TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chiropractic
Practice
Chiropractic
Diagnosis
Spinal
Adjustment and Spinal Manipulation
Referral
Child
Care
Ethical
and Professional Competent Review of Chiropractic Insurance
Claims
Low
Force Adjustive Techniques
Spinal
Sprain and Strain Injuries
Thermography
Videofluoroscopy
Unethical
Patient Recruitment
The
Use of Anabolic Steroids
Fluoridation
Immunization
and Vaccination
The
Use of X-ray in Chiropractic
Definitions
Related to Radiological Studies
Open
Access to Chiropractic Licensure
The
Multi-Disciplinary Practice
Political
Organization Membership And Postgraduate
Credentialing
Postgraduate
Chiropractic Continuing Education: Certification and Diplomate
Programs
Policy
of "Manipulation" Under Anesthesia
Animal
Adjusting
The
Right To Practice Chiropractic
Professional
Impairment Through Substance Abuse
Questionable
Qualifier Terms
The International Chiropractors Association
is the oldest national chiropractic organization in the world.
Established in 1926 by B.J. Palmer, the ICA represents
thousands of practitioners, educators, students and lay
persons dedicated to the chiropractic profession.
The
ICA brings together professionals with common goals and
backgrounds and provides them with benefits and services to
enhance their personal growth and professional development. It
also represents and promotes the interests of chiropractic,
chiropractors and the patients they serve through advocacy,
research and education.
The ICA has traditionally been
and continues to be recognized as representing the moderate
voice of the chiropractic profession. Included in this
handbook are policies which have been approved by ICA's Board
of Directors and the ICA Code of Ethics. This handbook
presents ICA's stand on the practice of chiropractic in their
practices. It also presents ICA's position on issues affecting
the public health and the citizen's inherent right of freedom
of choice.
The ICA Code of Ethics is based upon the
fundamental principles of moral and professional behavior. The
ICA recommends these principles be guiding factors for doctors
of chiropractic and that they follow and uphold this Code of
Ethics at all times to ensure the dignity and integrity of the
chiropractic profession.
THE PRACTICE OF
CHIROPRACTIC
Throughout its long history, the
International Chiropractors Association has sought to educate
and inform the public, other health care professions and
health policy makers on the principles and definitions of
chiropractic in order to foster a broader understanding and
acceptance of the profession. Equally important, the ICA has
sought to establish standards of ethical, technical and
professional excellence as guideposts for the Doctor of
Chiropractic.
Vital to these endeavors is a clear,
carefully reasoned and concise statement of what the Board of
Directors understands the basic principles and definitions of
chiropractic to be.
Building upon over a century of
growth and experience, and in concert with changing state
legislation, court-mandated standards of care and enhanced
educational requirements, the Board of Directors of the
International Chiropractors Association adopts the following
statement on the Practice of Chiropractic in an effort to
update and clarify the position of the ICA in a rapidly
changing health care world.
I. The SCIENCE of chiropractic deals with the
relationship between the articulations of the skeleton and
nervous system and the role of this relationship in the
restoration and maintenance of health. Of primary concern to
chiropractic are abnormalities of structure or function of the
vertebral column known clinically as the vertebral subluxation
complex. The subluxation complex includes any alteration of
the biomechanical and physiological dynamics of contiguous
spinal structures which can cause neuronal disturbances.
II. The PHILOSOPHY of
chiropractic holds that the body is a self healing organism
and that a major determining factor in the development of
states of disease or dysfunction is the body's inability to
comprehend its environment either internally and /or
externally. Directly or indirectly, all bodily function is
controlled by the nervous system, consequently a central theme
of chiropractic theories on health is the premise that
abnormal bodily function may be cause by interference with
nerve transmission and expression due to pressure, strain or
tension upon the spinal cord, spinal nerves, or peripheral
nerves as a result of a displacement of spinal segments or
other skeletal structures (subluxation).
III. The ART of chiropractic pertains to the skill
and judgment required for the detection, location, analysis,
control, reduction and correction of primarily the vertebral
subluxation complex. It also involves the determination of any
contraindications to the provision of chiropractic care to any
particular method of adjusting.
The ICA holds that the
chiropractic spinal adjustment is unique and singular to the
chiropractic profession due to its specificity of application
and rationale for application.
