News / Profession

The New Health Care Lexicon

Clinic without Walls vs. IPAs
Dynamic Chiropractic Staff

The health care lexicon, like our everyday language, is constantly in flux. This column is devoted to keeping you current on new health care terms.

Clinic without Walls

A group practice that operates from multiple sites. Member practices are usually economically linked and share a common administration.

Independent Practice Association (IPA)

A legal entity that holds managed care contracts. The IPA contracts with physicians to provide care on a fee-for-service or capitation basis. IPAs are often sponsored by medical societies to help physicians in solo practice contract for managed care.

These definitions are reprinted with permission from the glossary of Revolution: The New Health Care Takes Shape, authored by noted health care futurist Russell C. Coile, Jr., and published by Whittle Direct Books, 1993.

November 1995
print pdf
Trending
News / Profession
MAHA Launches Chiropractic Hub
MAHA Launches Chiropractic Hub

Building on a historic March 2026 meeting between Make America Healthy Again and chiropractic leadership, MAHA has announced the launch of the MAHA Chiropractic Hub, “a coordinated national partnership uniting MAHA Center, MAHA Action, and the chiropractic profession, including national associations, state organizations, practitioners, educators, researchers, and patient advocates. The Chiropractic Hub will advance federal policy, expand patient access, and build broad public support for chiropractic care across America.”

 |  Digital Exclusive
Dynamic Chiropractic Staff
Education & Seminars
Confronting the Threat to Chiropractic Education
Confronting the Threat to Chiropractic Education

The chiropractic profession is confronting one of the most significant federal regulatory threats it has faced in decades. A new U.S. Department of Education (ED) accountability framework – commonly referred to as the “Do No Harm” (DNH) regulation – could place many chiropractic programs at risk of losing access to federal financial aid (student loans), potentially reshaping the future of chiropractic education and workforce development across the United States.

 |  Digital Exclusive
Healthcare / Public Health
From Pain Scores to Performance Metrics
From Pain Scores to Performance Metrics

Pain has become the dominant language of musculoskeletal healthcare. Numeric pain-rating scales and symptom reports are routinely used as primary indicators of clinical success. But while pain reduction is meaningful, it is an incomplete and often misleading representation of recovery. This has real consequences for patient adherence, long-term outcomes, and how conservative care is perceived within the broader healthcare system.

Christopher Proulx, DC, PhD(ABD), CSCS