Working with or in a hospital will be a daily reality for many doctors of chiropractic in the 1990s, and beyond. According to the American Hospital Association, approximately 50 to 100 hospitals nationwide have granted staff privileges to DCs, and hundreds of others now allow DCs to use the hospital's diagnostic capabilities such as MRI, CT-scan, and laboratory facilities.
Learning how to work in a hospital setting will be essential to the professional future of many chiropractors. Gaining hospital privileges will provide DCs and chiropractic with many advantages. For example, working in a hospital will expose more potential patients to chiropractic care, it will allow DCs to care for their current patients if they are hospitalized, it will increase the overall quality of care hospitals provide, and it will help to make chiropractic an integral component of an institution's patient care program. The hospital is also the ideal place to educate other health professionals on the science, art, and philosphy of chiropractic.
Many DCs are unprepared to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity and need assistance with the application process. In order to provide chiropractors with practical information on hospital privileges, the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) is presenting a series of seminars on "Hospital Privileges for Doctors of Chiropractic." Two one-day seminars are currently planned: August 18 in Boston, Massachusetts, and November 3 in Atlanta, Georgia.
ICA has lined up as instructors, a successful team from New Center Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, one of the first hospitals in the country to grant privileges to DCs. The New Center team includes R. James Gregg, D.C., chief of chiropractic services; Frederick K. Lewerenz, D.O., a noted sports physician; and Alfred Moore, the hospital administrator. Over the past few years, Drs. Gregg and Lewerenz and Mr. Moore have successfully made chiropractic services an integral part of the hospital's health care program. In fact, according to Mr. Moore, the addition of chiropractic services has increased the facility's annual revenues by 10 percent.
This successful team brings a combination of experience, knowledge, and insight into the important roles chiropractors can play in the hospital setting. Together, they will provide DCs with useful, practical information on a variety of crucial topics such as:
- How hospital privileges can help the DC and his/her patients, including care for patients in the hospital, use of hospital services; and specific strategies for DCs.
- How chiropractic services directly affect the hospital, staff, and patients, including interprofessional relations, referrals, and chiropractic duties and responsibilities.
- The application and interview process, including what information a DC needs to collect before applying for privileges and what kind of privileges a DC can ask from the hospital.
- The administration of a hospital, including the various departments, hierarchy and bylaws.
In addition, the New Center team will offer insight into what makes the team approach so successful and how they have made chiropractic care an important part of the hospital and its service to its patients.
For more information call ICA at 1-800-423-4690.
Dynamic Chiropractic editorial staff members research, investigate and write articles for the publication on an ongoing basis. To contact the Editorial Department or submit an article of your own for consideration, email
.