Palmer College of Chiropractic

Back Pain Recognition Program focuses on high-value, patient-centered care

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced in October 2010 that the Palmer Academic Health Center and the Campus Health Center clinics on the Palmer College of Chiropractic campus at 1000 Brady St., Davenport, Iowa, have received Recognition from the Back Pain Recognition Program (BPRP) for providing superior care to clinic patients suffering from low back pain. According to the NCQA registry, these Palmer College clinics and their respective faculty clinicians are the only healthcare facilities and providers in Iowa to receive BPRP recognition.

The Back Pain Recognition Program was designed to improve the quality of care to the nearly 30 million Americans who experience low back pain, by motivating healthcare providers to deliver high-quality care and service. To receive recognition, the two on-campus Palmer Chiropractic Clinics were required to pass a rigorous, comprehensive review of several key clinical measures demonstrating quality healthcare delivery and service. These measures include appropriate imaging for acute back pain, recommendations for exercise and attention to health risk factors, among many others.

Back pain is among the most common ailments in America. Each year, nearly one in nine Americans experience pain severe enough to impair their usual daily activities. Treatment costs total approximately $91 billion a year and back pain accounts for 25 percent of all workers’ compensation claims. The BPRP is the first independent program to systematically evaluate back pain care. NCQA developed the program’s requirements from widely accepted medical evidence with significant input from back pain specialists, and health plan and employer representatives. BPRP-Recognized healthcare providers provide patients with the care that best meets their needs, restores health and mobility and avoids unnecessary treatment and procedures.

“Needless imaging and procedures provide no real benefit to patients who suffer from back pain,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, president, National Committee for Quality Assurance. “By earning recognition, these Palmer Chiropractic Clinics in Davenport have demonstrated that they consistently provide proven, evidence-based care to their patients with low back pain.”

According to the Palmer Chiropractic Clinics Chief of Staff James Owens, D.C., “Our recognition through the NCQA Back Pain Recognition Program provides external validation for our patients and to our community that we have processes in place to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality, evidence-based care in an effort to generate the best patient outcomes.”

“The Palmer College clinics at each of our three campuses are committed to the delivery of quality, patient-centered care, and to providing a clinical education model that prepares our graduates for today’s practice environment,” said Vice Chancellor for Clinic Affairs Kurt Wood, D.C. “This recent NCQA recognition for our Davenport Campus clinics follows NCQA recognition for our West Campus Clinic in San Jose, Calif., in 2008, and we intend to achieve NCQA recognition for our clinics in the Port Orange, Florida, community as well.”