Documenting Quality Spine Care - and Getting Paid for It
Editorial Staff
| DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has announced a unique partnership with the Spine Institute for Quality whereby BCBSKS-contracted chiropractors who utilize the clinical data registry to submit metrics to Spine IQ regarding spine care will qualify for quality reimbursement payments. According to BCBSKS, the partnership is designed to establish benchmark performance measures that will improve patient care and documentation.
"Chiropractors provide important conservative spine care to thousands of BCBSKS members each year," said Dr. Daryl Callahan, DO, medical director for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, the state's largest insurer. "By establishing performance measures, they will follow best practices that are even more valuable to patients and payors."
According to the insurance carrier, "The registry will help BCBSKS and its network of chiropractors better define an episode of care for treatment ... by collecting data such as date of service, pain intensity and imaging within the first 28 days of pain."
As discussed in our October 2017 issue, clinical data registries such as Spine IQ are increasingly utilized as a means to gauge clinical efficacy, cost-effectiveness and overall quality of care. Relative to the chiropractic profession in general and the BCBSKS-Spine IQ partnership in particular, data reporting via clinical data registries allows the profession to define quality as it relates to spine care and demonstrate value, leading to increased utilization and reimbursement for services.
As a practitioner, you know foot pain should be addressed as soon as possible, as pain in one or both feet can potentially lead to impairment of foot function. But rather than treating foot pain with over-the-counter pain and anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen, or prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or even corticosteroid injections for chronic foot pain, why not try red light / infrared therapy?
The recent systematic review by the Clinical Compass on spine-related musculoskeletal pain – the latest study comparing chiropractic vs. medical care that demonstrates lower health care utilization when a DC is the initial provider – has been voted the top published article for 2024 by Chiropractic and Manual Therapies.
There is great interest among the tribes in expanding access to chiropractic for their tribal members; however, there is confusion as to how to do it; as well as a lack of knowledge in the greater chiropractic community of the need and process. This article is intended to help bring awareness to the issue and be a guide for those interested in working in this arena.
