DABCI Programs Offers Opportunity of Practice Expansion and Answer to Financial Crisis for Chiropractic Physicians

There is a growing perception that conventional medicine is a side-effect ridden, over-commercialized, one-size fits all approach to treating chronic disease.  As a result, the amount of patients seeking natural health care from a primary care physician is rapidly growing.  Patients deserve an individualistic approach from a practitioner who practices conservatively, is well-informed, and serves as a health-educator.  According to Palmer College of Chiropractic, an estimated 19.5 million people in the U.S. visit a chiropractor each year.   It is important to realize that as portal of entry doctors, Chiropractic physicians have the ability to raise the bar to primary care status and meet the growing demand for natural health care.  If not, another entity will.

Meeting this rising demand would require that chiropractic physicians exercise their legal rights and privileges to be primary care physicians; otherwise, both will be lost, and practice options will become dismal at best. 

The current plight to stay in practice has most Chiropractic physicians struggling to make ends meet.  Negotiating with insurance companies to maintain a $25 adjustment reimbursement that is cancelled out by the administrative costs to negotiate the claim has become a nonsensical cycle. As a result, many doctors are faced with having to extend office hours and treat a large number of patients daily in order for their practices to survive financially.

There is a solution. The DABCI program……. sanctioned through the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) Council on Diagnosis & Internal Disorders (CDID).

The benefit of doctors becoming DABCI’s far exceeds their expectations once they realize the opportunities that are open and available to them.  These opportunities are no longer limited to the private sector.  For example, the market for corporate wellness programs is steadily growing as companies are looking to offer their employees a wellness package as an added benefit in order to keep the cost of health insurance premiums down.   Once chiropractic physicians begin seeing what is ‘outside of the box’, they are surprised to learn of the opportunities that await. 

There was a time, not too long ago, that many chiropractors served as general practitioners.  Today, the profession has been transformed and regulated within the margins of neuromusculoskeletal treatment. The DABCI program offers the tools to avert the dangerous erosion of the chiropractic foundation that has taken place.   At present, there are approximately 60,000+ chiropractors nationwide.   It would be a shame for the chiropractic profession to shoot itself in the foot at a time when people are demanding the services that chiropractors are capable of providing.

What’s a DABCI?
 
The acronym ‘DABCI’ stands for Diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Internists.  It is under the umbrella of the ACA and represents the credentials earned by chiropractic physicians that have completed 300+ hours of post-doctoral training in the use of diagnostics for both pathological and wellness evaluation; and thus, have become board certified through the American Board of Chiropractic Physicians (ABCI) board.  By utilizing the same tools and examination methods as conventional medicine, Chiropractic Internists are in a position to offer their patients the best sound health care advice and assessment as primary care physicians within the complimentary health care arena.

The Chiropractic Internist philosophy and approach of the DABCI training is based on the paradigm of natural, functional, and preventive medicine that believes in a ‘treating the fire, not the smoke’ theory; promoting a wellness model that treats dysfunction before disease develops.  It is reasonable to say that the Chiropractic Internist fuses biochemical and biophysical medicine to offer patients the best in comprehensive integrative health care.  

Although a Chiropractic Internist may intervene after a diagnosis is made, their objective is to evaluate functionality at a much earlier state, often averting the disease outcome and its secondary effects.  In addition, they undertake a systematic evaluation of undiagnosed symptoms, allowing management of otherwise puzzling conditions.  

For example, the effects of chronic inflammatory bowel disease do not stop at the boundaries of the GI tract; these processes operate throughout the whole patient, affecting the brain, the immune system, and the musculoskeletal systems.  Successful management of a patient with chronic illness requires knowledge of what is going on in other areas.  Imbalances in the patient’s immune system, gastrointestinal health, structural health, hormonal and neurological health, energy production, psychological (mind, and spirit) health, and the need for detoxification are all examined; lending a true holistic approach.

The Chiropractic Internist’s treatment is concentrated on health restoration by promoting balance to dysfunctional systems. This parallels with the chiropractic philosophy of the relationship between structure and function of the human body, and how that relationship affects the restoration and preservation of health.  With the use of comprehensive diagnostic tools beyond standard conventional testing, history taking and examinations, the Chiropractic Internist’s treatment protocols typically include lifestyle modifications, nutritional counseling, and the use of pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplementation and herbal therapies.

The benefits of becoming a DABCI are plentiful.  Programs are at doctors’ fingertips and are cost effective considering the returns in practice revenue.

Currently, there are DABCI’s nationwide, with numbers growing, as more doctors are seeing the benefits of such a program.  Personally, there is fulfillment of knowledge and the benefits of camaraderie among the DABCI’s long after the program has ended.   Professionally, DABCI’s report that their practices have benefited by the metamorphoses and increasing profits that occur from patient confidence, improved industry and private community recognition, added treatment options and comprehensive diagnostic tools, and the willingness of patients to pay out of pocket for the kind of health care they want.  When patients connect with a primary care physician, they become empowered with knowledge that facilitates their wellness.  As the health of patients improve, the amount of referrals skyrocket.   Many doctors soon learn that ‘it’s not hard to be number one’.

Chiropractic physicians who choose to remain strictly neuromusculoskeletal doctors and not pursue the DABCI program should consider the benefits of supporting their peers that do.   Patient retention is one benefit.  When patients present with symptoms that could possibly be hindering their neuromusculoskeletal treatment, referral to a Chiropractic Internist ensures cohesiveness of care.  An open line of communication between doctors increases patient confidence and contributes to both compliance and retention.  And, as the DABCI population grows, so do referrals to other chiropractic physicians.

DABCI programs are currently being offered throughout the United States, conveniently located on the West Coast, in the Midwest, and on the East Coast.  Classes fill quickly so anyone planning to begin a program in 2009 should begin researching their location options now.

The Chiropractic professional has an abundance of support as it relates to continuing education, practice management, and information resources.  The following entities are dedicated to advancing chiropractic practice as general medicine and offer both promotion and guidance in these areas:

The ABCI (American Board of Chiropractic Internists) : the professional certification board and credentialing agency that advances the quality of clinical competency for DABCI’s, and regulates the certification and recertification of those doctors demonstrating excellence as a Chiropractic Internist.

The ACA CDID (Council on Diagnosis and Internal Disorders): professional council that certifies, approves, and sponsors the 300 hour diplomate program which leads to board certification.

A good option for doctors not ready to begin a DABCI program is the 100 hour certification program in ‘Chiropractic Family Practice & Wellness’, also offered by the CDID.  This program affords doctors with the education to provide a true wellness program.  It consists of ten sessions derived from the curriculum of the DABCI education and qualifies toward continuance of the DABCI program.  For more information on the 100 hour certification program, contact Dr. Jack Kessinger at Virginia@drkessinger.com

Diplomate programs are coming to areas near you.  Future areas include:
Baltimore, MD
Orlando, FL
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Kansas City, MO
Los Angeles, CA
Portland, OR
Check the DABCIdiplomate.com website for all locations and schedules.

DACBN www.acbn.org

The 300-hour DABCI training program meets the 300-hour post-doctoral training in nutrition requirement by the ACBN. Therefore, those students who have completed the 26 sessions in the DABCI program would qualify to sit for the DACBN board exam.

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