The most recent meeting of The New York State Board for Chiropractic was October 2009 in NYC.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) hosted its annual meeting in Newport, RI September 30-October 2, 2010.  The 2010 ACA Alternate Delegate of the Year was awarded to Louis Lupinacci, DC, FICC.  Dr. Lupinacci is the ACA NY Downstate Alternate Delegate and current NYSCA Vice President.  Accepting the award on behalf of Dr. Lupinacci was Dr. H. William Wolfson ACA NY Downstate Delegate.  Dr. Wolfson acknowledged Dr. Lupinacci’s service to the ACA, “Mild mannered, bright, even tempered, kind, professional, gentleman are only a few of the words you can use to describe this respected, admired and loved doctor … He is deserving of this prestigious ACA award and honor”.  Dr. Wolfson added how appropriate it was for Dr. Lupinacci to receive this award in Rhode Island, as Dr. Lupinacci was born here!  NYSCA extends our best wishes to Dr. Lupinacci on this well deserved award and the ACA by recognizing Dr. Lupinacci for his service to the profession, its doctors and patients!

"We ain't one-at-a-timin' here. We're MASS communicating!'" - Pappy O'Daniel

If you think of Facebook as a place for high schoolers and soccer moms, think again. Facebook has quickly earned a following of over 500,000,000 fanatical users who tune in early and often every day. Moreover, as of March 2010, Facebook surpassed Google in daily pageviews. However, that alone is not the reason to make Facebook a part of your chiropractic online advertising strategy.

EVERYONE KNOWS WHEN YOU "LIKE" SOMEONE

Until now, when a new patient found you via Google, Yahoo, Bing, Dogpile, or NYSCA.com, how many friends could you assume they'd tell about your site. Answer: zero. They might make it a bookmark or favorite but probably did not tell anyone else about your site at least not until after their first appointment. THIS IS WHERE FACEBOOK CHANGES THE MARKETING GAME.

HOW does Facebook spread the word virally?

(Arlington, Va.) -- The Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters (CCGPP), with assistance from the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), has established terminology that describes chiropractic care using conventionally recognized terminology across the accepted continuum of care. The terminology was established by a formal consensus process conducted in early 2009.

The chiropractic profession is making great strides with integration among health care providers and insurers. Doctors of chiropractic now practice in many military and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sites, in hospital settings and in a variety of integrated practice models. As our nation’s health care landscape changes and the primary care shortage becomes more acute, the stage will be set for even more integration of doctors of chiropractic among other health care providers—traditional and alternative. Therefore, it is vital that the scope of appropriate chiropractic care be clearly defined relative to overall patient case management.

The terminology that was established by the CCGPP consensus process relates to levels of care across the spectrum from acute care, to chronic/recurrent care and on to wellness care. The process specifically defined the following:

The two-year randomised clinical trial is the largest to study the effect of B vitamins on mild cognitive impairment, and one of the first disease-modifying trials in the Alzheimer’s field to show positive results in people.

Around 1 in 6 elderly people over the age of 70 has mild cognitive impairment, experiencing problems with memory, language, or other mental functions, but not to a degree that interferes with daily life. Around half of people with mild cognitive impairment go on to develop dementia – mainly Alzheimer’s disease – within five years of diagnosis.

Certain B vitamins – folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 – are known to control levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood, and high levels of homocysteine are associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s.

So the Oxford team set out to see whether supplements of the B vitamins that lower homocysteine could slow the higher rate of brain shrinkage, or atrophy, observed in mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s.

The study followed 168 volunteers aged 70 or over with mild memory problems, half of whom took high dose B vitamin tablets for two years and the other half a placebo tablet. The researchers assessed disease progression in this group by using MRI scans to measure the brain atrophy rate over a two-year period. The findings are published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The team found that on average the brains of those taking the folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12 treatment shrank at a rate of 0.76% a year, while those in the placebo group had a mean brain shrinkage rate of 1.08%. People with the highest levels of homocysteine benefited most, showing atrophy rates on treatment that were half of those on placebo.

Along with rate of brain shrinkage, the team from the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA) also monitored cognitive test scores, revealing that those with the slowest rate of shrinkage scored more strongly.

The team suggests that, since the rate of brain atrophy is known to be more rapid in those with mild cognitive impairment who go on to develop Alzheimer’s, it is possible that the vitamin treatment could slow down the development of the disease. Clinical trials to test this should now be carried out, they add.

