Team TCA hit the field to fight for the chiropractic profession. Thanks to the generous support of Texas Doctors of Chiropractic and friends of TCA, we passed midfield in our summer fundraising campaign and are closing in on the "red zone." The tally is $36,022.68 since mid-July, closer to our $50,000 goal by the end of August. Let’s punch the ball into the end zone and score a touchdown for chiropractic. The clock is ticking. You can make a one-time donation or, better yet, set up monthly or quarterly CDI contributions.

The kids are finally back in school. Now it’s time for DCs to get back into the classroom to earn valuable continuing education hours. Need a Medicare refresher or the one-time required hours? Worried about possible $50,000 HIPAA violations? Or, perhaps you just want to improve your technique and knowledge. You can achieve all of these goals at TCA’s fall one-day seminars. TCA has extended its back-to-school special for Texas DCs and office staff. If you register by phone by Thursday, Sept. 1, the cost for the seminars is only $100– half off the registration price. Call the TCA office at (512) 477-9292 to register today! Don’t miss these one-day seminars!

SGR, MACRA, PQRS, and more government acronyms from Medicare makes it easy to get confused. Need help in decoding just what it is that Medicare wants? Then attend this Sep. 24 seminar at the Texas Chiropractic College.

It’s takes friends to advance a profession and the Texas Chiropractic Association is pleased to have some very good ones. A big thank you to our TCA 2016 Sponsors!

Medical services for people with opioid dependence diagnoses skyrocketed more than 3,000% between 2007 and 2014. The diagnosis of opioid dependency kicks off a number of medical services that have risen from about 217,000 in 2007 to about 7 million in 2014. Such a sharp rise over a short period of time is a classic definition of an epidemic. More treatment options are needed for people seeking help.

There have been 4,000 daily ransomware attacks since early 2016, a 300% increase from 2015. The HIPAA Security Rule requires implementation of policies and procedures that can assist in responding to and recovering from a ransomware attack. Attend the TCA’s HIPAA seminar this summer.

The FDA does not regulate surgical procedures. It is up to the patient to ask what evidence shows that surgery is better than other options. This medical article concludes that surgery is frequently "a highly questionable practice without supporting evidence of even moderate quality." Patients should be told that when it comes to treatment, physical medicine, including chiropractic, is a good first-line therapy for pain relief. Randomized clinical trials that produce the highest quality of evidence strongly suggest that surgery is next to useless for the conditions discussed in this article.

Medical doctors and staff focus so intensely on treating injuries or acute illnesses that they can overlook nearly all other aspects of caring for the patients. As a result, about one-third of patients over 70 years old and more than half of patients over 85 leave the hospital more disabled than when they arrived. The older you are, the worse the hospital is for you. "A lot of the stuff we do in medicine does more harm than good," says the report.

Most health apps that promote physical activity tend to get users who want to be healthy. Pokémon Go isn’t marketed as a health app, but players still end up doing a lot of walking. The health benefits might not be obvious.

In the 1800s, it was believed that scientists were more popular and respected than medical doctors. In order that the common physician would gain the same respect and trust and to emphasize the transition to the scientific approach, they also took to wearing the white lab coat. The imaginary dangers associated with wearing scrubs in public have led to concern. This medical article, however, states that there is no evidence that bacteria on scrubs spread disease. Nor is there evidence that bacteria on other objects such as ties, white coats, cell phones, stethoscopes, computer keyboards or numerous other articles shown to be contaminated have made people sick. (Is this a refutation of the "germ theory"?) Nevertheless, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has issued a statement on proper dress for surgeons, whether in the operating room or interacting with families or the public outside.

The Parker Experience is celebrating 65 years of excellence in chiropractic seminars. The seminars are not only coming home to Dallas, but we’re offering great celebration pricing. Even bring your staff­—at a very special rate!

Innate Legacy still has guest spots available for their Fall Spectacular YOUR BEST PRACTICE NOW! Sept. 30 through Oct. 1 in Austin. Texas Chiros get a special very reduced price of $99.00 that ends Sep.1.

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With the Presidential election less than three months away, this chart offers a comparison of the Democratic and the Republican candidates regarding some federal health issues.This chart is compiled from the candidate’s and the party’s websites and platforms.

Four of the top five insurances by market share had announced plans to merge in 2016. The Justice Department has filed a preliminary injunction to block the mergers, and 19 states have joined the challenge.

The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact offers an expedited pathway to medical licensure for qualified physicians who wish to practice in multiple states.The FBI has concerns about state laws that authorize states to participate in the compact.Calling the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission a "private nongovernmental entity," they note there is no federal statutory authority for the FBI to share criminal files with such an entity and that regulation does not permit a private organization to receive this information.

The government will punish more than half of the nation’s hospitals. Medicare plans to penalize them more than half a billion dollars over the next year for having more patients than expected return within a month. Of the hospitals Medicare evaluated, four out of five were penalized.

West Virginia has one of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in the country. A West Virginia physician has been sentenced to a year and a day in jail after pleading guilty to seven felonies for illegal distribution of oxycodone. The sentence, along with an $18,200 penalty, required her to give up her West Virginia license and promise not to apply for a new license in any other state. She was facing up to 20 years for each count, plus a fine of up to $1 million for each count.

National Chiropractic Health Month is coming in October. Why not raise awareness of chiropractic with a local proclamation? Here are the how-to details.

From its origins in 1895, chiropractic identity has been beset with the challenging task of keeping up not only with clinical and scientific observation but with political trade winds involving public perception and the marketplace of health care.

Here is a pearl of a physical technique that’s back to basics. Begin with taking a good history and then confirming abdominal pain is arising from musculoskeletal conditions with a physical finding first described by Dr John Carnett in 1926.

This case report describes chiropractic management of a patient with pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain. This patient improved in pain and function after chiropractic treatment and usual obstetric management.

New overtime rules promise to boost overhead for practices that underpay their office managers. The changes take effect December 1. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay 1.5 times an employee’s hourly wage when workers put in more than 40 hours per week. Salaried employees also should receive overtime unless their salaries meet a certain threshold that will increase to $913 a week, or $47,476 per year, on December 1. An office manager earning less than $47,476 a year should be paid overtime for hours 41, 42 and beyond. This salary floor will be automatically updated every three years.