It’s a thrilling time to be a chiropractor. Here’s how the profession is shifting and how you can play a part in things to come. Transparency, inclusion, and collaboration are the three pillars that support the Chiropractic Future Strategic Plan.
This ambitious project began in 2019 as a bold idea to achieve unity without uniformity in our profession so practitioners and patients would reap the benefits of shared priorities and goals.
August 2020 saw collaborative workgroups giving the vision some shape on what mattered to them and how they thought chiropractic should develop into the future, driven by huge amounts of data drawn from all corners of chiropractic.
The result was a five-year plan inspired by almost 4,000 contributing professionals that set milestones for 2021 to 2026. There’s a lot to unpack for the immediate future of this evolving project, so let’s cover some of the major points.
The Heart of the Five-year Plan
The three pillars are rooted in the plan’s vision and values:
Coals
• The chiropractic profession is unified without the need for uniformity.
• Chiropractic is the first choice for health and wellness.
• Compensation for chiropractic services is at parity with other medical professions.
• The chiropractic profession is validated and enhanced by a coordinated, accessible, evidence-based research environment.
Values
• Compassionate patient-centered care.
• Trustworthy, ethical behavior.
• Honest, transparent communication • Whole-body wellness.
• Hands-on, noninvasive treatment.
Phase One of the plan (2021) is available for review and was primarily focused on gathering data and validating the themes that emerged in the two pillars. Last year opened with numerous think tank sessions generating a wide variety of topics for input ranging from education costs and leadership issues to eldercare and industry disruptions.
Phase One concluded in March 2021 at The Future Summit. Phase Two began the same month (read the full June report) and set the agenda toward solidifying timelines, creating accountability, and defining how success will be measured.
Plan Coals for 2022
This year focuses on five new objectives, each with its own subset of aims. Here’s an overview of what the plan seeks to achieve:
Objective 1 - A unified profession with all specialties recognized, respected, and accepted internally and externally.
This goal includes initial development of an evergreen toolkit for new and graduating chiropractors that will detail how to thrive in the various career paths, alongside promoting a sense of professional unity through strengthening ties with college administrators. Transparent communications between plan volunteers will be established to better implement the identification of budgetary needs and the establishment of a third-party payor troubleshooting task force.
Objective 2 - Emphasis on public relations. This will entail careful vetting and selection of internal and external influences alongside marketing and branding firms to promote the right message about the plan’s vision and values.
Objective 3 - Support the passing of chiropractic legislation.
Chiropractic initiatives and priorities will be created and realized by raising funds to increase the capacities of state associations and engage with federal legislators. The goal is to create one national policy objective while modernizing Medicare, developing individual state and national communications strategies, and engaging and educating the public on important issues.
Objective 4 - Creating a well-funded research environment.
The plan aims to establish funded research scholarships along with hiring a specialized team to draft practice-based research plans and science writers to better communicate research findings.
Objective 5 - Securing the resources to make it all possible.
A profession-spanning project of this magnitude requires a great deal of resources. An active fundraising committee is working vigorously to implement the fundraising plan to gain the necessary resources so these exciting advancements can be realized. We are asking the entire chiropractic profession to donate $50 a month for three years to help fund the goals of the plan.
Stay Connected and Get Involved with Upcoming Chiropractic Strategy
There’s more to discover for 2022 and plenty of additional goals for 2024. Chiropractors can sign up online for regular updates on the project’s progress and achievements.
You can support the plan and may even want to become a volunteer who will bring the plan to fruition and provide financial support with a donation. The biggest need is to fund a research fellowship at Dartmouth College by November 2022.
Dr. Ray Foxworth, DC, FICC, is founder and CEO of ChiroFlealthUSA. For over 35 years, he worked "in the trenches," facing challenges with billing, coding, documentation, and compliance, in his practice. He is a former medical compliance specialist and currently serves as chairman of The Chiropractic Summit, an atlarge board member of the Chiropractic Future Strategic Plan Committee, a board member of the Cleveland College Foundation, and an executive board member of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. He is a former staff chiropractor at the G.V. Sonny Montgomery VA Medical Center and past chairman of the Mississippi Department of Health.
