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Dynamic Chiropractic Canada
VOLUME 30, NUMBER 4
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NCCAM Featured Content
NCCAM's Advisory Council Welcomes Six New Members
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) welcomes six new members to the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The council serves as the principal ...
 
In the News: Resveratrol
Resveratrol is a naturally occurring chemical found in red wine and other plant products and is sometimes sold as a dietary supplement. Recently, a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute ...
 
In the News: Placebo Effect
Recently, several news outlets have been highlighting research studies of the placebo effect. The placebo response can be defined as the benefit patients receive from a treatment that has no active components. ...
 
Soy Protein Supplements Do Not Reduce Plaque in Arteries of Postmenopausal Women
Soy protein supplements containing isoflavones do not significantly reduce the progression of atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque in the arteries) in postmenopausal women, according to a recent study published ...
 
Message from the Director: New Directions
The need for careful research on complementary and alternative health practices remains compelling. Tens of millions of Americans are spending $34 billion per year (mostly out-of-pocket) on a variety of ...
 
Safe Use of Complementary Health Products and Practices
As with any treatment, it is important to consider safety before using complementary health products and practices. Safety depends on the specific therapy, and each complementary product or practice should ...
 
Depression and Complementary Health Practices
Depression is a medical condition that affects nearly 21 million American adults each year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Mood, thoughts, physical health, and behavior all may be ...
 


Alternative Health News
Using the Channel Systems of Acupuncture to Unravel the Mysteries of Disease Progression
Wind is a philosophical representation of change in the Chinese classics. It is also acknowledged as the root of all physiological disturbance. It is stated in chapter 3 of the Su Wen that wind is "the cause of hundreds of diseases."
AAAOM Postpones Annual Membership Conference, Leadership Meeting To Be Held
The decision by AAAOM to postpone its annual membership conference for one year was a difficult one.
Public Health & Gerontology Groups Support CAM
Two large professional groups recently held annual meetings that featured a number of presentations about acupuncture and CAM topics.
Seeing Your Massage Clients Through a New Lens
I've worked with people young and old with complex medical conditions since 1979 when I began my career as an occupational therapist.
The Big C: What Are You Doing About It?
It is the rare to meet a person these days that doesn't have a concern about cancer. Between the constant headlines, to pink ribbons on everything from planes to phones, to hearing that Aunt Stacy was just diagnosed, it is impossible to not be aware of cancer's presence.
Massage Therapy Reduces Low Back Pain
Non-specific low back pain is one of the most common muscular-skeletal issues reported by patients/clients seeking pain relief. Massage therapy is recognized in clinical practice as an effective treatment.
Herbs: Revitalizing in Spring to Maintain Youthful Vitality
Spring is the time to revitalize and get moving, but also a time to improve our immune systems so that we can avoid wind-caused health conditions that often proliferate during this season.
WIBB Exclusive: Who Runs the Show?
Staffing issues abound. By far, it is the number one complaint of employers and the reason I am most contacted for consulting. It goes something like this. You have a successful practice and are turning away business.
Dr. Shi Xue-Min and the Xing Nao Kai Qiao Legacy
To the acupuncture community, Dr. Shi Xue-Min is known as a distinguished acupuncturist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a supervisor of doctoral candidates in China.
Re-Framing the Idea of Referring New Clients to Other LMT's
Recently, I called a licensed massage therapist to find out about the possibility of getting a session. If I liked her work, I told her, I'd be interested in working with her as my regular LMT. The first thing she said was that she wasn't doing massage now.
Challenging Sacred Cows, Round Two
I want to clear up something before I go forward. First, an esteemed colleague and visionary of our profession wrote to me asking if I did not believe in science because of my comment, "While I am not a fan of evidence-based medicine..."
Expanding Your Massage Therapy Practice
An e-mail survey conducted in December 2011 found that many massage therapists are missing out some potential revenue streams by not offering any additional products or services to their clients.
Speaking in Code
At this point, I am certain everyone is aware of the CPT codes for billing acupuncture. However, there have been some recent cases where it is clear that not everyone is following the clear-cut rules on how to define and use these codes.
CAMTC Honors CA State Senator Lou Correa
In closing out a busy 2011, the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) honored California State Senator Lou Correa with its Legislator of the Year award at the final 2011 Board of Directors meeting.
Dealing with Fibromyalgia
It is estimated that between two to four percent of the population are now suffering from fibromyalgia, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome and TMJ. Perhaps our massage school education did not include how to successfully deal with fibromyalgia.
Giving a Big Thumbs Up for Healthy Thumbs
The thumb is one of the most practical and necessary implements of the body. It is the first self-comforting tool to be used, often seen thrust into the mouth of a fetus in the womb.
How Chinese Medicine Can Save Western Medicine
Our country is struggling to reduce the cost of healthcare while simultaneously improving its quality and accessibility. I see a partial solution: use Chinese medicine in Western healthcare settings.
The Magic of Microcurrent
In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, I found this definition of the word magic: an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source.
Hip and Thigh Pain: The Tensor Fascia Latae Connection
Have you ever had a patient with hip and lateral thigh pain that did not respond to your traditional treatment? Would it be helpful to know which muscles to double check that refer pain into the hip and lateral thigh?
Positional Release Self Care for Soreness and Other Pains
If your patients are anything like mine, they will report to you that there is commonly a degree of discomfort, soreness or stiffness a day or so following manual treatment no matter how gentle or appropriate that treatment might have been.
Practice What You Preach and Go Back to Massage School
For all of us, the massage school experience is (or was) transformational in nature. As students, we were feeling "new" things, literally and figuratively, every day. Our wonder at and reverence for the human body and all of its systems grew by the hour.
Target Your Marketing for Success
When asked what clients they want to work with, many massage therapists answer, "Everybody." When you try to market to everybody, that's called "blanket" marketing.
Impacting Children: CranioSacral Therapy and Pediatrics
Working with children is an art as well as a science. Using CranioSacral Therapy (CST) on a child can be especially gratifying as a qualified CST practitioner can facilitate significant changes that can positively improve the quality of a child's life.
Professionalism, Education and Turf Wars
Most professions have discourse about the "professional." Professions define themselves in part by excluding others. I would like to briefly explore professionalism in Chinese medicine.
Understanding the Changes of ICD10
Recently, I have been receiving inquiries about the new codes for ICD10. When do they begin and how much of a change will they be?
Get Optimal Energy with Nutritional Self Care
It is our experience that massage therapists are some of the most giving, compassionate people on the planet. While we might be exceptional at caring for others, many massage therapists put themselves last when it comes to their own self-care.
Freeing the Heart, Part 2: Equalizing the Pressure
Cardiovascular disease does not happen overnight. It is a progression that evolves over decades and genetic pre-disposition can accelerate this progression dramatically.
Entrepreneur or Employee? Which is Right for You?
There is no denying the massage and wellness industry is here to stay. People are becoming far more proactive with their health care and are looking to alternatives to heavy medications and a costly doctor visit.
The Heart /Kidney Connection
Are you treating health conditions related to or affected by love? This past November I taught at the Pacific Symposium, a large educational conference put on for our industry by the Pacific College in San Diego, Calif.
Unlocking the Secret to a Thriving Massage Practice
Whether you own a thriving massage practice, you just want to develop a base of recurring customers, or you're just starting to get clients this article will reveal the little known secret to have more joy from your work, get more clients.
A Massage Protocol for Peripheral Neuropathy
My last article in the October 2011 issue focused on diabetic peripheral neuropathy and I want to stress the importance of reviewing that information before proceeding on to this protocol.
Dynamic Chiropractic – May 6, 1994, Vol. 12, Issue 10
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You Say We're in A Health Care Revolution ...

