Ethics and evidence-based practice are "inextricably" linked, according to Charles A Simpson, DC, DABCO, a presenter at the 2018 National Chiropractic Leadership Conference (NCLC). Over his 40-plus year career in chiropractic and through his work as a health care workforce regulator, Dr. Simpson has witnessed ethical highs and lows among health care providers of all types. His experience has left him with keen insights into how to run a practice ethically as well as successfully.

Nearly two years ago, ACA embarked on a new journey – a branding initiative – to better understand how we can relate to and remain relevant to members now and in the future. We hired a well known branding consultant who reached out to members, non-members, other health care providers and a variety of stakeholders to ask what ACA means to them. After more than 30 hours of interviews, hundreds of survey responses and volumes of research, our consultant’s recommendations were presented to ACA’s Board of Governors last year on how best to redefine our brand. The results were a wake-up call, to say the least. While some of the information uncovered was expected, other findings and comments were uncomfortable to hear. But we had to hear them. 

Publication bias is a growing problem in evidence-based practice. In the hierarchy of evidence, systematic reviews and meta-analyses lie at the top of the evidence pyramid because they are regarded as the most rigorous form of evidence for possible clinical decision-making. But publication bias can color the results of those reviews and meta-analyses in ways not easily seen nor understood.