CARMICHAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising public awareness of the value of chiropractic care, announces the release of its hallmark white paper, “The Role of Chiropractic Care in the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH).” Prepared by Discern Consulting, and with the input and support of a high-profile team -- including Mark Zeigler, DC, president, Northwestern Health Sciences University and board member of the F4CP; Steve Kraus DC, DIBCN, CCSP, FASA, FICC, CEO, founder, Future Health and member of the F4CP; John Hollingsworth, MD, MS and assistant professor, University of Michigan Health Systems; Tom Evans, MD and president, Iowa Healthcare Collaborative; and a panel of F4CP leadership -- this paper documents the value of chiropractic care in the next phase of healthcare delivery.
“The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) creates an opportunity for Primary Care Providers (PCPs) and Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) to work together and improve patient outcomes and reduce costs,” says Dr. Zeigler. “Supported by a collection of evidence-based literature establishing the clinical and cost efficiency of chiropractic, this paper solidly articulates the added value of integrating chiropractic care into the team-based approach of the PCMH.”
The PCMH is an advanced primary care delivery model designed to help patients -- especially patients with chronic health conditions, such as low back pain -- achieve the best possible outcomes. By creating physician-directed care teams that work together to deliver care to patients, the PCMH aims to streamline care, avoid redundancies, enhance clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, and utilize the services of licensed health care practitioners in ways that best serve patients and extend the range of PCPs.
DCs are recognized as physicians under The Joint Commission, and are designated as eligible members of PCMH care teams under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Gerard Clum, DC and member of the contributing F4CP panel, indicates, “This paper not only affirms the position of a DC as a member of a PCMH care team, but also demonstrates settings where the DC can take a leading role.”
Public and private sectors have established some 27 multi-stakeholder medical home pilots underway in 18 states, and many more are set to launch later this year.
According to the lead consultant on the white paper, Guy D’Andrea, MBA, managing partner of Discern Consulting, “The evidence presented within this document illustrates the clinical and financial value of integrating chiropractic services into primary care, and makes the case that inclusion of DCs in the health care team will allow PCPs to strengthen an already enhanced healthcare delivery model.”