Proposed Chiropractic Policy Misrepresents Veterans' Health Care, 
Says 
the American Osteopathic Association  


    WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2000 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on the belief 
that the 
expansion of scope for non-physician providers, including 
chiropractors, 
prevents patients from receiving the quality of care that they expect 
and 
deserve, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) opposes 
changes in 
veterans' chiropractic policy proposed before the House Veterans' 
Affairs 
Committee.     "American citizens have standards and expectations 
for 
their primary care
physicians.  Based on the education and clinical training of 
chiropractors, compared to osteopathic and allopathic physicians, 
the 
plan at hand is a misrepresentation of care for veterans," says AOA 
President Donald Krpan, D.O. "While the AOA believes healthcare 
access 
for veterans in underserved areas should be increased, it believes 
the 
proposals under consideration today should be terminated because 
they 
eliminate steps crucial to the physician- patient relationship and 
jeopardize patient health."

    Today, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee reviews draft 
language 
to implement the Veterans Health Administration Chiropractic 
Policy 
Directive of May 5, 2000.  Dr. Krpan expressed the AOA's opposition 
to 
the proposal and the

following provisions:
1. Direct access, without referral requirements, to chiropractic 
doctors 
at all medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    "Direct access to chiropractic therapy, without the input of 
osteopathic or allopathic physicians, eliminates the important 
physician-patient process of medical history review, condition 
evaluation, and treatment plan.  Access to chiropractic services 
should 
be governed by the same rules that apply to other services (such as 
physical and speech therapy), as these services should always be 
part of 
a treatment plan, not a sole treatment plan."

2. Full scope of practice of chiropractic health services, to include 
as 
an absolute minimum, care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions 
typical of 
those affecting all age groups within the eligible veteran's 
populations 
serviced by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    "Doctors of chiropractic are not are not fully-licensed physicians 
and therefore do not have the necessary medical knowledge or 
clinical 
training to be given a 'full scope of practice' in the care of 
musculoskeletal and neurological conditions.  Although many 
conditions 
are treatable via osteopathic manipulation or chiropractic 
treatment, 
treatment should be prescribed by an osteopathic or allopathic 
physician 
after the patient has been thoroughly examined and evaluated."

3. Allowance for doctors of chiropractic to act as referring primary 
care 
       physicians in the Department of Veterans Affairs' medical 
facilities that are in areas designated as medically underserved.

    "Since doctors of chiropractic receive training limited to 
chiropractic techniques and treatments rather than the equivalent 
training of osteopathic and allopathic physicians, chiropractors 
should 
not be classified as 'primary care physicians' under any 
circumstances.  
We strongly oppose expansion of the scope of practice for non-
physician 
providers and defend this position on the basis of the stark 
differences 
in education and post-graduate training that exist between 
chiropractors 
and osteopathic and allopathic physicians."

    The AOA represents 45,000 osteopathic physicians, promotes 
public 
health, encourages scientific research and is the accrediting agency 
for 
all osteopathic medical schools and health care facilities.



SOURCE American Osteopathic Association