In November 1988, the McLean County Chiropractic Association (MCCA) in Illinois wrote to BroMenn Healthcare (a hospital) in Normal, Illinois and St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, Illinois seeking the privilege of being able to refer patients to their hospitals for outpatient diagnostic tests.
In December 1988, BroMenn Healthcare denied the request, and in February 1989, St. Joseph Medical Center did the same. The reason that the hospitals gave was that only the medical staff and physicians duly licensed to practice medicine in accordance with the definition for medical staffs under the Hospital Licensing Act could order diagnostic tests. Furthermore, their hospital bylaws do not allow anyone not on the staff to order tests.
Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JACHO) standards allow chiropractors on the medical or the allied staff of a hospital; but state law supersedes JCAHO standards. Under the Illinois Hospital Licensing Act, only MDs, DOs, dentists, and podiatrists can have medical staff privileges.
Steve Troyanovich, D.C., president of MCCA, and leader of their crusade said, "According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois Hospital Licensing Act allows the directors of the radiology or laboratory departments to authorize the performance of diagnostic tests and procedures at the request of podiatrists, midwives, chiropractors, dentists, etc. who have not been granted practice privileges by the hospital governing board."
Currently, the association's patients are being forced to travel 60 miles roundtrip to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln and Fairbury Hospital in Fairbury in order to obtain their outpatient diagnostic tests. Obviously, such travel poses a burden to patient.
Dr. Troyanovich said, " ... The way I see it, our direct competitors, the medical staff have conspired to keep us from the technology which we need to take care of patients."
After consulting with George P. McAndrews, the attorney who was victorious for chiropractic in the Wilk v. the American Medical Association suit, Dr. Troyanovich filed a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint on behalf of the association in December 1989.
After requesting and receiving numerous materials explaining the validity of the chiropractic profession and documentation of the allegations from Dr. Troyanovich, FTC staff attorney Judy Moreland recently notified the MCCA that it appeared that there was substance to their complaint and that the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission would be initiating a formal investigation of the hospitals in their community.
This is an important development for the profession of chiropractic as this will be the first time that the Federal Trade Commission has reviewed a case involving chiropractors.
According to Mr. McAndrews: "Chiropractors and their patients pay taxes and should be able to expect even-handed application of the anti-trust laws by governmental agencies. To the extent that the hospitals appear to have allowed collusive action by medical physicians on their medical staffs to prevent competitive use of hospital-based diagnostic aids by doctors of chiropractic, I believe that the investigation is fully warranted by the Federal Trade Commission. After 15 years, it is certainly welcome."
Dr. Troyanovich said, "We at the McLean County Chiropractic Association are all pretty excited about this latest development. Based on the circumstances and the information we have forwarded to the FTC, I am quite confident that we will receive a fair hearing."
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