Chiropractors Team up With Alternative Medicine Network
The results of this partnership–using DCs as primary care providers–is astounding when you look at the numbers. But what astounds me even more is that the results of this partnership should be plastered across every headline in the US, and yet few have ever heard of it.
(article) The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has partnered with a Highland Park, Illinois-based alternative medicine network to encourage managed care plans to use doctors of chiropractic as primary care physicians. The ACA said that its joint venture partner, Alternative Medicine Inc. (AMI), provides managed care companies and large self-funded employer groups with “fully integrated traditional and alternative healthcare.” The agreement marks the ACA’s first-ever formal recognition of a managed care provider’s approach to healthcare. “We have successfully demonstrated that an integrated medical model featuring doctors of chiropractic as primary care physicians working in conjunction with MDs/DOs and RNs can provide better quality care than any of the specialties working independently,” said James Zechman, chairman and CEO of AMI. AMI launched its wellness-based model in 1997 with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Since then, the company said, its integrated approach has resulted in a 66% decrease in total medical service expenses when compared to independent provider associations with MDs as primary care providers. That includes a 69% reduction in hospital utilization, an 85% drop in outpatient procedures and a 56% decrease in pharmaceutical use. The partners said they would explore avenues such as joint presentations, seminars, news releases, videos and other means of teaching people about AMI’s approach.