‘It is our hope that this simple and safe treatment will delay the development of Alzheimer’s disease in many people who suffer from mild memory problems,’ said Professor David Smith of the Department of Pharmacology at Oxford University, a co-leader of the trial. ‘Today there are about 1.5 million elderly in UK, 5 million in USA and 14 million in Europe with such memory problems.

‘These are immensely promising results but we do need to do more trials to conclude whether these particular B vitamins can slow or prevent development of Alzheimer’s. So I wouldn’t yet recommend that anyone getting a bit older and beginning to be worried about memory lapses should rush out and buy vitamin B supplements without seeing a doctor,’ he said.

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, which co-funded the study, said: ‘These are very important results, with B vitamins now showing a prospect of protecting some people from Alzheimer’s in old age. The strong findings must inspire an expanded trial to follow people expected to develop Alzheimer’s, and we hope for further success.

‘We desperately need to support research into dementia, to help avoid the massive increases of people living with the condition as the population ages. Research is the only answer to what remains the greatest medical challenge of our time.’

Professor Chris Kennard, chair of the Medical Research Council’s Neurosciences and Mental Health Board which co-funded the study, said: ‘This MRC-funded trial brings us a step closer to unravelling the complex neurobiology of ageing and cognitive decline, which holds the key to the development of future treatments for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. The findings are very encouraging and we look forward to further research that is needed in order to test whether B vitamins can be recommended as a suitable treatment.’

On June 30, 2010 the New York State Workers Compensation Board published its “Proposed Medical Treatment Guidelines.”  A public comment period of 45 days commenced at that time and will end on August 16, 2010.  The NYSCA Workers Compensation Task Force has spent considerable time and energy reviewing the “Proposed Medical Treatment Guidelines,” researching supporting documentation and crafting a response to the Workers Compensation Board.  We anticipate that the final NYSCA response will be delivered to the Workers Compensation Board prior to the appointed deadline. 

In an effort to remind the members of the NYSCA as well as the entire chiropractic profession, patients and general public of the organization’s position regarding the proposed guidelines, the following story has been republished for review.  It is the feeling of the NYSCA leadership that the documentation sent to the Workers Compensation Board should be available to the public for review.  The NYSCA will publish its current comments and recommendations to the NYS WCB shortly after they have been submitted to the board sometime on or about August 16, 2010.  Please check this website for the updates.

The chiropractic profession, patients and the general public are invited to review NYSCA’s original position paper regarding the Medical Treatment Guidelines:

In March of 2007 Governor Eliot Spitzer issued a directive regarding Workers Compensation reform to State Insurance Department Chairman Eric Dinallo. Mr. Dinallo was instructed to form a task force with the expressed mission of updating the guidelines used by the New York State Workers’ Compensation System. In the directive, the governor stated that Chairman Dinallo was to create a task force comprised of representatives from industry, organized labor, and both houses of the state legislature. There were no representatives from any provider groups, including chiropractic, directly appointed to the task force.

A subsequent news release from the NYS Insurance Department Chairman revealed the task force had selected participants who were “highly credentialed physicians and other professionals to serve as essential advisors in the creation of the guidelines which” reportedly, “express the consensus of the expert professionals.” The task force was given the mission to review the current NYS Workers’ Compensation guidelines and compare them to current evidence-based guidelines as well as guidelines used in other states. In December 2007 the task force delivered their recommendations to Governor Spitzer and Chairman of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, Zachary Weiss. The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board has subsequently been instructed to develop regulations to implement the recommendations of the task force.

Although these guidelines were reputedly “designed to deliver quality, lower-cost care for injured workers”, the NYSCA believes the real agenda is cost containment at the expense of the injured workers. According to Eric Dinallo, Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department at the time, “the proposed medical treatment guidelines for treating workers injured on the job will benefit those workers while helping to hold down the cost of workers’ compensation insurance for all New Yorkers. Unfortunately, these guidelines do not meet either of these goals.

It is opinion of the NYSCA that since the chiropractic profession was not represented on this panel,the treatment modality that we offer was not thoroughly or properly evaluated. The guidelines are intended to “provide a consistent quality standard for the medical care of injured workers” and are reportedly “evidenced-based and reflect the sound clinical judgment of the physicians.” In theory, the guidelines “translate the medical literature into a usable and practical tool that assists busy medical providers in the provision of appropriate health care.” The question is: do the proposed guidelines achieve these goals?

Some of the deficiencies in the Medical Treatment Guidelines as proposed are detailed below.

