What's the Secret to Getting Paid for Your Chiropractic Services? Look at the Evidence | Ask an Expert

By drpositive
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As a chiropractor, you may have heard the term, "evidence based practice," but what does it mean? According to Dwight Whynot, DC, it means the difference between getting paid and losing money...and maybe even the difference between keeping and losing your practice.

That's because, in today's tough economic environment, chiropractors everywhere are finding it more difficult to squeeze payments from reluctant insurance companies. If you want them to show you the money, you have to show them the proof. That's where evidence based practice comes in.

"The health care system as it is, it's getting harder and harder to get reimbursed for everything you do in your office," says Whynot. "When I practice an evidence-based style of practice, I give the insurance companies the evidence they need to gather to show them the patient needs the care I'm giving."

Whynot, who has a private practice in Johnson City, Tennessee, learned the hard way how difficult it is for chiropractors to make ends meet. Then, an invitation to a group called Center for Integrative Medicine opened his eyes.

"One of the things the medical doctors asked me was, 'How do you know the patient's getting better?' I said, 'Well, the patient tells me.' There was no objective way I was doing at that time, to tell me whether or not the patient was getting better," Dr. Whynot says. "There wasn't any evidence I could give the medical doctor who referred the patient to me, to show them the patient was getting better."

That realization started Whynot on a path of discovery that led him to develop his own evidence-based practice.

"I started looking, and I found range of motion studies, computerized muscle testing, pain pressure threshold testing, tests that prove whether people have a subluxation," Dr. Whynot explains. "Then I can show them how well they're doing. I can send reports to the medical doctor and say, 'Yes, the patients you referred are getting better.' I can show the insurance company whether or not the patient's getting better. That's why I like evidence-based chiropractic."

Whynot says he wants to use the knowledge he's gained to help other chiropractors.

"I want to change our profession," concludes Dr. Whynot. "The biggest way to change our profession is by trying to reach as many people as possible. You need a lot of documentation to prove what you did helped the patient, and providing that documentation has really helped me out. I give people that information."

About the Author

Anyone involved in the chiropractic industry can download Dr. Patrick Porter's free podcasts through iTunes or by visiting http://www.ParkerVegas.com. You can view Dr. Porter's chiropractic support program at www.newreality.com.

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