IV. The DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC is a portal of
entry, primary health care provider, and, as such, is
well-educated in the basic, clinical and chiropractic sciences
and other health-related areas. This broad range of education
is taught within the context of the philosophy of science,
principles, and ethics of chiropractic.
The Doctor of
Chiropractic is trained in physical, clinical, laboratory,
analytical and diagnostic procedures, as well as in the
monitoring of body functions thus enabling him or her to
responsibly and effectively care for his or her patient in
health and disease, to engage in timely consultation with
other health care professionals, and to refer and accept
referrals when in the patients' best interest.
The
International Chiropractors Association recognizes that the
various state legislatures have the right to grant Doctors of
Chiropractic the option to qualify, and thereafter utilize
procedures which are not within the Association's view of the
parameters of the clinical application of traditional
chiropractic.
While respecting individual and state
rights, the International Chiropractors Association holds that
it is in the best interest of the chiropractic profession and
the consuming public to advocate and promote a standardized
and consistent scope of practice worldwide.
The
International Chiropractors Association holds that the best
interests of both the public and the chiropractic profession
are served by maintaining chiropractic as a separate and
distinct, drugless, non-surgical alternative form of health
care, and as such, does not include in its practice any form
of allopathic or homeopathic pharmaceutical prescription or
surgery.
V. The PRACTICE of
chiropractic consists of the analysis of interference with
normal nerve transmission and expression produced by
abnormalities of one or more vertebral motor units or other
skeletal structures and the correction thereof by adjustment
of these structures for the restoration and maintenance of
health , without the use of drugs or surgery. The ICA
considers the therapeutic use of drugs and surgery to be the
practice of medicine. The term "analysis" in this context
includes the use of x-ray and other analytical instruments
generally used in the practice of
chiropractic.
Chiropractic care utilizes the inherent
recuperative powers of the body for the restoration and
maintenance of health through the normalization of the
relationship between the spinal musculoskeletal structures and
the nervous system. Chiropractic science recognizes that
essentially only the body heals and, therefore, holds forth no
cure for disease.
VI. The CLINICAL
APPLICATION of chiropractic includes the adjustment of
the spinal vertebrae, the sacrum, the ilia, the coccyx and
other skeletal articulations; the use of analytical and
diagnostic x-rays of the skeletal system and of its adjacent
tissues; those procedures necessary to interpret disorders of
the neuromuscular skeletal system and those conditions related
thereto; and the use of physical, clinical and laboratory
diagnostic procedures to ascertain the nature of the patient's
problem and respond appropriately so as to secure the optimal
care of the patient. Inherent in this concept is the
obligation to consult with or refer to other health care
providers before, during or after the rendering of
chiropractic care, if in his/her professional opinion, it is
appropriate and in the best interest of the patient. The
Doctor of Chiropractic may elect to use appropriate ancillary
and rehabilitative procedures appropriate to the area of
subluxation complex dysfunction in support of the chiropractic
adjustment, nutritional advice for the overall enhancement of
the health of the patient, and counsel for the restoration and
the maintenance of health.
The Doctor of Chiropractic is educated in the
basic clinical and chiropractic sciences, in other health
related subjects, and in appropriate physical, clinical,
laboratory and radiological investigative procedures. A Doctor
of Chiropractic is considered by the International
Chiropractors Association to be a portal of entry, primary
health-care provider.
The ICA holds that it is a basic
responsibility of the doctor of chiropractic to employ such
diagnostic processes as are necessary in his or her
professional judgment to determine the need for care and, in
particular, to detect the presence, location and nature of
chiropractic lesions (subluxation and attendant biomechanical,
biochemical, structural and neurophysiological problems, etc.)
and prepare and administer an appropriate course of care
within the realm of chiropractic specialty.
In
addition, Doctors of Chiropractic use diagnostic procedures
for the purpose of:
The ICA is committed to the concept that the
chiropractic profession is a specialized field in the health
care delivery system and that its primary focus and expertise
in diagnosis relates to the functional alignment of the
osseous structures of the human body, particularly the spine,
to determine the relationship of these structures with the
nervous system and how this relationship affects the
restoration and preservation of health.
The ICA holds that the chiropractic spinal
adjustment is unique and singular to the chiropractic
profession. The chiropractic adjustment shall be defined as a
specific directional thrust that sets a vertebra into motion
with the intent to improve or correct vertebral malposition or
to improve it juxtaposition segmentally in relationship to its
articular mates thus reducing or correcting the
neuroforaminal/neural canal encroachment factors inherent in
the chiropractic vertebral subluxation complex.
