Albert Kalter, D.C. Executive Director

Stay tuned for a message from the Executive Director

Albert Kalter, D.C. Braintree Chiropractic and Executive Director to the Massachusetts Chiropractic Society, Inc.

The new MCS central office in Braintree is fully operational, and Tracey Lane, our Executive Secretary, is doing a huge job in organizing and moving us in a more modern and efficient direction. Her seeming endless work ethic is responsible for near single handedly providing MCS members such a comprehensive and essential safety net experience! We have enlisted the collaboration of Bharon Hoag, a consultant to state and national chiropractic associations, as well as to other organizations that serve the chiropractic profession.  His mission is to assure chiropractic association growth, success, market penetration, and more effective service to member chiropractors.  He will be introduced to you later on this year.  He came to us through favorable referrals from other state associations using his services and enacting his ideas and suggestions. 

Enclosed in this News & Notes will be references to our legislative initiatives, so please review our filings and their progress.  Related to the filing of our CEU bill is an effort by a private group, sponsoring educational and practice management programs for chiropractic offices, to develop a coalition of similar groups and colleges in opposition to passage of this bill.  Since the BoRC has stopped pre-approving courses offered for CEU, some of our doctors have called us concerned about taking a course without knowing if it will count for CEU credit.  To help MCS doctors, and all DCs practicing in MA, this bill would enable MCS to act as a research body to examine the course criteria, and pre-approve courses based on criteria well established and already used in MA.  Nothing would change as far as what can be offered, and no pricing of courses would or could be under the control of MCS.  MCS has already performed this task, by statute, since 1966 for our own sponsored courses, and this bill would extend the same function to all courses offered chiropractors in MA claiming CEU credit worthiness.  MCS would not and could not decide what courses are available; our function would serve to inform the prospective attendee that a course or program qualifies for CEU or not.  Statements claiming that once the BoRC removed the approval process for CEU providers, thus expanding the choices for chiropractors in taking CEU classes, is misleading. Nothing changed about what qualifies and what does not qualify.  Expanded choices may exist, and with passage of this act, our DCs would now know if it is approved for credit or not.  Please call your legislators and ask them to help pass SB-551 and HB-902, to help clarify CEU courses from non-CEU courses for chiropractors in the state.

I still co-chair the Medicare sub-committee with Dr. Arnould.  There have been no substantial changes to our Local Carrier (NGS) Directive (LCD).  Our LCD is numbered L33613, and our Supplemental Instructions Article is numbered A52853, and these are accessible on the NGS Jurisdiction-K web site:

https://www.ngsmedicare.com.

However, there are several interpretive updates available from Chiro Code that are worthy of mention and follow-up, on the Chiro Code site:

https://www.chirocode.com

          *Medicare Supplemental Policies (MediGap) & Extremity Adjustments

          *Charging Missed Appointment Fees for Medicare Patients

          *Physical Therapy Caps (and how these could affect chiropractic visits)

The New Medicare Card transition period ended December 31, 2018 for our area, so you must update your patient accounts by requesting they provide you their new account numbers, phasing out the old social security-based system.

Medicare claims denied fall under two categories – clerical errors and complex denials requiring documentation and are thus classified as re-opening vs. redetermination.  Guidance about these type appeals are also available on the NGS site.  Best Practices Academy publishes the “Medicare Playbook”, a comprehensive guide in managing Medicare cases, with extensive on-line access to full page copies of documents mentioned in their appendices:

 (https://grow.bestpracticsacademy.com).

The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress released the “Opioid 3.0 Toolkit”, recognizing chiropractic as a safer option for pain.  This document is available from them on-line at:

 www.f4cp.org.

Dry Needling was not denied chiropractors as an available ancillary therapy procedure in a recent Policy Statement by our BoRC.  At the close of Saturday’s session, a one-hour introduction to the practice of Dry Needling will be available to interested attendees.  It should be noted that the MCS will sponsor future comprehensive educational course work related to this procedure, yet the Division of Professional Licensure (DPL) has not yet fully acted on the new BoRC policy statement.  Until this policy has achieved final DPL approval, Dry Needling course work is given for educational purposes only.     

Thank you choosing MCS sponsored CEU programs….Please make very effort to reach out to our sponsors, thanking them for their support, and sow the seeds of future collaboration with those supporting our profession…..Al Kalter