As of October 16, covered health care providers are now required to post notices in their clinics regarding patient non-discrimination policies, a requirement of a provision of the Affordable Care Act that went into effect earlier this year. Section 1557 is intended to promote equity in health care and prevent discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in health programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. To see if you are one of the many required to comply with this new Federal Rule, please read further.

From time to time, there may be coverage in local and national media about the issue of cervical manipulation and the purported risk of stroke.  There is growing interest in the association between cervical manipulation and vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke.  Historically, opinion rather than fact has often dominated discussions on this topic, even though the incidence of stroke associated with cervical manipulation is very rare and there is a lack of evidence to prove that cervical adjustments cause stroke.

There are expensive “compliance manuals” being offered to FCA members. The purpose of this article is to help in making informed decisions as to which manuals best fit your needs. Following is a discussion as to which compliance manuals are required and which are not required.

The FCA is starting the "CA Tip of the Week" to fill the need of continuously improving the practice through CA education. Lori Allen and her staff will be joining us at each of our conventions this year. Don't miss out on having your staff trained by one of the best!

The Key to Increasing and Maintaining Volume is Proper Scheduling.

Proper scheduling and prescheduling are the key components to a successful practice. Each practice should have a scheduling guideline for each doctor and provider. The success comes in training the staff to adhere to these guidelines and adhere to the protocol and procedures.

ICD-10 is almost here and the FCA is getting a lot of calls. Many of our members are still getting ready and some are just getting started.  If you didn't take advantage of the many great training opportunities at FCA conventions or the dozens of webinars offered by various coding experts, below are some resources available that may help.

A new form advising non-Medicare patients of their financial responsibility is now available for download from this site. The difficulty of determining health insurance reimbursement frustrates patients, because they don’t know what the patient’s costs will be before treatment. The form is entitled “Advanced Notice and Agreement of Patient Financial Responsibility.”

A helpful infographic has been compiled by the American Chiropratic Association (ACA) which clearly illustrates to your patients the safety of cervical manipulation when compared to other treatments.  The FCA shares this infographic for use in your office:  It's a great way to start a positive conversation that opens the door to factually informing your patients about risks.

There is growing interest in the association between cervical manipulation and vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke.  Unfortunately, opinion rather than fact has often dominated discussions on this topic, even though there has been no definitive evidence that cervical adjustments can cause a stroke. The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is sensitive to the public’s concerns surrounding this complex issue, and has provided extensive resources to help state associations and doctors of chiropractic disseminate accurate information about the risks of serious injury following cervical manipulation.

The FCA Insurance Office gets calls about many different subjects.  Here are some Hotlines and Internet Links that may be very useful in your office, based on calls we have received.