U.S. Comptroller Appoints Chiropractor to Chair PCORI
Dynamic Chiropractic Staff
Christine Goertz, DC, PhD, has been appointed by the Comptroller of the United States to a three-year term as chair of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's Board of Governors. The PCORI is the largest public research funder focusing primarily on clinical effectiveness research, and has "funded hundreds of studies that compare healthcare options to learn which works best, given patients' circumstances and preferences."
Dr. Goertz has served on the board in various capacities since the institute launched in 2010. The board includes 21 representatives of the patient, general consumer, clinical, insurance, research, employer, industry, policy and other health care sectors.
The PCORI is an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental entity authorized as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act to, according to the institute, "close the gap" that currently exists between the questions clinicians and their patients have when it comes to health care – and the research that can provide them with answers.
Dr. Goertz's distinguished career in chiropractic and health care includes service as vice chancellor of research and health policy at Palmer College of Chiropractic and as a program official at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the National Institutes of Health.
For chiropractors practicing today, Dr. Warren Hammer’s legacy is particularly visible in several areas that have become familiar components of modern musculoskeletal care: his early work with the Graston Technique and instrument-assisted soft-tissue mobilization; his extensive writing and teaching on functional soft-tissue examination and treatment; his role in bringing fascial manipulation to U.S. clinicians; and his decades spent educating chiropractors and other health professionals.
Financial pressure, enrollment declines and institutional challenges are emerging at several U.S. chiropractic colleges. Life Chiropractic College West's and Life University's struggles may be the most talked about but appear to be part of a larger story. And with recent USDE requirements threatening to hamstring federal student financing for DC degree programs, chiropractic education is facing questions for which it has no immediate answers.
The term standard of care is a legal term and a medical concept. There is no single, universally recognized standard of care document or authoritative reference. The medical concept defines what practitioners should do in practice. The legal term used determines whether a practitioner failed to meet that expectation. This article examines the standard of care for the doctor of chiropractic.
