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CORPORATE EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE and MARKETING FIND AN ARIZONA MEMBERSHIP and INSURANCE LAWS, ARIZONA STATE BOARD of CHIROPRACTIC EXAMINERS IMPORTANT REPORTS, ARTICLES, BOOKS and LINKS
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ARIZONA BOARD OF CHIROPRACTIC EXAMINERS
Click here for a membership application INTRODUCTION TO THIS PAGEThis page provides comprehensive information about the Arizona Chiropractic Board. If you are an Arizona chiropractor and want to keep your license, read every word. If you are a member of the Executive, Legislative or Judicial branches of Arizona State Government, we respectfully ask that you read this well documented information to learn how badly Board reform is needed. One of the primary missions of ACS is Board reform. If you support that mission, join our society. Arizona Board of Chiropractic Examiners Home PageMONTHLY MINUTES FROM BOARD MEETINGS FOUND AT BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
ARIZONA AUDITOR GENERAL RELEASES 2010 PERFORMANCE AUDIT AND SUNSET REVIEWAGREES WITH ACS THAT BROAD AND OPEN-ENDED CHIROPRACTIC BOARD SUBPOENAS BASED ON EVERY COMPLAINT MUST END The Auditor General has condemned broad and open-ended subpoenas issued by the Chiropractic Board in every case, called "fishing expeditions" by ACS. Here is the language from the full report which you can read by clicking here. This issue was brought to the attention of the Auditor General by ACS members who sent in letters in coordination with ACS. "Investigating complaints—When investigating complaints, the Board generally subpoenas all of a patient’s records and medical information, without regard to the nature of the allegations in the complaint. However, statute provides that the Board should subpoena only information that is relevant to the investigation. In 3 of the 42 complaints we reviewed, the Board subpoenaed more records or information than necessary. One of these involved the chiropractor billing a patient $11 more than the co-pay. In that matter, the Board subpoenaed all the patient’s records, including health history, treatment plans, and x-rays. Requesting irrelevant information causes the chiropractor extra time to assemble and copy the records, and the board staff to review the records. It also may cause a perception that the Board is searching for statute or rule violations in addition to those identified in a complaint. Where possible, the Board should limit its subpoena to the minimum amount and type of information needed to address the complaint allegations. Some Arizona health regulatory boards limit the amount and type of records requested in subpoenas. For example, Podiatry Board staff indicated that complete medical records are not always necessary, and they are sometimes able to limit records requests to records associated with a particular event or situation." (Emphasis added) The Board has indicated it will comply with this recommendation from the Auditor General. This is a great victory for ACS which has been aggressively pushing for this change for many years as can be seen by the following article which has been posted for years.
BROAD AND OPEN-ENDED CHIROPRACTIC BOARD SUBPOENAS BASED ON EVERY COMPLAINT MUST ENDThe Arizona Chiropractic Board is the only regulatory board in Arizona and the only chiropractic board in the nation that takes every complaint and expands it into a general investigation into all practices in a doctor’s office. For example, if the Board receives a simple complaint about a financial issue such as an alleged overcharge by a doctor, the Board will issue a broad subpoena for the entire patient file. The doctor will be required to send in the patient file including all daily progress notes, exam forms, x-rays, bills, EOBs, etc. The Board then puts all of these records through its “screen,” some of which is described on the Board’s webpage. The Board is especially meticulous in reviewing the manner in which doctors keep daily progress notes. In the majority of cases, the Board finds violations even though the doctor has complied with the letter of the law. The doctor is then given a non-disciplinary order for continuing education in record keeping and sent to hours of class. This all sounds relatively benign until you find that the non-disciplinary orders are permanently posted online on the Board’s webpage with the doctor’s license information. To the general public, the perception is quite poor of a doctor who was required to take formal classes due to “failure to keep a proper professional record.” ACS has heard of many reports of doctors who have lost potential new patients because of online non-disciplinary orders. ACS would have no objection if the doctors had actually violated state law regarding record keeping, but in most cases they did not. What they did do was fail to meet a standard invented by the Board to satisfy Medicare and insurance companies. The Board has decided to singlehandedly elevate chiropractic record keeping to Medicare and insurance standards under penalty of license discipline. The Board has gone far beyond its true mission of protecting the public health, welfare and safety. It is the job of state associations to offer programs to doctors to improve record keeping if they so choose. The penalty for inadequate records should usually be limited to refusal to pay by a third party payer. It is very rare that records are so poor that they actually jeopardize public health, welfare or safety. The Board needs to stop acting as a proxy for Medicare and insurance companies, and simply do its job and only its job of protecting the public. ACS plans to drive hard to make this happen in the next year. Join us and help continue to push the agenda of Board reform forward in 2010!
