COCSA Launches Guidelines' Council

New Orleans, LA -- The Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA) held its annual convention to address many issues of concern to its 42 member state associations. The conference was dedicated to the memory of Stan Heard, DC, and Steve Dickson, Esq., who recently died in an airplane crash. Both men were working to secure chiropractic's place in national health care reform (please see "Chiropractic Loses Two of Its Finest Ambassadors" in the October 8, 1993 issue).

The annual meeting is designed to provide an opportunity for state associations to share concerns and solutions. Among those topics presented and discussed were:

• "National Health Care: Are You in or Are You Out?"
• "Mercy: One Year Later; Its Prospects for the Future"
• "Managed Care and Association PPOs -- Managed Care is Here! Are You Prepared?"

Perhaps the most important part of this year's Congress meeting was the resolution to commission a Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters. The members of COCSA unanimously passed the resolution with an initial priority to review the Mercy Guidelines. The Guidelines' Council will be a nonprofit organization comprised of representatives of all major national chiropractic organizations, experts on the development of guidelines, and support staff (please see "Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters Formed" in the November 19, 1993 issue).

The Congress also elected its officers and district directors for the upcoming year:

Rick McMichael, DC -- President
Mario Spoto, DC -- First Vice President
Leonard Suiter, DC -- Second Vice President
Rollie Dickenson, DC -- Secretary
Kathy Chittom - Treasurer
Dale Cohen, DC -- District 1 Director
Thomas Klapp, DC -- District 2 Director
Doris Christman -- District 3 Director
Mark Wolff, DC -- District 4 Director
Ed Weathersby, DC -- District 5 Director
Robert Sherman, Esq. -- Executive Director

One of the issues that was of some concern was whether the Congress would endorse or reject the Guidelines for Chiropractic Quality Assurance and Practice Parameters, also known as the Mercy Guidelines. As part of their business meeting, the Congress chose to make the following statement:

"The Congress sees its role as not only providing a forum where all voices can be heard, but also an organization where the concerns of the field practitioner come first. Our support of chiropractic guidelines development is clear in that the Congress commissioned the original Mercy Guidelines Conference and is also the commissioner of the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters. But in order to maintain this organization as one that truly represents the concerns of the clinician and respects all points of view, the Congress has chosen to take a neutral position on the Mercy Guidelines. In essence, the Congress is in support of an organized development process, but should remain neutral on all guidelines' documents."

Next year's Congress will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, early in November. The Guidelines' Council is expected to hold their first meeting sometime during the first half of 1994.