Research article discussion
Chiropractic services have been included in a spectrum of managed care programs since the early 90s. Because of their focus on cost savings, retrospective analyses are made periodically to compare the costs of management across the spectrum of providers. (more…)
How often has this happened in your practice? You submit an insurance claim, only to receive a denial, labeling the treatment or diagnostic testing you conducted as “observational” or “investigational.” It’s a response familiar to many doctors of chiropractic.
“This is happening so frequently now,” says Charles Herring, DC, president of the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER). “Someone representing the insurance company does a literature search and writes up a policy position stating that X is not a covered benefit, because it’s been determined from the literature [to be] an observational or investigational service.”
These documents, usually called “clinical policy bulletins,” mean that even before your claim can be considered, you have to come up with scientific literature to effectively counter the insurance company’s ruling.
That’s what our Research Section is for. It’s a vast collection of articles supporting the documented benefits of chiropractic care.
Would you like to read the rest of the Research and your Bottom Line article?
The June 2009 issue of Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior includes a study looking at a link between melanin production as a result of UV exposure and tobacco use in African Americans. Although the findings established a correlation, repeated studies are needed to verify their results. They go on to hypothesize that this correlation may be responsible for the stronger addiction to tobacco use that has been previously noted in darker skinned individuals. From the abstract;
Link between facultative melanin and tobacco use among African Americans
Gary King, Valerie B. Yerger, Guy-Lucien Whembolua, Robert B. Bendel, Rick Kittles, Eric T. Moolchan
“The results of this analysis support the hypothesis of a positive association between melanin levels and tobacco use, dependence, and exposure among African American smokers.”
The full abstract can be read by clicking on the study’s title above.
The journal ‘Immunity‘ yesterday released a study showing strong evidence, and confirming a previous controversial study, that between initial and subsequent infection 80% of CD4 memory T-lymphocytes are located within bone marrow and not the circulatory system as has been widely believed by heath researchers.
The abstract can be read here;
The “Scientist” magazine blog posted a follow up on a report last week of a division of a ‘fake journal’. Yesterday a follow up post was made stating that the reported journal was not the only one of its type, which bore the imprint of Elsevier’s Excerpta Medica. The follow up post reported there were a total of 6 journals of the type mentioned in the original report. Elsevier issued a statement, which read impart…
“It has recently come to my attention that from 2000 to 2005, our Australia office published a series of sponsored article compilation publications, on behalf of pharmaceutical clients, that were made to look like journals and lacked the proper disclosures,” said Michael Hansen, CEO of Elsevier’s Health Sciences Division, in a statement issued by the company. “This was an unacceptable practice, and we regret that it took place.”
The full posting can be read here;
SOURCE: J Bone Miner Res 2008 (May); 23 (5): 741–749
The whole point of nutritional supplementation should be about prevention, not reproducing the medical model of symptom treatment after the fact.
A new study involving 5,201 female U.S. Navy recruits puts this into clear perspective.
Half this group was given calcium and vitamin D supplementation during basic training, and the amazing result was a reduction of 25% in stress fractures. Considering that 21% of recruits usually experience a stress fracture, this was a big deal for the Navy.
Consider this: the average cost of a single soldier’s being discharged from basic training is estimated to be $34,000. By that standard alone, this study saved the Navy about 2.5 million dollars by reducing the discharge rate by 25%.
Enjoy the rest of this review