The global COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down, creating mass disruption across every sector and industry, both private and public; not to mention the personal strains it has caused all citizens across the U.S.
Through this process, the American workforce was ultimately divided into essential and non-essential categories, with the latter required to shut down all operations and adhere to stay-at-home and self-isolation orders. For some states, this included chiropractic services.
Affirming the DC's Role as Essential Health Care Provider
The Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) swiftly and diligently affirmed that chiropractic doctors are essential health care providers, and moved to help state boards assert this position dutifully and expertly to their respective state governors and health care leaders. We shared a template letter with each state board, and many delivered this letter to their governor, a move that proved timely and successful.
Following FCLB's advocacy, some states re-evaluated their position regarding chiropractors as essential health care workers. On March 28, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security CISA formally identified chiropractors as essential care providers. But while this was considered a big step forward, serving patients and ensuring license renewals for chiropractors amid a global pandemic revealed an entirely new set of challenges.
New Protocols in Operations
Caring for patients during the early days of COVID-19 presented obstacles on multiple levels. First, although chiropractors were deemed essential care providers, many patients were cautious about receiving care. To ease the minds of patients and support the state boards' efforts to help chiropractors' communication with patients, FCLB created further resources for use by boards and chiropractic professionals.
These resources include a video discussing steps boards and chiropractors should take to understand their specific state requirements, restrictions and advice when re-opening clinics or serving patients. Much of the information provided follows CDC and state health official guidelines particular to each state.
This streamlined resource proved beneficial in serving all FCLB member boards and providing uniform information member boards could quickly disseminate.
Maintaining CE Credit Requirements During COVID-19
Our member boards faced further obstacles in ensuring chiropractors were able to meet license renewal requirements. To address these challenges, we encouraged member state boards by advocating for licensing extensions and bolstering the FCLB's Providers of Approved Continuing Education (PACE) program to encourage more online continuing-education credit completion versus in-person classes and seminars.
Each state board dictates the level of distance learning they will allow, with some states not adopting online learning at all. In these cases, FCLB encourages the use of distance learning, and accommodations have been made to the PACE program.
In response, several states that previously did not offer distance learning moved to adopt this channel into their relicensure requirements. PACE Recognized Providers were quick to offer distance alternatives to their live courses, as well as education specific to COVID-19.
Streamlining and Supporting
As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its resurgence in many states, the FCLB encourages all chiropractors to stay up to date with recommendations and protocols established by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), state health departments, and jurisdictional licensing boards' practice acts, rules, regulations and policies. The FCLB is here to streamline a myriad of information, and our website links to each state's department of health's recommendations, along with recommendations from each state board.
The FCLB is looking at ways to continue to accommodate and support each state board, and to implement informational and regulatory programs that match the current times, keeping our PACE program relevant to issues facing chiropractors today. To this end, the FCLB is recommending extensions to re-licensure requirements, as well as with courses that deal directly with infectious disease control such as COVID-19.
Dr. Karlos Boghosian is the current president of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization whose membership is comprised of the U.S. chiropractic licensing boards, certain Canadian provincial registration boards, and the chiropractic licensing board of New Zealand. FCLB lessens burdens on state government by providing programs and services to its membership.