Lee R. Matthis, DC, vice president of clinic development and professional outreach with Tuck Chiropractic Clinic, which operates multiple locations across Virginia, will present "Using Data to Drive ALL Aspects of a Chiropractic Practice" at this year’s all-virtual Engage 2021 conference. In this post, ACA Blogs asks Dr. Matthis about what doctors can expect from his program and how he has adapted professionally during the pandemic.

In planning this year’s National Chiropractic Health Month observance, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) wanted to provide the chiropractic profession with a way to connect with patients and communities as they continued to adjust to life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Granted, we knew this year’s observance, like everything this year, would be different. Leave it to the chiropractic profession to demonstrate just how “Active and Adaptive” it could be!

The United States Bone and Joint Initiative is an “organization of organizations” whose mission is to raise the priority of musculoskeletal (MSK) health through the collective action of all stakeholders. The intention of this mission is to improve the quality of life for people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions and improve the understanding, prevention and treatment of these conditions through research, education and advocacy. Its Young Investigator Initiative has mentored over 400 participants with grant funding achieved of more than $522 million.

Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA) released a simplified forgiveness application for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under $50,000. The simplified form cuts the application’s size down from five pages to two and removes most of the questions aimed at ensuring that the loans were used for the program’s intended purposes of supporting payrolls and covering other fixed costs.

On Thursday, Oct. 29, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled final policies aimed at increasing price transparency in the healthcare system. The new rule will require health insurers to provide patients with complete pricing information prior to a service being rendered and builds off an earlier price transparency rule that requires hospitals to publish their negotiated rates. While this could be viewed as a win for healthcare consumers, ACA has its eyes on a bigger prize, and that is to strip insurance companies of their ability to skirt this country’s antitrust laws. 

In April, about a month after COVID-19 stay-at-home guidance went into effect in many places across the United States, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) worked with the Wall Street Journal on an article about musculoskeletal injuries. At the time, millions of adults had been sent home to work remotely with little or no preparation. ACA worked with the WSJ to determine whether doctors of chiropractic had noticed an increase in cases involving pain from working at home and, if so, to collaborate in bringing this information to the attention of the public. The association developed a poll, posted on Facebook, to gauge whether chiropractors were in fact seeing a trend. As it turns out, they were.  

Since this is the first year for VA Puget Sound to have a chiropractic resident, we have been doing a lot of trailblazing. My VA is split into two locations: Seattle and Tacoma. The Tacoma location has two well-established chiropractors, while the main hospital in Seattle has none. So, when I’m on rotation in Seattle, I am frequently met with curiosity and a lot of questions; commonly I am told that I am the only chiropractor many providers have ever met. I knew that Neurosurgery had been hesitant to even open the door for communication between our departments, let alone take me on rotation for an entire month, but after some reassurance from my attending, it was decided.

We are living through historic times right now; however, every disaster is an opportunity for us to become better doctors by adapting and improving our efficiency at delivering high-quality care. Over the past seven months, I’ve discovered that chiropractic telehealth can be an invaluable asset for our patients during the worst of times, as well as a much-appreciated service for patients who are stuck at home or live too far away to visit in person.

Staying active and doing what you love is important. When faced with challenges along the way, the best thing you can do is maintain a positive attitude and adapt to the unique situations you are faced with. Thanks to new technologies, volunteers, and programs like the Adaptive Sports Program of New Mexico (ASPNM), people living with disabilities can do just that. ACA member Michael Pridham, DC, of New Mexico has been an ASPNM volunteer instructor since 2009. In this Q&A with ACA Blogs, he talks about his experience with the program and the special athletes it serves.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the healthcare system and has changed how we provide care to patients; the VA Chiropractic Residency is no exception. While the annual residency cycle started as scheduled on July 1, 2020, with the 2021 class of chiropractic residents, our resident class will surely have a unique experience with unique challenges and opportunities