U.S. Comptroller appoints chiropractor Christine Goertz as chair of PCORI Board

Arlington, Va. – The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is pleased to announce that ACA Senior Scientific Advisor Christine Goertz, DC, PhD, has been appointed by the Comptroller of the United States to a three-year term as chair of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors.

PCORI was established in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act to fund research to help patients, caregivers and their health practitioners make evidence-based, patient-centered health care decisions. Non-drug treatment for pain is among PCORI’s top research priorities.

Goertz has been a member of the PCORI board since its establishment in 2010. The board is made up of 21 representatives of the patient, general consumer, clinical, insurance, research, employer, industry, policy and other health care sectors. Goertz previously served in several leadership positions within the organization, including vice chair and chair of PCORI’s Science Oversight and Selection committees.

“It’s essential for consumers and health care providers to have reliable information when making health care decisions,” said ACA President Robert C. Jones, DC. “Dr. Goertz’s strong leadership skills combined with her expertise regarding comparative effectiveness research methodologies and strong commitment to evidence-based, patient-centered care make her an ideal choice to head the PCORI board at this time.”

Besides her position with PCORI, Goertz is the CEO of the Spine Institute for Quality and, beginning in October, will join the faculty of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University Medical Center as professor and director of system development and coordination of spine health. Previously, she served for 11 years as vice chancellor of research and health policy at Palmer College of Chiropractic and as a program official at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the National Institutes of Health.

Her 25-year research career has focused on working with multidisciplinary teams to design and implement clinical trials and health-services research studies designed to increase knowledge about the effectiveness, cost and risks associated with non-pharmacological approaches for pain management.

About the American Chiropractic Association

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is the largest professional chiropractic organization in the United States. ACA attracts the most principled and accomplished chiropractors, who understand that it takes more to be called an ACA chiropractor. We are leading our profession in the most constructive and far-reaching ways — by working hand in hand with other health care professionals, by lobbying for pro-chiropractic legislation and policies, by supporting meaningful research and by using that research to inform our treatment practices. We also provide professional and educational opportunities for all our members and are committed to being a positive and unifying force for the practice of modern chiropractic. To learn more, visit acatoday.org, and connect with us on on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram