Top 5 chiropractic stories of 2016

By all measures, 2016 was a year to remember. On the national level, politics and the presidential election came to overshadow almost everything else. In healthcare, uncertainty about insurance reimbursement was a persistent nagging note. On the bright side, the transition to ICD-10 coding was less painful than many imagined, and CMS offered substantial relief through an extended compliance period.

Also notable was joint agreement among the CDC and the major chiropractic associations about the dangers of the U.S. opioid epidemic and the key role doctors of chiropractic can play in counteracting it. At the federal level, chiropractic continued to make gains in the VA system and among active duty members of the military.

Still, the profession faced headwinds in the form of audits by the Office of Inspector General and a report from that office finding widespread misuse of the AT modifier code. Exclusive reporting from Chiropractic Economics found that the OIG’s conclusions were drawn from a woefully small number of records and its interpretations were likely overstated.

Below are some of the stories we found to be of exceptional interest and if you missed any of them, here’s a second chance to get up to speed.

1. OIG Auditor’s report: Summary of findings on DC payments