The
adjustment is characterized by a specific thrust applied to
the vertebra utilizing parts of the vertebra and contiguous
structures as levers to directionally correct articular
malposition. Adjustment shall be differentiated from spinal
manipulation in that the adjustment can only be applied to a
vertebral malposition with the express intent to improve or
correct the subluxation, whereas any joint, subluxated or not,
may be manipulated to mobilize the joint or to put the joint
through its range of motion.
Chiropractic is a
specialized field in the healing arts, and by prior rights,
the spinal adjustment is distinct and singular to the
chiropractic profession.
SUBLUXATION
AS AN ACCEPTABLE PRIMARY DIAGNOSIS
Subluxation is a responsible and
credible diagnosis for the doctor of chiropractic and this
condition should be recognized and reimbursed as a primary
diagnosis by all third-party payment organizations, both
public and private.
The analytical/diagnostic
determination of a subluxation indicates the need for
chiropractic care.
The unique, non-duplicative role of
the Doctor of Chiropractic as a primary health care provider
is a product of the system of chiropractic education and the
licensing and regulatory authority of the states. The primary
obligation of Doctors of Chiropractic is to provide the
highest quality of care to each patient within the confines of
their education and their legal authority. It is the position
of the International Chiropractors Association that this
primary obligation includes recognizing when the limits of
skill and authority are reached. At that point, it is the
ICA's position that doctors in all fields of practice are
ethically and morally bound to make patient referrals to
practitioners in other field of healing when such referrals
are necessary to provide the highest quality of patient care.
This interchange of professional referrals includes, but
should not be limited to, doctors of medicine, osteopathy and
chiropractic.
Doctors of Chiropractic are also
obligated to receive referrals from other health care
providers, applying to those patients the same considerations
for quality and appropriateness of care as with any other
patients. It is the position of the ICA that the professional
obligation to the patient includes honest, full and
straightforward communication with the referring provider on
the issue of optimal patient care. Furthermore, the Doctor of
Chiropractic is ethically bound to accept only those patients
who have probability of satisfactory results.
The International Chiropractors
Association recognizes that infants suffer many birth traumas
including traction, rotation and lateral flexion of the head
relative to the thorax. With the use of forceps, such forces
can be extreme (Towbin, 1969, Developmental Child Neurology).
Forces of traction, rotation and lateral flexion, etc.,
sustained by the cervical spine when the skull is used as a
lever during delivery, have been shown to subluxate the
atlanto-occipital and atlanto-axial joints (Gutmann, G, 1987,
Manuelle Medizin).
It is also recognized that
day-in, day-out trauma is a continual part of childhood life
which can create spinal misalignment and aberrant motor
function.
Asymmetrical development is extremely rare in
fetuses (Farfan, 1973), but is actually a developmental
process of growth due to asymmetrical stresses on growing
tissues. Abnormal posture and spinal misalignment cause
abnormal stresses, strains compression, tension, etc., on
vertebral structures, para-spinal tissues, the pelvis and
lower extremities during development which may lead to
permanent structural change and spinal malformation, e.g.
scoliosis. The ICA recommends the earliest possible
evaluation, detection and correction of chiropractic lesions
(subluxation) in children, especially infants, to maximize the
potential for normal growth and development.
Of the challenges facing Doctors of
Chiropractic as we enter the new decade, few have greater
ethical, operational or economic importance than the issues of
peer review, IMEs and the standards and methods employed by
insurance consultants to evaluate and make decisions on
appropriateness of care in insurance cases. Decisions by
claims review personnel in the employ of insurance carriers
directly affect the continuation or termination of third-party
payment of claims. The emergence of an unregulated class of
decision-makers and the imposition of their economic authority
between the Doctor of Chiropractic and the patient, raises
serious questions about quality of care and presents a
potential threat to the professional autonomy and status of
the practitioner.
In response to expressions of
concern from members, and in recognition of the need to
promote a better understanding of these issues, the ICA
submits the following statement of policy to the chiropractic
profession and the insurance industry.
It is the hope
of the ICA Board of Directors that this policy statement will
foster an expanded discussion of the issue of insurance
consultants, and contribute to the development of practical
and effective administrative or legislative solutions through
which fair treatment in the process can be secured for patient
and doctor of chiropractic alike.
