Chiropractic Briefs
Minn. DCs to work with heroes
The Minnesota Chiropractic Association (MCA) is collaborating with Army OneSource, a US Army community outreach program, and the Army Community Covenant to raise awareness of the unique challenges of military life on service members and their families.
The program, "Healing Hands 4 Heroes," invites chiropractors to learn about the unique stresses and challenges service members and their families are facing as a result of deployment. Three online CEU courses -- entitled "Treating the Invisible Wounds of War" -- have been developed and are being made available to chiropractors across the state free of charge.
The courses are designed to assist chiropractors in developing a better understanding of the best practices for identifying, and assessing health disorders that result from the trauma of war.Standard Process manager certified
Elaine Paterson, PhD, clinical research manager at whole food supplement manufacturer Standard Process Inc. has earned her clinical research certification from the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA).
Paterson
Dr. Paterson has more than 10 years of human study management experience, which spans international research, research with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and industry-based research management. The SoCRA certification acknowledges that she has demonstrated her knowledge, experience, and skill in the field of clinical research and clinical trial management.
Paterson passed the written certification exam with a near perfect score, exceeding the minimum 80% passing mark. "Standard Process and I are extremely proud of Dr. Paterson for achieving her clinical research certification," said David Barnes, PhD, director of research and development at Standard Process. "Her commitment to our clinical trial program allows Standard Process to evaluate the effectiveness of our products, and helps further establish relationships between supplements and health."
SoCRA established The Certification Program for Clinical Research Professionals to create an internationally accepted level of knowledge, education and experience by which clinical research professionals would be recognized by the medical research community.
Synergy Chocolate launches affiliate program
A new company marketing ant-oxidant-rich chocolate nuggets as an aid to wellness and weight loss set up an affiliate program for doctors of chiropractic who wish to recommend the product to patients. The program, similar to that used by major online retailers such as amazon.com, allows members to earn commissions on all items purchased by consumers who visit SynergyChocolate.com using special coded links.
The chocolate nuggets are 5-gram squares that contain a high ORAC value, indicating dense anti-oxidant content. Although the USDA recommended daily intake is 5,000 ORAC, patients consuming the recommended three-four nuggets each day get between 7,080 and 9,440 ORACs of antioxidants daily.
According to the company website, medical research has linked the consumption of anti-oxidants to numerous health benefits. In addition, cacao contains other valuable ingredients that are often missing in normal diets due to overprocessed foods.
Affiliates do not sell the chocolate in their office or become involved in any marketing, shipping or customer service tasks. They simply place a link to the Synergy Chocolate site on their own webpage and make patients aware of the potential benefits of eating dark chocolate. Display ads and hypertext links are available to affiliates.
Synergy Chocolate officials also note that their product is organic, fair trade, wild harvested and minimally processed. A portion of all profits funds humanitarian efforts in Ecuador and other developing nations.
For more information, visit www.SynergyChocolate.com.
DC planning return mission to Ethiopia
Gregg Rubinstein, DC, whose story "From New York to Addis Ababa: A journey of self discovery" appeared in the Dec. 2010 issue of The Chiropractic Journal, is planning to return to Ethiopia for another humanitarian mission. Doctors interested in learning more about how they can participate or support this trip can contact Dr. Rubinstein at DrGregg225@aol.com or visit www.friendsoffreshandgreen.org.
Chiropractic postage stamps still available
Although supplies are dwindling, 44-cent postage chiropractic stamps are still available at www.ChiropracticStamps.com. The label-stamps can be used just like the 44-cent stamps purchased from the post office and are valid for any first-class mail in the US. The stamps are produced using a technology called PC Postage that creates the bar code to the right of the image area on the stamp.
While supplies last, sheets of 20 stamps are priced at $14.99, just $6.19 over the face value of the postage. Stamps are available in three designs. To order, visit www.ChiropracticStamps.com.
