ACA SPINAL MANIPULATION POLICY STATEMENT

As the most utilized treatment in the chiropractic profession, ACA recognized the need for an official policy on spinal manipulation. The following is an overview of the ACA Spinal Manipulation Policy Statement, which was re-edited in February 2003..

An Overview
Patients have emerged stronger and wiser through the last two decades of turbulent change in the health delivery system. They are now sophisticated shoppers and know their rights in making informed and responsible health care choices. They are advocates of high-quality care which can be offered in a conservative, non-invasive environment.

Traditionally, quality of care as defined by consumers dealt with service-level issues like the office location being conveniently located to their home, or little or no waiting period for an appointment. This paradigm is shifting as consumers not only expect ongoing service-level improvements, but increasingly are voicing a desire for more accountability in clinical quality and treatment outcomes. In other words, patients want to get better, and rely on providers to give them information, support and care that works to restore and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Providers are responding to these important patient expectations by:

1. Identifying effective treatment options,
2. Promoting integrated multidisciplinary treatment teams to leverage provider skills, training and expertise, and
3. Assessing the relative risk of interventions.

Evidence shows that patients are frequently choosing doctors of chiropractic (chiropractic physicians) as their primary entry point into the health care system. Patients know the value of a holistic, natural approach to healing and are seeking the most expertly-trained and skilled professional in spinal care: the doctor of chiropractic (chiropractic physician).

You may download the entire policy document by choosing one of the links below:
MS Word [ 116k ]
PDF [ 78k ]

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1. General references in this section are drawn from John J. Triano, and Daniel T. Hansen, "Chiropractic and Quality Care, Are they Exclusive?" Journal of the Neuromusculoskeletal System, 7:1 (Spring 1999).