Chiropractic Clout
As hospitals, insurance carriers, managed care organizations, other health care providers, and even venture capitalists are scrutinizing the chiropractic profession, they eventually discover our extensive patient database. While they may never become proponents of chiropractic care, they may be starting to see the chiropractic profession as the key to a new source of potential patients.
A statement made in a recent issue of The Back Letter1 acknowledges this reality:
"With an estimated patient base of 10-20 million Americans, chiropractors wield considerable economic power."Cost-effectiveness and efficacy are more important than ever, and as health care reform continues, economic issues will more than likely continue to override philosophical biases and barriers.
1. U.S. hospitals granting clinical privileges to chiropractors in record numbers, The Back Letter, 1995 (5):51.
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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A central challenge in creating our identity is that chiropractic is a method of care, not a technique or procedure. This is an important concept for us to promote. Our patients are treated with lifestyle modification, exercise, nutritional supplements, diet and a whole-body approach to accelerate the natural healing process. We are not simply CMT providers.
The results of a global survey released late last year (2023) unveiled some startling findings among medical and nursing students. The “Clinician of the Future: 2023 Education Edition” surveyed 2,212 students, of which 446 were in the United States, from 91 countries.