-
The International Chiropractors Association
recognizes that in the present health care economy, peer
review for appropriateness of care supplied by all classes
of providers is a necessary and established fact.
-
It is the position of the ICA that, because
of the unique and non-duplicative nature of the science, art
and philosophy of chiropractic, the decision of a doctor of
chiropractic on the care of a particular patient can only be
accurately and competently evaluated by another licensed
doctor of chiropractic actively practicing in the same
geographic area.
-
It is the position of the ICA that the
review of patient case files to determine the
appropriateness of care in insurance claims is the practice
of chiropractic and may only be competently and ethically
done by a licensed, practicing doctor of
chiropractic.
-
Doctors of Chiropractic reviewing case
files to determine whether care should be continued are
obliged to bring the same technical, professional and
ethical considerations to that process as they would apply
to a patient in their office. Furthermore, judgments must be
based on a complete evaluation of all records and files, the
identity of the provider being blinded.
-
Independent physical examinations of
insurance beneficiaries to determine validity of claims must
be performed by licensed, practicing doctors of
chiropractic. The patient must be given ample advance notice
(no less than five working days), with the treating doctor
and his/her representative as well as the patient and
his/her witness having the right and opportunity to be
present for the entire IME process.
-
The treating doctor and his/her
representative and the patient and his/her witness have the
right to record the IME process and have the right to
receive a copy of the IME doctor's report on a timely
basis.
-
The payment of doctors of chiropractic for
reviewing insurance claims raises serious ethical questions.
The ICA acknowledges that there are circumstances under
which this is appropriate but holds that doctors of
chiropractic who agree to accept a percentage of claims
reduced as compensation, or who enter into agreements
guaranteeing to reduce reviewed claims by an established
percentage, have crossed an ethical boundary and are
engaging in unfair and grossly inappropriate
behavior.
-
The ICA holds that the licensing and
regulatory boards in the various states are the appropriate
authorities through which to regulate the operations of
insurance consultants. The ICA shall support efforts
undertaken by the chiropractic community to legislate state
certification of insurance review consultants, including
programs of education and certification via accredited
chiropractic colleges. Furthermore, the ICA supports the
concept of certification based on state-approved standards
as a basic requirement for insurance claims review by
doctors of chiropractic.
-
The ICA shall seek to establish, in a
cooperative effort with other national and state
chiropractic associations, an agreed statement of Insurance
Review Principles and Methods. Such a statement of practical
and ethical guideline could then be communicated to the
insurance industry as the acceptable basis by which claims
reviews might be conducted.
-
Of particular concern to ICA is the degree
to which insurance companies promote the comprehensive
nature of their products in vigorous marketing programs. In
operation, however, the plans often then seek to interpose
care evaluation criteria based on their own, often
economically-based, standards. The gap between the
provider's judgment and the industry standard is then
explained to the beneficiary as inappropriate or unnecessary
care. The chiropractic profession must demand truth in
insurance marketing and accept no standard that does not
provide for the optimal care of the patient.
The ICA stands ready to cooperate in a
broad-based, nationwide campaign on the part of the
chiropractic profession to establish insurance review
procedures that are ethically sound, economically fair, and
which will ensure that the insurance industry and the
chiropractic profession can collectively meet the legitimate
health care needs of the insured patient.
The International Chiropractors
Association recognizes chiropractic techniques that utilize
low force adjustments and soft tissue contacts to achieve
correction of the varied components of the subluxation
complex. Such techniques, when utilized in attempts to reduce
and stabilize biomechanical lesions through alteration of the
biodynamics of the musculosketal system, are recognized as
part of chiropractic practice.
Inherent in most spinal sprain and
strain injuries, there exists a biomechanical, neurological
component of articular malposition referred to
chiropractically as subluxation. Such subluxation, if not
addressed and merely treated with soft tissue therapeutics
and/or joint immobilization forms of care, may lead to joint
fixation and/or instability and loss of motor unit integrity.
It is the opinion of the International Chiropractors
Association that in such injuries evidence of the chiropractic
vertebral subluxation complex should be analyzed and, if
present, be corrected by specific chiropractic articular
adjustment before immobilization procedures are applied. Lack
of such correction of articular misalignment (subluxation) may
result in permanent impairment, for waiting more than an hour,
much less days, may lead to joint fixation, motion impairment,
neurological insult and/or hypermobility of the intervertebral
motor unit. Adjustive reduction of the articular
subluxation must be accomplished with due regard to soft
tissue injury, attempt to enhance recovery and contribute to
the prevention of future joint motion impairment, neurological
impairment and deteriorative pathological consequences.
