If you are reading this article, I suspect you are a chiropractor currently treating patients with back pain, neck pain, and/or headaches. You may be caring for patients with neck pain following a motor-vehicle incident. Most likely, these patients have been whiplashed and are presenting with whiplash-associated disorders (WAD), including spinal sprains and strains, spinal joint dysfunction, cervical radiculopathy, or even worse, cervical disc herniations.
Growth of Managed Care
Managed care enrollment in the United States is growing at an unprecedented rate. The number of Americans enrolled in preferred provider organizations (PPOs) increased by more than 32 percent in 1993. The number enrolled in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) increased by over 9 percent.
HMOs
1992 -- 38.8 million enrollees
1993 -- 42.3 million enrollees
PPOs
1992 -- 58 million eligible enrollees
1993 -- 76.6 million eligible enrollees
SOURCE: 1. InterStudy
2. American Association of PPOs