American Chiropractic Association Endorses The North Face® Backpacks
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) recently endorsed nine backpacks and daypacks from The North Face®. After careful consultation with ACA member, Scott Bautch, DC, The North Face redesigned specific packs, making improvements to features such as shoulder straps, back panels and hipbelts. A panel of DCs found increased function and comfort in the revised packs.
ACA is pleased to support the improvements that The North Face has made to their backpacks and daypacks. Children are suffering from back pain earlier than previous generations; however, the use of ergonomically correct backpacks can help wearers maintain an active lifestyle without pain.
Chiropractic Sports Sciences Symposium July 30th-August 1st
The ACA Sports Council invites you to attend the Chiropractic Sports Sciences Symposium July 30th-August 1st in Portland, Oregon. With 16 CEUs available and many exciting speakers the weekend will inform and excite you about many topics. Check out new products from one of the many vendors in our expo and mingle with colleagues, speakers, and vendors at many fun social events. For more information and for registration go to www.acasc.org or email [email protected].
House of Representatives vote to Expand Chiropractic Benefit
within VA Health Care System
Arlington, Va.—The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1017, the ‘‘Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act,’’ on May 24, putting America’s veterans one step closer to gaining access to chiropractic care at all major Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers. The bill was approved 365:6.
H.R. 1017 requires the VA to have doctors of chiropractic on staff at no fewer than 75 major VA medical centers before the end of 2011 and for all major VA medical centers to have a doctor of chiropractic on staff before the end of 2013. There are nearly 160 VA treatment facilities nationwide. Currently, the VA provides chiropractic care at 32 treatment facilities across the country.
Changes Proposed to PHI Disclosures Under HIPAA; HHS Seeks Comments
The HIPAA privacy rule currently requires providers to notify patients when their protected health information (PHI) is disclosed to others, except in cases when the disclosure is for the purpose of treatment, payment and health care operations. However, this rule will be expanded soon because of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The HITECH Act calls for the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to require HIPAA-covered entities to notify individuals about disclosures of their PHI made via electronic health records—including those for the purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations.
It is important to note that this rule only addresses disclosures via electronic health records , but the new regulation has the potential to cover requests for records for claims review, FMLA forms, disability claims, attending physician statements, CMS audits/reviews, referrals, hospital records, and outside tests, labs and surgeries.
According to the rule, disclosures must include:
• the date of disclosure
• the name and address of the entity or person receiving the disclosure
• a description of the information disclosed, and
• a copy of the request for disclosure or a brief description of the reason for disclosure.
However, the HITECH Act does require the HHS Secretary to balance the individual’s right to notification with the administrative burden placed upon covered entities to fulfill this requirement. OCR is requesting information from affected entities and is accepting comments on or before Tuesday, May 18, 2010 . Providers and practices are encouraged to go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-10054.pdfto read about the rulemaking process, background information on the regulations involved, specific questions on which OCR is seeking comment, and instructions on how to submit comments to OCR for consideration. After comments are considered, a proposed rule will be drafted and publicized, at which time there will be additional opportunity to comment.
Chiropractic Care Enhances Children’s Overall Health
Northwestern Health Sciences University is collaborating with HealthPartners to open an integrated clinic. The new clinic will create a new model of care that blends the strengths of traditional medicine and natural care disciplines to provide a collaborative, team approach to meeting patient health care needs. The clinic will be located in Cottage Grove, Minn., and was scheduled to open on April 19, 2010.
“We look forward to opening the clinic in Cottage Grove,” said Mark Zeigler, DC, president of Northwestern. “It will bring new opportunities of integration and collaboration between providers from Health Partners and Northwestern. We are proud of this new relationship and the possibilities it brings to provide patient-centered, evidence-informed care through shared decision making.”
For more information, visit www.nwhealth.edu/nwtoday.