1. The guidelines are supposed to “provide a consistent quality standard for the medical care of injured workers” and are reportedly “evidenced-based and reflect the sound clinical judgment of the physicians.” These guidelines do not follow the standards of guideline development, nor do they provide documentation of where their recommendations were obtained.

2. The Workers’ Compensation system must clearly address the needs of the injured worker. Policymakers should shift the focus from the bottom line to treatment value and quality of health outcomes. These guidelines do not consider the cost shifting that occurs when patients seek more conservative care as opposed to costly medical/surgical and pharmaceutical care. They also do not have a plan in place to perform vocational rehabilitation so for those more injured patients; the State is looking at shifting the costs to the private insurance sector.

3. A 2004 Rand study of the ACOEM guidelines, which are the basis of this proposal states that it “found the ACOEM guidelines to be of uneven quality.” While surgical topics were relatively well addressed, panelists were uncertain whether content was valid for physical modalities or other common and costly therapies.

4. The RAND study also stated that it “heard” numerous “anecdotes in which payors had used topical gaps in the ACOEM guidelines to deny care that might otherwise have been considered appropriate and necessary.”

5. A Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) survey of injured workers in California, where comparable guidelines have been in effect for more than 4 years, revealed that there was a very low patient satisfaction rate with treatment and unfavorable clinical outcomes. In other words, the more severely injured workers felt that they were not receiving the best care for their injuries.

Be assured that the New York State Chiropractic Association considers this a high priority issue for the profession and we will do all that we can in order to protect the patients we serve.

(Arlington, Va.) -- The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) today commended Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) and Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) for introducing legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that calls for the appointment of doctors of chiropractic (DCs) as officers in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps.

The bill, H.R. 6032, would include DCs in the Regular Corps and the Ready Reserve Corps, and would require the president, in consultation with the Surgeon General and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, to appoint no fewer than six DCs to the Commissioned Corps. Although the Commissioned Corps includes representatives from many diverse health care professions, no doctors of chiropractic have ever been appointed to serve—ACA and ACC have been working diligently with Reps. Green and Terry to advance this legislation, which specifically addresses this long-standing deficiency. 

The Commissioned Corps is an elite team of more than 6,000 well-trained, highly qualified public health professionals dedicated to delivering the nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science. Officers in the Corps provide health care services in a variety of locations and venues, including care to members of the U.S. Coast Guard and at community health centers. 

“Both Rep. Green and Rep. Terry have been champions for improving access to quality health care, and are long-time supporters of the chiropractic profession’s role in delivering vital health services to our nation’s citizens,” said ACA President Rick McMichael, DC. “The services of doctors of chiropractic will be a tremendous value to the Commissioned Corps, and enacting this legislation will be another important milestone in the mission to fully integrate chiropractic care into the nation’s health care delivery system.”

"Doctors of chiropractic already serve our nation's active-duty military and veterans with distinction and success,” said ACC President Frank Nicchi, DC. “H.R. 6032 will allow doctors of chiropractic to join forces with other health care providers in the fight against disease, poor health conditions and other threats during both non-emergency and emergency periods for our country. We extend our appreciation to Rep. Green and Rep. Terry for their bipartisan effort to introduce this long-overdue legislation.”

H.R. 6032 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over the USPHS. Reps. Green and Terry serve as senior members of that committee. ACA and ACC will soon initiate a range of grassroots activities to build support for this important legislation. 

To contact your Representative and urge them to cosponsor H.R. 6032, please visit the ACA Legislative Action Center.

The American Chiropractic Association, based in Arlington, Va., is the largest professional association in the United States representing doctors of chiropractic. ACA promotes the highest standards of ethics and patient care, contributing to the health and well-being of millions of chiropractic patients.

The Association of Chiropractic Colleges represents accredited chiropractic colleges in North America and seeks to advance chiropractic education, research and service.

Seneca Falls:  Dr. Lewis J. Bazakos (’78) was named New York Chiropractic College’s 2010 Distinguished Alumnus at the College’s recent homecoming celebration.  Citing his extensive record of support to NYCC, and his many achievements within the chiropractic profession, President Frank J. Nicchi acknowledged Bazakos’ efforts in the development and chairmanship of the Chiropractic Summit, a “think-tank” made up of leadership from some 40 chiropractic organizations that meet regularly with the common goal of advancing chiropractic with “One Voice.”

A member of NYCC’s Board of Trustees from 1997 to 2009, Dr. Bazakos served as its Chair from 2004 to 2007 and oversaw the inauguration of NYCC’s Finger Lakes School of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, as well the launch of NYCC’s School of Applied Clinical Nutrition.  He was also an enthusiastic advocate for restructuring of the College’s Institutional Advancement division.

