LATEST HEADLINES Headline News and Press Releases American Chiropractic Association Files Lawsuit Against ACN in Federal Court New Research 2006 Research Summaries Online CE Spotlights Have your CA take a FREE CA Online training course! Specialty Certifications Childhood Developmental Disorders American Chiropractic Association Files Lawsuit Against ACN in Federal Court FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2006 The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) today asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to allow ACA to join as a plaintiff in the pending nationwide class action lawsuit Solomon v. Anthem, et al., and further asked that ACN Group, Inc. and United Healthcare Services, Inc. be named as additional defendants in the case. The ACA alleges that ACN participated with other managed care companies in the case in a conspiracy to illegally and systematically underpay providers by denying reimbursement for medically necessary treatment. ACA, along with other national and state health care associations, individual doctors of chiropractic and other health care providers, challenge the utilization review and payment practices of some of the nation’s largest managed care companies, including Health Net, Humana, PacifiCare Health Systems, Aetna, United Healthcare, Wellpoint Health Networks and Prudential. The case alleges that these companies, including ACN, violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by systematically and illegally denying, delaying, and diminishing payments owed to chiropractors and other health care providers. Joining the ACA in its efforts against managed care companies, particularly ACN, is the Connecticut Chiropractic Association, who is also seeking to be named as a plaintiff in the litigation. The Florida Chiropractic Association is also a plaintiff. “There is simply no greater priority for ACA than to oppose what we view as the abusive tactics of ACN and other managed care organizations who systematically deny needed chiropractic care to our patients,” said ACA President Richard G. Brassard, DC. “Doctors from across the country have provided us with reports of intimidation and coercion conducted under the guise of utilization control. This can no longer be tolerated by a profession dedicated to quality patient care. The ACA intends to expend every effort and seek every possible legal remedy to put a halt to these harmful practices.” To view the full press release, please Click here. If the link does not work, please cut and paste the following into your browser and click go: http://www.amerchiro.org/press_css.cfm?CID=1381 TOP 2006 Research Summaries The effect of chiropractic adjustments on movement time: a pilot study using Fitts Law Smith DL, Dainoff MJ, Smith JP. The effect of chiropractic adjustments on movement time: a pilot study using Fitts Law. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2006 May;29(4):257-66. Essence of Wellness Chiropractic Center, Eaton, Ohio 45320, USA. drdean@essenceofwellness.com OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of chiropractic adjustments on movement time using Fitts Law. METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized controlled trial. Ten patients from a private chiropractic practice participated. Participants in the treatment group received high-velocity, low-amplitude chiropractic adjustments to areas of joint dysfunction (chiropractic subluxation). A nonintervention group was used to control for improvement resulting from time and practice effects. Movement time was measured as participants moved a cursor onto a target appearing on a computer screen. A range of target widths and target distances were used to vary the index of difficulty. RESULTS: All participants in the experimental group had significantly improved movement times following spinal adjustments compared with only 1 participant in the control group. The average improvement in movement time for the experimental group was 183 ms, a 9.2% improvement, whereas the average improvement in movement time for the control group was 29 ms, a 1.7% improvement. The difference (improvement) scores after the intervention were significantly greater for the chiropractic group compared with the control group as measured by a 2-tailed independent samples t test (P < .05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated a significant improvement in movement time with chiropractic care. These results suggest that spinal adjustments may influence motor behavior. The Research Abstract of the Month is bought to you by Dean Smith, DC, PhD. TOP Have your CA take a FREE CA Online training course! Have your CA's visit www.ChiroCredit.com and take a FREE CA Training course at www.chirocredit.com For a limited time, your CA can take a FREEone hour online training course. Here are the educational objectives: Define hydrotherapy, cryotherapy, spa and thermotherapy List 3 advantages/disadvantages of heat and cold Identify the Hunting Response List the three physical states of water Identify guidelines to ensure safe application of hydrotherapy methods We are also proud to release the first series of courses specifically designed for CA training. The program is being offered in a modular format where you can direct your CA's to take just a few hours or the whole program! Course are extremely reasonably priced. Have your CE's train online! We have released the first 26 hours: Boundries and Professional Conduct - three, four-hour courses available now! Take one or all. Chiropractic Principles - one, two hour course available now! Documentation and Billing - one four hour course and one three hour course now available! HIPAA Training - 2 hour course - certify your CA's as having been trained in HIPAA regs Emergency Procedures - 1 hour course Xray - 2, two hour courses Click here to go to ChiroCredit.com and take these Courses NOW TOP Specialty Certification: Childhood Development Disorders In the past two decades, we have witnessed an explosion in the diagnosis of neurobehavioral disorders, including ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism. This four course series emphasizes hands on training in the use of specific assessment tools and treatment protocols. After completing these programs, you will feel confident to use these tools. None of the assessment or treatment protocols will involve the use of any specialized equipment of any kind. Many of the treatments and exercises can be either taught to patients for home use or can be done in the office under supervision. These courses will be taught by Robert Melillo, DC, DABCN, the author of the acclaimed textbook Neurobehavioral Disorders of Childhood - An Evolutionary perspective. Dr. Melillo has over two decades of clinical experience in the treatment of Childhood Disorders. Please Click here to view a brochure with more details and registration information. If the link does not work, please cut and paste the following into your browser and click go: http://www.chirowire.com/adhd.pdf DATE COURSE LOCATION 7/14 -7/16/2006 Dyxlexia 981 Atlanta, GA 7/21 - 7/23/2006 ADHD II Los Angeles, CA 8/11 - 8/13/2006 ADHD II: 931 Orlando, FL 8/18 - 8/20/2006 Dyslexia 981 Atlanta, GA 9/15 - 9/17/2006 ADHD I: 930 Milan, Italy 9/29 - 10/1/2006 Autism 980 San Francisco, CA 10/20 - 10/22/2006 Dyslexia 981 San Francisco, CA 10/27 - 10/29/2006 Autism 980 Minneapolis, MN 11/17 - 11/19/2006 ADHD II: 931 Milan, Italy 12/8 - 12/10/2006 Dyslexia 981 Minneapolis, MN TOP SUBSCRIBE NOW! SUBSCRIBE NOW! 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