in humans.

For more information, surf to our Show Notes for a link to this study - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V5S-4HJ4808-1&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2006&_alid=559911078&_rdoc=1&_fmt=summary&_orig=search&_cdi=5794&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=1&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b99722807d4903f1aa0a4aa4fe8d8ad1

As always, please surf to our Podcast Show Notes at ChiropractiRadio.com for a full listing of web references mentioned in today’s show.

And remember - COT’s Healthbeat always recommends discussing any nutritional or exercise lifestyle modifications with a qualified healthcare professional.

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For Chiropractic OnLine Today’s HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

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