The International Chiropractors
Association holds that Thermography or thermal diagnostic
analysis has been an integral part of chiropractic since the
1930's. It is valid diagnostic modality in the practice of
chiropractic.
The International Chiropractors
Association further recognizes the value of thermographic
examination and protocol procedures, having been established
in refereed, peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as
being taught and used under the auspices of CCE accredited
chiropractic colleges.
It is the position of the
International Chiropractors Association that Thermography
studies are a reasonable and customary method of chiropractic
examination to evaluate the autonomic components of the
vertebral subluxation complex, when clinical need for the
study has been established by the attending doctor of
chiropractic.
Definition:
Videofluoroscopy, Dynamic Spinal Visualization or
Cineradiography is the specific, chiropractic, radiographic
procedure, study, and interpretation of the dynamics and
kinetic properties of the spinal column and it immediate
articulations.
The International Chiropractors
Association holds that videofluoroscopy, also known as
cineradiography or dynamic spinal visualization, is a
technology that is especially useful in the observation,
determination and classification of kinetic irregularity as
seen in the vertebral subluxation complex. A significant body
of valid scientific literature has been found to support this
conclusion.
The International Chiropractors Association
officially recognizes videofluoroscopy to be an acceptable
part of chiropractic care for the doctor of chiropractic who
is trained in this procedure.
The International
Chiropractors Association recognizes that in the highly
competitive modern health care economy, the doctor of
chiropractic often must engage in public education, various
methods of practice promotion and, perhaps, advertising, to
establish and maintain a viable practice. The ICA further
recognizes that this process is a difficult and challenging
one. The difficulty of the marketing task, however, does not
absolve the doctor of chiropractic from maintaining the
highest ethical and professional standards in the marketing
process.
The International Chiropractors Association
holds that the enticement of potential patients into any
chiropractic clinic or office on the basis of the assertion or
representation to the potential patient that research will or
is being conducted, at no charge to that subject patient, is
inherently suspect. The ICA further holds that attempts to
convert such "research subjects" into paying patients, either
via self-payment or through third-party payers, represents
unethical behavior contrary to the interest of the consumer,
the chiropractic profession and the insurance
system.
ICA recognizes the danger such schemes hold for
the chiropractic profession at large and the damage these
unethical and repugnant activities can and will do to public
perception of the integrity and reliability of the
chiropractic profession as a whole.
The ICA encourages
appropriate authorities to carefully examine patient
recruitment schemes that contain the elements of deception and
misrepresentation embodied in such research-practice promotion
schemes, and take such action as is appropriate to protect the
public.
The use of anabolic steroids
presents a serious health hazard to athletes of all age
groups. The use of such growth and performance drugs is
rapidly on the rise in all forms of sports. The easy
availability of such drugs from illegal sources is increasing
to feed a growing demand.
The International
Chiropractors Association recognizes the hazards presented by
the illegal distribution and use of anabolic steroids and
other related drugs and strongly encourages doctors of
chiropractic to incorporate factual information on this
problem, as appropriate, in patient and community education
programs.
The ICA supports strong legislation to deter
the distribution and use of these substances and urges a
vigorous program of education be undertaken by public health
authorities. The ICA pledges to do all it can as a responsible
professional society, to educate the public both to the
damages of steroid use and to the benefits of drug-free
athletic competition.
The countries of the world are
facing an increasingly complex and serious problem with
respect to the delivery of pure drinking water to their
citizens.
The addition of any medication or substance
to public drinking water constitutes a form of mass
medication.
The proponents of artificial water
fluoridation have not proven it to be safe and/or without
possible cause of future bodily harm.
The International
Chiropractors Association considers public water fluoridation
to be possibly harmful and deprivation of the rights of
citizens to be free from unwelcome mass medication. The ICA is
opposed to the addition of fluoride in any of its forms to the
drinking water supplies of our nation's cities and
municipalities.
The International Chiropractors
Association recognizes that the use of vaccines is not without
risk.
