The Advocate Update Report -- October 2002
by Dr. Matthew McCoy, Chair – WCA Chiropractic Advocacy Council

But it’s just my family.

It started simply and innocently enough. The chiropractor was answering a complaint made about an ad he had placed in the local paper - an ad some other chiropractor didn’t like and figured he’d lodge a complaint.

The respondent (that’s what you’re called when they’re investigating you) actually handled all the preliminary investigation quite well, but then it came to an interview he agreed to have in his office with a couple of the board members and an investigator. It was in this interview that things got out of hand. Through a series of carefully worded questions the board investigator got the chiropractor to reveal that he provided chiropractic care to his own family including his wife and two children.

I cringed as I heard the chiropractor proudly proclaim on tape that of course he adjusted his wife and kids and that in fact he did so on a weekly basis and had been doing so for years. I didn’t cringe because he was adjusting his wife and kids, I cringed because I knew the next question that was going to be asked by the investigator: "Can we see copies of their records?"

The silence on the tape was deafening and seemed to last an hour. But I would have preferred the silence continue rather than hear the chiropractor’s response: "I don’t keep records on them, they’re just my family." Now the whole advertising complaint takes a backseat to much more serious issues.

There are numerous other stories just like this that I could tell about chiropractors who got nailed because they didn’t keep records on family, friends or staff. There’s the one about the wife who worked in the office, things went sour, she asked for a divorce but couldn’t get any money that way so filed a malpractice suit. Not having any records on his wife besides some old x-rays didn’t help him. Or how about another spousal situation where there’s an ugly separation and the wife filed a sexual misconduct complaint with the board – again no records beyond the x-rays.

Then there are all the staff issues: You fired someone for underperformance but they feel they were a hard worker. Suddenly they have some serious, disabling problem that you caused by all those adjustments you forced them to get. And no records beyond the x-rays. Pray even harder if you were billing their insurance company for the services.

You must keep records on all your patients - period. All states discuss what they require in terms of record keeping and it is in your best interest to make sure you are aware of what they want. Of course you could think, "that will never happen to me" just like the above "respondents" and "defendants" probably thought.

If I can ever be of help with a complaint, malpractice issue or other problem please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dr. Matthew McCoy, Chair – WCA Council on Chiropractic Advocacy