ACS DEMANDS ACTIONHundreds of patient records allegedly recovered from the outside trash of Drs. Dianne Haydon, Steve Baker and Craig Seitz were turned into the Arizona Chiropractic Board a few short years ago with complaints alleging failure to properly dispose of records. The Board dismissed the complaints filed against its own members solely because the "dumpster diver(s)" chose to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. It was obvious to most that the records could not have arrived at the Board office unless the doctors failed to properly control and protect their own patient records. After the Board dismissed the complaints, ACS was anonymously supplied with copies of the medical records in a redacted form. They have been posted before and are now posted again. Click here to read the documents which the Board dismissed: Haydon Records Baker Records V. One Baker Records V. Two Baker Records V. Three Seitz Records V. One Seitz Records V. Two Introductory Letters ACS demands that the same standard of justice be applied to Drs. Haydon, Baker and Seitz as they have applied to all other chiropractors in Arizona. This requires immediate scheduling of all of these complaints for formal consideration by the Board. Justice delayed is justice denied.
ARIZONA CHIROPRACTIC BOARD PROPOSES FINAL NEW RULES WITHOUT OBJECTIONABLE "MEDICAL NECESSITY" LANGUAGEThe Arizona Chiropractic Board on August 10, 2007 published its new proposed rules in the Arizona Revised Register. The proposed rules no longer contained any reference to “medical necessity”, or to undefined “accepted clinical standards of care”. This is a great victory for the chiropractic profession in Arizona, and is the direct result of the many letters and emails sent by ACS, ACS members and the ICA to the Chiropractic Board which expressed serious objections to the first draft of the rules. See the ICA's letter here: full text. The final rules have been published and are posted on the Board's homepage.
REP. MARK ANDERSON REQUESTS SPECIAL AUDIT OF BOARDAt the request of ACS, Arizona State Rep. Mark Anderson has asked for a Special Audit of the Arizona Chiropractic Board by Arizona Auditor General. Read his letter here.
ACS RESPONDS TO OMBUDSMAN-CITIZEN'S AIDEIn July 2006 ACS filed a massive complaint with the Arizona Ombudsman's Office against the Chiropractic Board. On Feb. 8, 2008, the Ombudsman's office issued a report. Four of the six ACS allegations were not investigated. The remaining two were found to be unsubstantiated. ACS has issued a statement strongly objecting to this conclusion and report. Read the ACS statement here.
THE CHIROPRACTIC JOURNAL REPORTS ABOUT THE ARIZONA CHIROPRACTIC BOARD"Arizona bars IMEs from Board" The Chiropractic Journal, March, 2007 "Can Board Members Serve Two Masters?" The Chiropractic Journal, March, 2007 PAUL W. PRATT, D.C. v. ARIZONA BOARD OF CHIROPRACTIC EXAMINERS: ARIZONA SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE OVERTURNS 90% OF BOARD DISCIPLINE AS "EXCESSIVE, ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS"The Board alleged Dr. Pratt committed violations including "failure to clearly designate himself as a Chiropractic Doctor/Physician, referencing a 'confidential report', possessing skills that other health care practitioners do not possess, and disclosing the names of patients without first having obtained informed consent." They found violations and imposed discipline consisting of a $250 fine, a cease and desist order for the advertising, two years' probation, and requirements to take the NBCE Ethics and Boundaries Exam and the Arizona Board's Jurisprudence Exam. Dr. Pratt challenged the Board in Superior Court. The Court lruled in his favor almost 100% and tossed out the vast majority of the Board's discipline as arbitrary, capricious and excessive. ACS filed an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief (read here) to advise the court that ACS agreed the penalty was clearly arbitrary and excessive. The Judge's ruling, and his denial for reconsideration of his ruling, are posted on this webpage. The AAC, a proxy for the Board, would never file an Amicus brief in such a case. This is a landmark case since it confirms the facts on this webpage and in ACS publications. ACS has stated consistently for years that the Chiropractic Board is "excessive, arbitrary and capricious" with its disciplinary rulings. The Board and its allies at the AAC have disagreed. Now, Judge Michael Miller of Pima County Superior Court, an independent and objective party, has agreed with ACS. The time is long past for the Board to change its practices and for the AAC to stop supporting the status quo.
PANDORA'S BOX OPENED IN 1995 WHEN BOARD GIVEN POWER TO ENFORCE RECOGNIZED STANDARDS IN CHIROPRACTICPrior to 1995, the law only gave the Chiropractic Board the power to discipline your license if you practiced contrary to recognized standards of ethics in chiropractic. In 1995, the Chiropractic Board and the AAC, lead by Drs. Terry Petersen and Arlan Fuhr, championed the law which now requires DCs to take 12 hours of CE per year. Unknown to almost all at the time, the law also removed the words "of ethics" thus allowing the Board now to discipline your license if you practice contrary to recognized standards in chiropractic. The Board now examines every clinical aspect of your practice based on this single 1995 change. Read the legislation from 1995 here. ACS tries every year in the Legislature to restore the words "of ethics" but the Board and its proxy, the AAC, join together to block the effort and maintain the Board's broad invasive powers. In 2008, Senator Carolyn Allen, Chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, introduced SB 1271 to restore "of ethics" to the law. The AAC, on behalf of the Board, opposed the bill, arguing the status quo is acceptable. The division in the profession caused the bill to die without a hearing. You can read the bill here. In Arizona, ACS attempts to reign in Board excesses while the AAC defends the Board at every juncture.