The ICA supports each individual's right to
select his or her own health care and to be made aware of the
possible adverse effects of vaccines upon a human body. In
accordance with such principles and based upon the
individual's right to freedom of choice, the ICA is opposed to
compulsory programs which infringe upon such rights
The
International Chiropractors Association is supportive of a
conscience clause or waiver in compulsory vaccination laws,
providing an elective course of action for all regarding
immunization, thereby allowing patients freedom of choice in
matters affecting their bodies and health.
The ICA holds that the major
clinical concern of the doctor of chiropractic, in respect to
his or her realm of specialized health care, is the detection,
location, analysis, control, reduction and correction of the
vertebral subluxation.
X-ray is a primary
diagnostic/analytical tool in the detection of subluxation, in
determining segmental mobility/immobility and in ascertaining
the reduction and/or correction of subluxation(s) and spinal
distortions.
The ICA holds that the use of x-rays by
the doctor of chiropractic, when clinically indicated, is
common practice necessary in diagnosis, analysis, prognostic
evaluation and in the evaluation of subluxation location,
correction, reduction and total spinal
evaluation.
Plain film x-rays of the human body
structures, primarily of the spine, should be taken only for
clinical reasons as determined by the chiropractor. Original
x-rays, being a part of the patient's clinical record, should
not be released from the patient's file. Copies can be
requested by the patient or third party payers.
The
doctor of chiropractic may perform radiographic studies of the
spine and other body articulations to accomplish one or more
of the following:
-
Evaluation of the biomechanical components
of the vertebral subluxation complex(es) in terms of
misalignment(s) and shifts in particular body planes;
-
Determination of biomechanical distortion
in terms of articular misalignments, curvatures which might
be related to vertebral subluxation complex(es);
-
Provision of a documented source of
significant radiological findings which can be described in
terms of changes in size, shape and density in order to be
categorized either as congenital, developmental, traumatic,
degenerative or pathological'
-
A prioritization of these radiological
finding as to their significance in case management, in
terms of:
-
any necessary modifications of the
chiropractic adjustment or contraindications to certain
chiropractic techniques; and/or
-
whether referral to another health care
provider is appropriate;
-
Assessment of subluxation reduction or
correction and subsequent stabilization;
-
Serial evaluations of spinal curvatures;
-
Determination of the appropriate prognosis;
and
-
Addressing any sudden loss or reduction of
efficacy of the care plan that would indicate a change in
the patient's condition.
Any spinal or biomechanically-related
radiological findings which have developed either previously
to, in conjunction with, or independently of the principal
chiropractic diagnostic entities (vertebral Subluxations) and
other structural distortions constitute complication factors
of the chiropractic diagnosis. These radiological findings can
derive from traumatic, metabolic, infections, degenerative,
autoimmune, malignant, congenital, developmental, and/or
compensatory origins. These findings are significant because
they exacerbate vertebral Subluxations and may therefore
interfere with or retard their correction.
Post adjustment studies can be
performed in order to assess the vertebral subluxation's
reduction or correction and its subsequent stabilization.
Serial evaluation
A serial evaluation
can be performed in order to monitor biomechancially-related
radiological findings (i.e. structural distortions,
curvatures, area (s) of vertebral hypomobility, which have
developed either previously to, in conjunction with, or
independently of vertebral Subluxations.
X-rays
commonly taken in chiropractic practice include but are not
limited to the following:
-
full spine radiographic studies
-
cervical spine radiographic studies
-
thoracic spine radiographic studies
-
lumbar spine (and/or pelvic) radiographic
studies
-
upper extremity radiographic studies
-
lower extremity radiographic
studies
OTHER RADIOGRAPHIC STUDIES
Interpretation of radiographic studies
performed elsewhere
When radiographs have been
taken by another chiropractor, hospital or physician, the role
of the chiropractor is to review the radiological findings and
to analyze the biomechanical components of the vertebral
Subluxations in terms of vertebral misalignment(s) and
shifting movement(s) in particular body planes, as well as to
evaluate structural distortions (i.e. articular misalignments,
spinal curvatures).
Digital radiographic
mensuration (per spinal region)
Digital
radiographic mensuration is a biomechanical analysis
technique. Anatomical landmarks from plain film radiographic
studies are recorded in a computer program for the assessment
of the biomechanical components of the vertebral
subluxation(s) and spinal distortions. The computer's analysis
compares the computerized biomechanical model to the patient's
data and generates a report
Unlisted radiographic
study.
The International Chiropractors
Association supports the principle of free and open licensure
for qualified candidates in all states and jurisdictions.