Dr. Bazakos’ long history of professional achievement includes serving as Chairman, Board of Governors of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and past president of the New York State Chiropractic Association (NYSCA). His numerous honors include NYSCA’s Ernest G. Napolitano award in 1991, the ACA “Chiropractor of the Year” in 2008 and NYSCA’s first ever “Chiropractor of the Year” recognition in 2009.

The National Association of Chiropractic Attorneys (NACA) today announced that it has issued a proclamation recognizing “the historic and profoundly positive legal ramifications for the chiropractic profession and the patient community it serves in Section 2706, ‘Non-Discrimination in Health Care,’ recently enacted as part of the federal ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.’”

The provider non-discrimination provision reads in part: “A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall not discriminate with respect to participation under the plan or coverage against any health care provider who is acting within the scope of that provider’s license or certification under applicable State law.”

The provision has long been championed by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and members of the Chiropractic Summit. It was achieved primarily due to collaboration with Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and help from other key players such as Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Although he did not support the final bill overall, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) also lent his support for the advancement of the non-discrimination provision. ACA will continue to fight for proper implementation during the regulatory process.

“It is important to recognize this provision as a historic first for the chiropractic profession. We now have a federal law applicable to ERISA plans that makes it against the law for insurance companies to discriminate against doctors of chiropractic and other providers relative to their participation and coverage in health plans,” said NACA Vice President Mike Schroeder. “While there is still much work to be done in the regulatory process, we are encouraged by the fact that Congress has finally acted to end provider discrimination based on one’s license.”

It is also important to note that Section 2706, and its assurance of non-discrimination in terms of participation and coverage, effectively requires that doctors of chiropractic be allowed to provide any “essential benefit” that is within their scope of practice. This will prove to be a particularly significant victory as the essential benefits package under the health care reform law is defined over the next couple of years.

“As significant as Section 2706 is to the chiropractic profession, it is possible to lose ground during the regulatory drafting process,” said NACA President Paul Lambert. “NACA strongly encourages all segments of the chiropractic profession to support ACA in its efforts to ensure that the regulations enacted under Section 2706 properly reflect the patient protections intended in the statute."

To support the work being done to ensure the proper implementation of the provider non-discrimination provision, visit the CHAMP Web site at http://www.chirochamp.org, and encourage chiropractic patients to join ChiroVoice at www.chirovoice.org/. In addition, state chiropractic associations can also adopt resolutions recognizing the importance of Section 2706.

NACA is the only organization in the United States and Canada dedicated to legal professionals representing regional, state, local and national chiropractic associations, chiropractic colleges and state chiropractic licensing boards. The purpose of NACA is to network and provide legal education on chiropractic issues to better represent chiropractic associations, licensing boards and colleges and to advocate on a national and local level for issues benefiting chiropractic physicians and their patients. NACA provides resource information to address national and local issues faced by organizations representing or regulating chiropractic.

Patricia Merkle, New York Chiropractic College’s Quality Engineer, was named a Senior Baldrige Examiner by the Baldrige National Quality Program.  The Program, part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is overseen by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Merkle will be qualified to lead a team for the Baldrige process. As an examiner, she will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the Award.  The board is composed of approximately 500 leading experts selected from industry, professional and trade organizations, education and healthcare organizations, and nonprofits – including government.  All members of the board must take part in a preparation course based on the Criteria for Performance Excellence and the scoring and evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award.

The award may be given annually in each of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, healthcare, and nonprofit.

In addition, the American Society for Quality has accepted Merkle’s presentation titled “Using the Baldrige Framework as a System for Change and Assessment in Education” for presentation at the annual National Quality Education Conference, to be held in Chicago this November.

On June 25, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010.”  This law establishes a 2.2 percent update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) payment rates retroactive from June 1 through November 30, 2010.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has directed Medicare claims administration contractors to discontinue processing claims at the negative update rates and to temporarily hold all claims for services rendered June 1, 2010, and later, until the new 2.2 percent update rates are tested and loaded into the Medicare contractors’ claims processing systems.  Effective testing of the new 2.2 percent update will ensure that claims are correctly paid at the new rates.  CMS expects to begin processing claims at the new rates no later than July 1, 2010.  Claims for services rendered prior to June 1, 2010, will continue to be processed and paid as usual.

