Cindy M. Howard, DC, DABCI, DACBN, the owner of Innovative Health and Wellness Center in Orland Park, Ill., is past president of the ACA Council on Diagnosis and Internal Disorders and vice president of the ACA College of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Dr. Howard will present "Treating Concussion Beyond the Chiropractic Adjustment” at this year’s virtual Engage 2021 conference. Registrants can participate in this live session on Saturday, Feb. 6, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET to ask questions. In this ACA Blogs posts, Dr. Howard offers a preview of what doctors can expect.

Since I was a child, I have been told by my seniors that time accelerates as you age. I don’t believe I am all that old, but the past two years that I have served as ACA president certainly have been a lesson in accelerated time. So much has changed and so much has been thrown at ACA over the past two years.  The most important message I can impart, as my cycle as president comes to an end, is that ACA is in great shape.

In a COVID-19 relief and federal spending package passed earlier this week by a bipartisan group of U.S. House and Senate lawmakers, several important items that the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) lobby team has been pushing for have been included in the measure.

In 2009-2010, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) was heavily involved in procuring a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that would end the blatant discrimination doctors of chiropractic and other providers encountered from insurance companies and plans just because of their doctoral degree.  Chiropractors, especially, faced, and continue to experience, discriminatory practices from payors that ultimately harm patient choice, access, and affordability. Congressional interest in addressing this issue has been tepid...until this week. 

Linda Wheatland Smith, DC, who has practiced for 38 years and owns an integrated clinic, has managed very severe cases of low back pain, leg pain, disc ruptures, and radiculopathy over her career. She has studied how the medical model has failed the low back pain patient, and what chiropractic has to offer this patient, including acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic care, and rehabilitation. She will present "Mechanics and Management of Acute Recurrent Low Back Pain” at this year’s virtual Engage 2021 conference on Saturday, Feb. 6 (1 CE available). ACA Blogs asks Dr. Smith what doctors can expect. 

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.