Furthermore, the ICA holds that any licensing authority which
restricts access to licensure for qualified graduates for
political reasons or restricts competition in a state or
jurisdiction is in violation of the public trust and is
engaging in grossly unfair behavior at the expense of the
consumer and the chiropractic profession.
The International Chiropractors
Association recognizes that doctors of chiropractic may employ
or be employed by other licensed professionals, but that the
establishment of such relationships solely for the purpose of
insurance or other payment raises serious ethical questions
The International Chiropractors
Association holds that it is inappropriate to require initial
membership, and/or continued membership in a political
organization to receive, hold, or maintain a postgraduate
specialty certification or diplomate in chiropractic.
The International Chiropractors
Association holds that all chiropractic graduate education,
continuing education, certification and diplomate programs;
and independent education programs intended to advance the
knowledge and skill of chiropractic practitioners and
chiropractic students, should be provided only to
chiropractors holding a D.C. degree granted by an accredited
chiropractic college or to chiropractic students enrolled in
an accredited chiropractic college.
Programs
promulgated and presented through accredited chiropractic
colleges, and those given by independent chiropractic
educators, researchers, clinicians and technique developers
are intended for chiropractors and chiropractic students who
possess baseline knowledge that can only be obtained through a
formal chiropractic education. Such courses are not intended
for those with no formal education in a doctor of chiropractic
program.
The ICA holds that it is the responsibility of
those providing such programs to carefully monitor the
participants to determine their status as chiropractic
students of doctors of chiropractic.
Practitioners of
other healing professions, therapists, lay people and anyone
not enrolled or a graduate of an accredited chiropractic
college lack basic chiropractic skills and information to
properly utilize materials taught in postgraduate educational
programs. Attempting to utilize such information in their
practice could be detrimental to patients and under many
circumstances could be nothing less than fraudulent.
The International Chiropractors
Association holds that within the armamentarium of
chiropractic techniques efficient methods exist that address
the pain profiles of even the most sensitive patient.
Furthermore, the chiropractic adjustment relies on the
body's own inherent constructive survival mechanisms to
innately accomplish adjustic correction.
In light of
the above considerations, the International Chiropractors
Association holds that anesthesia is inappropriate and
unnecessary to the deliverance of a chiropractic
adjustment.
Animal adjusting can, in many situations, be
an effective and humane service. Many doctors of chiropractic,
through their own experiences, testify as to the beneficial
results of adjustments and as D.D. Palmer stated, chiropractic
care applies to "all vertebrata". The chiropractic adjustment
of subluxations in animals applies to their ills in the same
manner as in humans. Recognizing the above considerations, the
ICA recommends that such services should be provided by
chiropractors in accordance with existing regulations.
The International Chiropractors
Association has been alerted to attempts within healing arts
institutions to train health care providers other than
chiropractors to deliver chiropractic vertebral adjustments.
Such efforts jeopardize the boundaries between the healing
arts professions. Competent expertise cannot be gained through
such "short" courses and they pose a danger to the health care
consumer. The International Chiropractors Association holds
that the only person legally allowed to provide chiropractic
care should be one who has graduated with a Doctor of
Chiropractic degree granted by a Council on Chiropractic
Education accredited chiropractic institution or equivalent
and who has passed the Boards required for licensure in the
jurisdiction in which he/she practices. The International
Chiropractors Association holds that no institution or entity
should purport to prepare a practitioner to deliver the
chiropractic adjustment without filling the above stated
requirement.
The impairment of a doctor of
chiropractic through chemical dependence (drug or alcohol
addiction) represents a potentially serious threat to the
delivery of quality care and to public confidence in the
chiropractic profession at large. ICA holds that it is the
responsibility of doctors of chiropractic suffering from such
conditions to seek appropriate professional help for reasons
of personal health and professional reliability. Furthermore,
the ICA holds that ethical professional peers should make
every effort to assist doctors of chiropractic who are known
to them to be impaired through chemical dependency to obtain
appropriate professional help in confidence and with dignity.
While encouraging chiropractic postgraduate
education and chiropractic diplomate programs, the
International Chiropractors Association holds that Diplomate
Programs are not chiropractic specialties and qualifier terms
used in conjunction with the title chiropractor or the term
chiropractic that imply specialization or skill in another
health care field is inappropriate. Such usages serves to
confuse the public's perception of chiropractic and is not in
the public's and the profession's best interest. |
