Do I Need MD Approval?
People have frequently asked me if having a medical doctorsâ approval is needed before considering chiropractic care. The answer is NO.
Doctors of Chiropractic (DCâs) are primary care health care providers. According to the Center for Studies in Health  Policy, âThe DC can provide all three levels of primary care interventions and therefore is a primary care provider, as are MDs and DOs.  The doctor of chiropractic is a gatekeeper to the Healthcare system and an independent practitioner who provides primary care servicesâ.
DCâs are recognized in all fifty states as licensed primary care providers and a direct access portal of entry to the health care system.
Patients are permitted by PPO insurances to self refer and schedule an appointment directly with a chiropractor and do not require an authorization from a family doctor. However, there is one exception, patients with HMO medical insurance must contact their family doctor to obtain authorization. This must be done prior to scheduling an appointment with a chiropractor along with  many other specialists.
To be honest, most medical doctors are beginning to accept chiropractors as equals. Yes, there are still MDs out there who would never send a patient to a chiropractor. Simply, this majority of medical doctors however are uninformed regarding the well-researched benefits of chiropractic care. In fact, spinal adjustments (or manipulations) are the most-researched health care procedure and most validated in ALL of medical literature. Some medical doctors are unfamiliar with the Chiropractic field and the principles by which it works. Few will take the time to really understand what doctors of Chiropractic do and therefore, make decisions based on what they hear in the media or other insignificant sources of information.
Let me give some of the quotes of well-respected MDs:
âThe physician who makes use of this resource (chiropractic) will have many contented patients and avoid many headaches.â W.H. Kirkaldy-Willis M.D. Author of: Managing Low Back Pain
âIâm an orthopedic spine surgeon, so I treat all sorts of back problems and Iâm a big believer in chiropractic.â William Lauerman, M. D. Chief of Spine Surgery and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery of Georgetown University Hospital
âPatients who seek manual therapy, and especially chiropractic care, consistently report a high level of satisfaction with their care.â Jeffrey Fischgrund, M.D. Orthopedic Surgeon Editor of Neck Pain, published by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
Original Article
