Maryland Chiropractic Association

What's New

____________________________________________________________________________________

Save the Date

MCA Fall Convention
October 5-7, 2012
Princess Royale Hotel
Ocean City, MD 21842
410-524-7777
info@princessroyale.com

____________________________________________________________________________________

Chiropractic Assistant Online Course

New Students as of January 1, 2012 MUST Take the Nov CE Exam
Registration is ongoing, to sit for the November exam students must complete the program by the end of October 2012.

Course Pricing (Online and Hands-On)
Staff of MCA Members: $249.00
Staff of Non-Members: $599.00
(DCs, join MCA now, Pay $38/month)

Online Training (76 hours required)

Hands-On Training (24 hours required)

ALL sessions will be at the Conte Lubrano building 130 Lubrano Drive, Annapolis Md. from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Class Dates:
April 14, 2012
May 26, 2012
June 9, 2012
July 21, 2012
August 18, 2012
September 15, 2012
October 20, 2012
November 17, 2012
December 8, 2012

Click here for more information.

Click here to register now.

____________________________________________________________________________________

MCA Announces Awards, New Board

Maryland’s leading chiropractic professionals gathered for education and celebration as part of the MCA’s 2011 Annual Fall Convention that took place Oct. 28-30 at the Annapolis Sheraton Hotel. Seminar presenters included international lecturer Dan Murphy, DC who presented nutritional neurology, and Steven Weiniger, DC who addressed posture exercises for anti-aging, performance and wellness. Attendees commented that the speakers were very informative and compelling.

Three chiropractors were honored in ceremonies during the 2011 Awards & Annual Membership Luncheon on Saturday, Oct. 29. Marlene N. Mahipat, DC of Randallstown was named 2011 Chiropractor of the Year. She was awarded this honor for her promotion of chiropractic through her extensive volunteer work and community service. Dr. Mahipat has been featured in publications including The Chiropractic Journal, The Baltimore Sun, and The Daily Record. Her volunteer efforts include Meals-on-Wheels and HOPE (Helping Orphans Prosper Everywhere). This is just one of many awards Dr. Mahipat has received for her tireless efforts. Unable to attend the fall luncheon, she will be presented her award during the Spring CE Forum luncheon taking place March 3, 2012 at the BWI Marriott.

Richard Schmitt, DC of Back To Health Chiropractic Centers in Annapolis and Louis Crivelli, DC of Greenbelt Rehabilitation in Greenbelt each received a President’s Award for their exhaustive efforts in the creation, production and implementation of the MCA’s new Online Chiropractic Assistant Course. This program is a great new benefit to the MCA membership, and provides a timely and efficient alternative for much needed CA training.

The 2011-2012 Board of Directors was elected and installed as part of the Saturday luncheon as well. Adam Fidel, DC will begin his first term as the MCA president. Louis Crivelli, DC was installed as the 1st vice president. Remaining on the board are Tom Chaney, DC as 2nd vice president, Paul Henry, DC as secretary and Donald Hirsh, DC as treasurer. Installed at-large directors were Jay Greenstein, DC, Howard Lewis, DC and Norman Spector, DC. They join Jim Levan, DC and Marcia Boyce Levi, DC. The ACA representative is Audie Klingler, DC and the ICA representative is Eric Huntington, DC. The 2012 district representatives are: Tim Gober, D.C. (Baltimore), Joanne Bushman, D.C. (Eastern Shore), Rick Schmitt, D.C. (Central), Ronda Sharman, DC (South Central), Nicole Ganz, DC (Metro Washington), and Andrew Williamson, DC (Western MD).

The MCA would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s convention!

____________________________________________________________________________________

Scope of Practice of Maryland Licensed Chiropractors
RE: Physical Therapy Privileges

This letter is available to all Maryland licensed chiropractors in the event your status to perform and bill for physical therapy services is questioned or challenged by insurance carriers.

Click here to download the letter.

