Created in September 2007 in response to looming health care reform, the Chiropractic Summit was organized by representatives of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), International Chiropractors Association (ICA), Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) and Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA).
Having grown substantially over the years by invitation, the summit currently includes approximately 40 members representing leadership from education, research, regulatory bodies, political action, practice management, chiropractic media and national associations.
With multiple meetings per year, the summit has held more than 30 meetings during the past 10 years in an effort to develop unity within the profession. While not all members attend every meeting, the meetings provide an opportunity for organizations to share their plans, compare priorities and ultimately work together.
But in a letter emailed on Jan. 10, 2018, ACA President David Herd, DC, informed summit members the ACA would no longer be participating:
"We are continuing to review and evaluate every ACA program, project and initiative to ensure it is in the best interests of our organization and our members and is an effective use of our limited resources – both human and financial. ACA's participation in the Chiropractic Summit is one of the initiatives we have carefully re-evaluated as part of this process, and we have decided to discontinue our membership. This decision was not made lightly, and is one of many difficult choices we have made as we redirect our energies and resources into ACA's strategic priorities and the strengthening of our new brand.
"At the time it was created, the Chiropractic Summit served an important purpose – and was integral to the successful passage of Section 2706, the provider non-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act. Since that time, however, differing priorities of the various member organizations have prevented meaningful progress or substantive accomplishments. For all of these reasons, ACA will step aside and continue to focus on strengthening our organization from the inside out."
The decision by the ACA placed the future of the summit in question and raised several questions: Should or could the remaining members continue without the involvement of one of the national associations? How important is the ACA's involvement?
In an exclusive interview, Norman Ouzts Jr., DC, summit chair, responded to some of these questions:
"Although we respect their decision, we are certainly disappointed the ACA has chosen to leave the only group that collectively represents the profession as a whole. The ACA had already passed the administrative duties to the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations last year. The Summit should have no difficulty moving forward to continue to provide a safe environment allowing for open discussions regarding critical issues with the goal of creating unity and advancing the profession."
When asked what the profession can realistically expect the summit to accomplish without the ACA, Dr. Ouzts noted: "The Summit is entering a new phase as we develop our strategic plan for the future of the organization. Previously the environment within the Summit has facilitated an open exchange of ideas which has helped the profession mature over the last decade. I anticipate that this will continue with the efforts of the Summit supporting and encouraging the profession's development within the rapidly evolving healthcare field."
The next summit meeting will be hosted by the Florida Chiropractic Association at the association's The National event in August. This meeting will likely challenge the remaining members to generate a clear agenda for the summit and demonstrate its ability to continue to foster unified progress.
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