Claims containing June 2010 dates of service which have been paid at the negative update rates will be reprocessed as soon as possible.  Under current law, Medicare payments to physicians and other providers paid under the MPFS are based upon the lesser of the submitted charge on the claim or the MPFS amount.  Claims containing June dates of service that were submitted with charges greater than or equal to the new 2.2 percent update rates will be automatically reprocessed.  Affected physicians/providers who submitted claims containing June dates of service with charges less than the 2.2 percent update amount will need to contact their local Medicare contractor to request an adjustment.  Submitted charges on claims cannot be altered without a request from the physician/provider.  Physicians/providers should not resubmit claims already submitted to their Medicare contractor.

On Friday, the FTC issued a notice indicating that the Red Flags Rule would not be enforced until January 1, 2011.  Over the past few months Congress has been debating whether this regulation should apply to healthcare providers.  The AMA has also filed a lawsuit against the FTC because they believe that the FTC has overstepped its bounds by attempting to apply this regulation to healthcare providers.  In the next few months I believe we will see a bill passed which would exempt healthcare providers from this regulation.

For more information on the Red Flags Rule visit: www.acatoday.org/redflags.  Read the FTC’s release here. 

NYSCA's 2010 ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCED The New York State Chiropractic Association is proud to announce the May 2010 election results.
The individuals below are elected to the Board of Directors :
Dr. Lloyd Angel
Dr. Patrice Carroll
Dr. Lloyd Kupferman
Dr. Malcolm Levitin
Dr. Susan Schliff
Dr. Doug Van Vorst
The new Directors will assume their elected office on June 1, 2010. NYSCA thanks all the candidates that participated in this year’s election and congratulation to the winners.

More Than $350 Million Available to Affected Parties

With a focus on looking ahead to chiropractic’s future role in the evolving health care system, this year’s Association of Chiropractic Colleges Educational Conference and Research Agenda Conference (ACC- RAC) was held at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, March 17 to 20, and attracted a record number of participants. ACC president, Frank J. Nicchi, DC, was pleased with the event: “I feel like we accomplished a great deal this year, attendance was robust and important issues in chiropractic education were addressed.  I should also add that the papers, posters and panel discussions presented at the conference were outstanding.”

The conference’s theme, Chiropractic and Public Health in the 21st Century, was advanced by keynote speakers, best-selling author, Nortin M. Hadler, MD, who discussed the personal, social and policy consequences of low back pain in a thought provoking presentation and Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, who spoke to the challenges and opportunities associated with improving population health and providers’ roles in reaching society’s goals. The resoundingly successful conference that included 200 scientific papers submitted for peer review from which 66 were selected for poster presentation and 92 for platform presentation concluded with a lively panel discussion, Subluxation Theory as a Component of Public Health.

During the business meeting, the ACC presidents’ group deliberated on a number of issues including the implementation of action steps related to several strategic directives developed at a July 2009 board retreat. Among those strategic directives are: to achieve consensus among member institutions as to how the chiropractic academic community may contribute to integration within the existing and emerging health care systems; promote collaboration in research efforts among member institutions; increase the quantity, quality and diversity of applicants pursuing chiropractic education; review the ACC Paradigm from an educational perspective; develop relationships with other chiropractic and allied health institutions globally that complement ACC’s mission, vision and values and to look at the possibility of developing clinical residencies as part of the doctor of chiropractic program training. Additionally, ACC working groups , consisting of the chief academic officers, chief financial officers,  directors of clinic, development, institutional assessment, research, libraries, admissions and postgraduate education, met to discuss common challenges facing member institutions.

The ACC-RAC planning committee was chaired by ACC vice-president Fabrizio Mancini, D.C. and included Richard Brassard, D.C. (ACC secretary-treasurer), Cheryl Hawk, D.C., Ph.D., Claire Johnson, D.C., William Meeker, D.C., David O’Bryon (ACC executive director), Robyn Patkus and Rodger Tepe, Ph.D.  Dr. Claire Johnson, Peer Review Chair for the scientific platform and poster sessions for the ACC-RAC conference said, “The 2010 program had the largest turn out of chiropractic research in the history of the conference and remains the premiere scientific venue for which all forms of chiropractic research are presented – which is essential to the future development of the chiropractic profession.”    

Event sponsors included renowned maker of whole food nutritional supplements premier sponsor Standard Process, Inc., and platinum sponsors Foot Levelers and NCMIC.   Next year’s conference, themed integration, will also be held at Caesar’s Palace.  For more information, please visit www.chirocolleges.org.