Headlines

MCA Hosts Successful Spring CE Forum

Around 180 of Maryland’s leading chiropractic professionals gathered for education and networking as part of the MCA’s 2011 Spring CE Forum that took place March 5-6 at the BWI Marriott Hotel in Baltimore. The lineup of guest speakers was well received and all the required CE credit for state license renewal was available.

The Membership Luncheon on Saturday was quite lively with reports from the chairs of the Legislative/Legal, Insurance, Good and Wellness, and Education committees, among others. President Sokoloff reported on the state of the association and urged non-members to support Chiropractic in Maryland and sign up to become MCA members.

Two chiropractors who were honored at the 2010 Fall Convention, but were unable to attend, were presented their awards this spring. Jay Greenstein, DC, CCSP of Sport and Spine Rehab/Sport and Spine Athletics in Fort Washington (pictured above, right), was named 2010 Chiropractor of the Year. He was awarded this honor for his continued leadership of the Insurance Committee and his representation of the MCA at numerous national conferences and meetings. R. Reeve Askew, DC of Easton (pictured above, left), was presented with the Frank Roberts Memorial Award for his years of tireless dedication to the MCA as well as his service on the Executive Committee of the American Chiropractic Association as well as many other non-profit boards.

Attendees of the Spring Forum see value in the MCA and many expectations:

"The MCA has been great since I signed up over 15 years ago. Stellar representation for our profession. I definitely think what we need to improve on is how we think and talk about and to non members so they will feel important and therefore see the importance of all banding together in the MCA."

"MCA is a great value in organizing the efforts and needs of the profession in Maryland.”

“It great that the MCA provides CE at a reasonable cost, is a resource of information and current events and hot topics, and facilitates communication between peers and law makers. We can present as a united voice on important topics. You are not alone."

"Help with insurance and legislation so that we can continue practicing. Also, great seminars. Being informed about what our profession is doing and helping our profession."

"The MCA does a fabulous job. I would like to see more interaction with other professional groups seeking common ground with PTs, having a presence at medical conferences to increase understanding/exposure to chiropractic."

"Value: Together we are strong, separately we are destroyed. Why be a member? Membership is vital for financial support and the health of the MCA. Being connected brings strength in numbers."

"Expectation: unity amongst the profession locally. Value: the ability to interact with my colleagues."

"I would hope that the MCA continues to push for equal payment for our services. Good job in keeping our state one of the best in which to practice. The value in being a member and pushing for increased numbers is the impact we can have in keeping this great profession viable and moving us closer to the forefront of health care generally."

"I really appreciate the conventions' locations cycling throughout the state. Overall, I feel that the MCA is constantly improving and reaching out to us."

"Value: we can kick butt politically. Why be a member? We must support with money and be in good communication with each other."

"I would like to see more technique. I have not seen (in my 6 years) specific Palmer, Gonstead, Activator, etc specifically. Yes, we have had some practitioners review some but no class/session on any specific technique."

The MCA would like to thank the exhibitors at the 2011 Spring Forum for their participation and support and all the varied services they provide to the MCA membership: H.F. Hill & Associates, Inc., Maryland Health Care Commission, Foot Levelers, Inc., Heartland Home Foods, Anabolic Laboratories, Plymouth Bell Labs, Nutri West Mid-Atlantic, Healthy for Life, Anchor Capital Management, and Sammons Preston.

Maryland Board of Chiropractic Examiners Now Approves Dry-Needling As Being Within the Scope of Practice for Chiropractors But…

By Marc K. Cohen and Kelly M. Preteroti

Edited by Elizabeth J. Cappiello

Ober, Kaler, Grimes and Shriver, PC

Maryland’s Board of Chiropractic Examiners recently determined that a procedure known as “dry-needling” is permitted under a chiropractor’s physical therapy privileges, so long as the chiropractor is sufficiently trained and educated in the procedure. Although for some time physical therapists have been permitted to perform dry-needling on patients in conjunction with the implementation of physical therapy techniques, it wasn’t until recently that the Board of Chiropractic Examiners followed suit and agreed that this practice could also be employed by properly trained chiropractors whose licenses provide a right to practice physical therapy.