MPN Software certified by CCHIT
MPN Software Systems announced that its ECLIPSE 2011 is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as an EHR Module on Jan. 5, 2011 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT). The 2011/2012 criteria support the Stage 1 meaningful use measures required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
According to Dr. Karen Walters of MPN: "We believe that this extensive modular certification should demonstrate our determination & intent to become a fully certified EHR under the new guidelines."
The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that Complete EHRs meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria and EHR Modules meet one or more -- but not all -- of the criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for either eligible provider or hospital technology. Companies offering ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certified EHR modules may return to test additional criteria and certify their products as Complete EHRs later. Companies certifying products early in the ONC-ATCB certification process must quickly adapt their products to meet the evolving nature of the NIST test procedures, particularly for electronic prescribing. ONC-ATCB product certification updates will be available at http://www.cchit.org as they occur.
FSCO rewards future chiropractic leaders
The Federation of Straight Chiropractic Organizations launched its Scholarship for Leaders program and distributed its first five $1,000 scholarships. "I am happy to report that there is definitely a future for straight chiropractic," enthused FSCO Director and Scholarship Committee Chairman David J. McGonagle, DC.
According to a press release from the organization, applications for the inaugural Scholarship for Leaders outnumbered all other recent scholarships sponsored by the FSCO. The only requirement to be considered was an essay telling the committee why the applicant felt he or she should be recognized as a leader in the "world of TIC." The guidelines allowed applicants to nominate themselves or to be nominated by a school staff member, field doctor or peer. Nominated students hailed from nine different chiropractic schools throughout the United States.
The applicants boasted a long list of accomplishments on their resumes, including: being an active part of student government, starting technique and philosophy clubs on their campus, getting their school to participate in an interscholastic speech competition on chiropractic philosophy, tutoring classmates, heading up clinical research projects based on the chiropractic adjustment, and standing up for our profession against a professor who was verbally degrading straight chiropractic during class.
The 2010 FSCO Scholarship for Leaders award winners are: Jessica Bogart, Cleveland LA; Lucas Chesser, Cleveland LA; Sean Drake, Life University; Alvin Hsu, Life West; and Christie Kwon, Life University.
Dr. offers free, downloadable e-book
Matthew Loop, DC, whose website www.DCincome.com contains information on internet marketing for chiropractors, has released "The Ultimate Chiropractic Blogging Success Blueprint," a free, 33-page e-book in pdf format.
"It’s essential that chiropractors understand and use the power of blogging online," Dr. Loop notes, adding that his book reveals how to get extra new patients each month by establishing a blog. "Chiropractors are often stymied by marketing malaise. And that’s usually because they don’t know how to use blogging, social media and the Internet to their advantage."
Loop’s e-book "teaches chiropractors the basics of setting up a blog, optimizing its search engine rankings, and analyzing statistics." Although used as a marketing tool for his Internet marketing training program (priced at $597-1,997), the e-book contains valuable information that can be used on its own.
For more information or to download "The Ultimate Chiropractic Blogging Success Blueprint," visit http://dcincome.com.
Anglo-European College of Chiropractic students raise funds
Over several months, students from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC) have been raising funds for the Oakhaven Hospice Trust in Lymington, Hampshire, England.
The Hospice had provided care to AECC Principal Lecturer Dr. Hugh Gemmell in the later months of his life. Dr. Gemmell, 57, passed away in October of last year.
A celebration of Dr. Gemmell’s life was held in November 2009, when more than £2,700 was raised for Oakhaven. In December, students also entered the Oakhaven Hospice 2nd Annual "Santa Dash," which was subsequently cancelled due to bad weather.
An eight-bedded independent hospice, Oakhaven provides specialist palliative care "to patients, carers and families who are facing complex physical, emotional and practical difficulties arising from advanced progressive life-limiting illness." In all care settings, medical and nursing care is supported by complementary therapy, physiotherapy, and counseling.
The AECC will continue to support fundraising activity for Oakhaven Hospice in 2011.