The National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company (NCMIC), through the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER), has funded a $76,523 RAND Corporation study on patient compliance of doctor recommendations.
The list of co-investigators involved in this project is impressive indeed. Ian Coulter, Ph.D., a sociologist, is currently a researcher at LACC, a health consultant at RAND, and is a past president of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC). Ronald Hays, Ph.D., is a psychometrician at RAND with expertise in evaluating self-reported patient satisfaction with health care and patient adherence. Robin DiMatteo, Ph.D., a University of California at Riverside psychologist affiliated with RAND, is also an expert in the field of patient adherence.
The study is surveying 150 chiropractors and 1,500 patients in the greater Los Angeles area. Patients will complete two self-report surveys approximately one month apart assessing patient adherence, satisfaction with treatment, and health-related quality of life. This information will help doctors in developing effective intervention strategies when confronted with patient non-compliance.
"The importance of this study," said Arnold Ciancuilli, D.C., president of NCMIC, "is to indicate to our doctors that the ability to communicate in an empathetic manner is not only critical to healing, but to the prevention of malpractice. This kind of study allows the profession to see if it is living up to its primary care role in the doctor/patient relationship."