Prior to this determination, in a letter dated August 15, 2007, the Board of Chiropractic Examiners mandated that a Maryland chiropractor trained in the technique discontinue using the procedure known as dry-needling because the Board believed that such a procedure was reserved exclusively for health care professionals, separately licensed as acupuncturists by the Maryland Board of Acupuncture. Ober Kaler advocated on behalf of the chiropractor in this matter and successfully argued that dry-needling (as apposed to acupuncture) falls within the scope of practice for chiropractors under their physical therapy privileges, so long as the licensee is properly trained in using the technique.

Dry-needling denotes the procedure by which a fine, thin gage needle is inserted into a trigger point within a tender, tense, contracted muscle that a chiropractor has identified during a preliminary physical examination. This procedure is used as both a “diagnostic tool” and as a “treatment preparation.” First, chiropractors can use dry-needling as a diagnostic tool to locate the exact position of trigger points causing pain. When the needle is correctly inserted into the trigger point, the contracted muscle causes it to oscillate rapidly, making the source of the patient’s pain apparent. Second, because an established side effect of dry-needling is the temporary alleviation of muscle pain and sensitivity at the insertion site, chiropractors use this technique to enable their patients to better tolerate chiropractic treatment and physical therapy modalities, making the overall experience more comfortable.

The Board of Chiropractic Examiners’ classification of dry-needling as acupuncture was based primarily on the fact that an acupuncture needle is often the instrument used in both dry-needling and the practice of acupuncture. However, the reason for this is purely comfort. The fact that each employs a common tool is where the similarities between dry-needling and acupuncture end. For instance, the legal definition of acupuncture stands in stark contrast to the theory behind dry-needling. The Maryland Code describes the “practice [of] acupuncture” as “the use of oriental medical therapies for the purpose of normalizing energetic physiological functions including pain control, and for the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health . . . .” See H.O. § 1A-101(f)(1); see also COMAR 10.26.02.02(B)(8) (emphasis added).

Unlike dry-needling, in acupuncture, a needle is placed into fixed points and meridians that have no physical proximity to any muscle or spot where the patient is experiencing pain, but rather are based on oriental acupuncture medical theories. Dry-needling certainly does not fall within Maryland’s legal rubric of what constitutes acupuncture, as dry-needling is by no means derived from oriental medicine, and in dry-needling, a chiropractor relies on his/her patient’s condition and response to various treatments to determine the point of insertion, rather than any “specific pathways or meridians.”

In addition to the above legal and theoretical differences between dry-needling and acupuncture, the Board altered its view regarding dry-needling, in part, when it learned that physical therapists in Maryland have, for some time, been authorized by their board to use dry-needling to both diagnose and treat their patients’ myofascial trigger points under the same statute that regulates chiropractors. In Maryland, a chiropractor may hold a chiropractic license which gives him/her the right to practice both chiropractic and physical therapy. Md. Code. Ann., Health. Occ. (“H.O.”) § 3-301(c). Physical therapy, as used by chiropractors, is defined by the article governing physical therapists. See H.O. § 3-101(g). Due the fact that the term “physical therapy” as employed by physical therapists includes this technique, coupled with the fact that dry-needling is not specifically prohibited by the Chiropractic Practice Act, the Board reconsidered its position on the issue.

In May 2008 the Board of Chiropractic Examiners dismissed the disciplinary case against the Maryland chiropractor cited for using the dry-needling procedure. The Board now agrees that properly trained Maryland chiropractors are free to use dry-needling in their practice to better care for their patients. The key to this decision is proper training.

So here is the bottom line: You may now use dry needling as part of your practice for both diagnosing and treating your patients. But make sure your use of dry needling is based on sound chiropractic principals, not acupuncture concepts, and be certain you have the necessary training and competency to perform this procedure.

Special thanks goes to the officers and members of your MCA who worked diligently on this matter, ultimately expanding the scope of practice for chiropractors in this matter to include this valuable therapy, which will benefit chiropractic patients throughout the State.

MARYLAND CHIROPRACTIC ASSOCIATION

Welcome

What's New

Headlines