Chiropractic Reaches Consensus On Terminology For Stages Of Care
Chiropractic Reaches Consensus On Terminology For Stages Of Care
SOURCE: ACAnews ~ November 2010
By Nataliya V. Schetchikova, PhD
This article reports on the JMPT study titled:
Consensus Terminology for Stages of Care: Acute, Chronic, Recurrent, and Wellness
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2010 (Jul); 31 (9): 651–658
For more than a century, chiropractic has largely existed in isolation from mainstream health care, evolving with its own philosophy, system of education and approach to patient care. And, like other groups that develop independently of the mainstream, the profession has created its own unique system of terminology.
The problem is, the terms—namely, preventive, supportive and maintenance care—are poorly understood by allopathic providers, patients and payers alike, which makes it difficult for DCs to communicate the value of their services and, essentially, prevents the profession from fully integrating into mainstream health care. And especially in the past decade, the difference in terminology started to cause problems in the reimbursement arena.
“The government and private payers started designing stages of chiropractic care using their own language and using this as a basis for denying care,” says Ritch Miller, DC, chairman of ACA’s Medicare Committee. “For example, Medicare doesn’t pay for maintenance care—but the definition of maintenance care is so gray that it’s left up to the claims adjusters to decide what it is, and many beneficiaries are wrongly denied care because of the interpretation of these terms,” he adds. (more…)