Well, Would You Like to See the Plan?

By Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher

Imagine a world where all pertinent information is available to all decision makers; where every aspect of treatment that a patient may receive is kept in that patient's computer file; where each provider is constantly monitored by both peers, payers, and even appropriate government agencies.

Sound impossible? To some extent, it's already happening.

The world of health care is changing.

Where is it going?

What can we expect?

How can we prepare?

These and other questions are addressed in the latest work by well known health care futurist Russell C. Coile Jr. His new book, Revolution -- The New Health Care System Takes Shape, is a look into the immediate future of health care. Although it is written with a focus on medicine, the book clearly defines the forces that are influencing the changes chiropractors are beginning to see.

Consider the following excerpt regarding computer profiling and economic credentialing:

"On the other hand, once these systems are completely functioning, the practice of medicine will take place in an electronic fishbowl. Eventually every medical record will be accessible to payers, third-party review organizations, and government. Computer programs will monitor physician performance in hospitals and offices. Every patient visit, lab report, x-ray, consultation, in-patient stay -- the complete record of clinical treatment -- will be computerized and continuously analyzed.

"Computer profiles of physician performance will compare one doctor with others on a hospital staff, or with peers across the nation. These profiles will be used for privileging, payment, and continuous economic credentialing. Large health systems will be able to centralize their assessment of physicians' performance, using cost and outcomes measures to compare primary-care doctors and specialists throughout the system, so as to standardize quality and cost. Third-party payers, managed-care plans, and self-insured employers will use computer programs to screen out physicians whose cost of care or lengths of stay are consistently high.

"Doctors have good reason to be nervous about economic credentialing. Although few hospitals will have the nerve to drop a physician from the medical staff for any reason other than lapses in quality, HMOs, PPOs, insurance companies, self-insured employers, and even government will reward or punish doctors based on their cost of care. Doctors will economically credential other doctors. Independent practice associations will counsel physicians whose costs are out of line and drop them from managed-care panels if they are not compliant. Hospitals will be looking closely at factors like length of stay, use of ancillary tests from lab and radiology, consultations, number of office or clinic visits for the same patient, procedures, and cost per day. These will all be evaluated and compared from doctor to doctor."

As you can readily see, this is not a book for someone who would rather bury his or her head in the sand and hope that it's all a bad dream. This book talks about managed care, primary care, and all those other nasty issues. Much of what Mr. Coile has to say you may not want to hear, but you need to.

Revolution -- The New Health Care System Takes Shape is only 75 pages. But it has the power to make you better informed and able to truly consider your future in health care. Unfortunately, due to a reorganization by the publisher, they will not be re-printing this book. At last check, there were only 55 copies left.

If you would like a copy of this important work, you may call Whittle Direct Books at 1-800-765-5889 to order one of the last copies. The cost is $21.95 plus shipping and handling; the benefit is substantial.

DMP Jr., BS, HCD(hc)

Click here for more information about Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher.

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