Palmer College of Chiropractic receives national recognition

July 14, 2011 — The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) in Washington, D.C., announced in June that the Palmer College of Chiropractic outpatient clinics in Port Orange and South Daytona, Fla., have received recognition from the Back Pain Recognition Program (BPRP) for providing superior care to clinic patients suffering from low back pain. The two Palmer Chiropractic Clinics are affiliated with the college’s Florida Campus in Port Orange, Fla.

Additionally, the college’s West Campus clinic in San Jose, Calif., was recently renewed in the NCQA Back Pain Recognition Program. It originally received recognition in 2008. With the two clinics located on Palmer’s Davenport Campus in Davenport, Iowa, having received Recognition in October 2010, this means that clinics affiliated with all three of Palmer’s campuses have received this prestigious national quality recognition.

The Back Pain Recognition Program was designed to improve the quality of care to the nearly 30 million Americans who experience low-back pain, by motivating healthcare providers to deliver high-quality care and service. To receive recognition, the Palmer Chiropractic Clinics were required to pass a rigorous, comprehensive review of several key clinical measures demonstrating quality healthcare delivery and service. These measures include appropriate imaging for acute back pain, recommendations for exercise and attention to health risk factors, among many others.

Back pain is among the most common ailments in America. Each year, nearly one in nine Americans experience pain severe enough to impair their usual daily activities. Treatment costs total approximately $91 billion a year and back pain accounts for 25 percent of all workers’ compensation claims.

The BPRP is the first independent program to systematically evaluate back pain care. NCQA developed the program’s requirements from widely accepted medical evidence with significant input from back pain specialists, and health plan and employer representatives. BPRP-Recognized healthcare providers provide patients with the care that best meets their needs, restores health and mobility and avoids unnecessary treatment and procedures.

“Needless imaging and procedures provide no real benefit to patients who suffer from back pain,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, president, National Committee for Quality Assurance. “By earning recognition, these Palmer Chiropractic Clinics on all three of Palmer’s campuses have demonstrated that they consistently provide proven, evidence-based care to their patients with low back pain.”

“The Palmer College clinics at each of our three campuses are committed to the delivery of quality, patient-centered care, and to providing a clinical education model that prepares our graduates for today’s practice environment,” said Vice Chancellor for Clinic Affairs Kurt Wood, DC. “This recent NCQA recognition for our Florida Campus clinics, along with the renewal of our West Campus clinic recognition and the recognition of our Davenport Campus clinics last fall, provides external validation for our patients and residents in all three of our campus communities that we have processes in place to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality, evidence-based care in an effort to generate the best patient outcomes.”

Source: Palmer College of Chiropractic, www.palmer.edu