BOARD CHAIR HAYDON AND VICE-CHAIR BAKER MEMBERS OF AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC CONSULTANTS WHICH ENDORSES MERCY GUIDELINESBoard Chair Haydon and Vice-Chair Baker are members of the American College of Chiropractic Consultants (ACCC), the premier organization which certifies DCs to review claims and perform IMEs for insurance companies. ACCC endorses the Mercy Guidelines. Read the ACCC site on the Internet and learn about the philosophy of 2/3s of the Arizona Board DC members. Both Drs. Haydon and Baker were nominated to the Board by the AAC, and are members of the AAC, not ACS.
ACS POSTS CVs FOR BOARD CHAIR HAYDON AND VICE-CHAIR BAKER WITH SUPPORTIVE LETTERS FROM DRS. BENNETT AND SEITZIn the Fall 2007 Chiropractic Board newsletter, Board Chair Haydon claimed that she has never earned more than 1% of total income from claims review and IME work for insurance companies. Her CV to the Governor's office in 2003 when she applied for the Board position was provided to ACS under the state Freedom of Information law. In the CV, Dr. Haydon noted that she had been performing "Chiropractic Consulting, Claims Review and Independent Chiropractic Evaluations" from "1991-Present". The CV may be viewed here. ACS has questioned how the "no more than 1% of income from insurance companies" claim is consistent with the CV report of insurance work from 1991 to 2003 or later. Perhaps much of the work was on a volunteer basis. ACS also received Board Vice-Chair Baker's CV from the Governor's office, plus letters from former AAC President Wayne Bennett, DC and former Board Chair Craig Seitz, DC. Dr. Bennett strongly encouraged the Governor to appoint Dr. Baker. See the CV and letters here. Send your comments about Dr. Baker's Board performance to those who are responsible for his presence there: Drs. Bennett, Seitz and the AAC leadership.
0MBUDSMAN'S OFFICE ISSUESThe Arizona Chiropractic Society has filed numerous complaints with the Ombudsman's Office regarding the Arizona State Board of Chiropractic Examiners. To date (04/06/07), ACS is not aware of any action taken by the Ombudsman's Office to address any of ACS' concerns. The following are the key documents: July, 2006 Arizona Chiropractic Society Complaint Filed with Arizona Ombudsman's Office Against Chiropractic Board October, 2006 Arizona Chiropractic Society Complaint Filed with Arizona Ombudsman's Office Against Chiropractic Board related to Board's expenditure of $20,000 in public money to defeat HB 2371, the bill to prohibit Board chiropractors from serving as agents or employees (IMEs) of insurance companies. This bill passed, click here for more information.
ARIZONA CHIROPRACTIC SOCIETY 2006 NEWSLETTERS PERTAINING TO CHIROPRACTIC BOARD"A day in the life of the Chiropractic Board," Anonymous, June, 2006 "Chiropractic Board's actions not in keeping with mission statement," August, 2006 "Our anonymous reporter speaks again," August, 2006
ARIZONA CHIROPRACTIC SOCIETY 2007 NEWSLETTERS PERTAINING TO CHIROPRACTIC BOARD"What does ACS want from the Chiropractic Board?," February, 2007 Note: ACS continues to report on Board activities in every monthly newsletter. To follow the developments, go the the ACS Monthly Newsletter page on this website.
ARIZONA STATE LAWS PERTAINING TO THE CHIROPRACTIC BOARD2006 Law Prohibiting Board Members from Performing IMEs: After veteran IME doctors were appointed to the Board in 2003 and 2004, the Arizona Chiropractic Society, working with Representative Rick Murphy, passed legislation in 2006 which states: "A board member shall not receive compensation as an agent or employee of or a contractor for an insurance company." Eighty percent of the Board complaints against DCs are filed by insurance companies. ACS is dedicated to ending the domination of the Arizona Chiropractic Board by IME doctors. 2007 Law Allowing Board To Order CE Courses Without Discipline: Professions: This new law, Chapter 65, Senate Engrossed Version, HB 2115, gives the Chiropractic Board the option of ordering chiropractors to take continuing education courses for minor violations of the Chiropractic Act instead of disciplining a professional license. For example, if a doctor has been found in violation of the record keeping rules, the Board under the new law will be able to order course work instead of imposing discipline. This bill was signed by the Governor on April 16, 2007. It becomes law ninety days after the end of the legislative session in May or June of 2007. This bill was a joint effort of ACS and AAC. Both associations and their lobbyists worked very well together to develop the bill and guide it successfully through the legislative process.
ARIZONA CHIROPRACTIC BOARD MONTHLY MINUTESThe Arizona Chiropractic Board meets at least once per month. Lengthy minutes are generated and are available to the public. It is, however, not easy to get copies of the minutes. The Board does not post them on its website. You must buy the minutes by sending a check by mail or in person. Very few doctors ever do this. ACS believes the Board prefers to work under a cloak of secrecy. ACS, on the other hand, wants all to know exactly how the Board is operating. Therefore, ACS, as of March 1, 2008, will post Board minutes in this space. The list will be as complete as possible, but we can only post what the Board sends to ACS, and we cannot always be sure that the Board sends all minutes of all meetings.
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