June 2004

ICA Board urges immediate halt to 'PACE' implementation

The Board of Directors of the International Chiropractors Association has urged a halt to the PACE program being promoted by the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) for the regulation of chiropractic relicensure education.

During their Annual Meeting held in Washington, DC, April 30‑May 1, the ICA Board adopted a formal resolution of opposition to the PACE initiative. ICA urges all chiropractic state examining boards, state chiropractic organizations, colleges and continuing education providers to join in the effort to have PACE withdrawn by the FCLB, and to not participate should the PACE program continue forward.

For nearly two years, ICA has sponsored a PACE Study Group chaired by ICA Board Member Gary Walsemann, DC, of New Hampshire, 12‑year veteran of his own state's board of chiropractic examiners. The results of this study process were the basis of ICA's Board action.

"Despite promises of major changes in the initial proposal, ICA can find no compelling evidence that the initial objectives and terms of the PACE proposal have been altered by its proponents," said Dr. Walsemann. "This proposal represents a new layer of extra‑legal regulation that will, despite all of the assurances given by its advocates, add an unaccountable, unregulated and unnecessary addition to the burden an already hard‑pressed chiropractic profession will have to bear, and should be withdrawn."

Among ICA's top concerns are:

*** The initiative will add significantly to the cost of chiropractic postgraduate education, all of which will be passed on to the doctor in the field.

*** The economic price will be especially painful to the chiropractic colleges, state associations, postgraduate councils and continuing education providers.

*** This proposal appears to represent a completely unwarranted tax on doctors in practice, not to mention another layer of bureaucratic and financial demands on educators and educational institutions.

*** No evidence can be identified that indicates in any way that the quality of clinical practice or other professional elements will be enhanced through this cumbersome and expensive system.

*** The entrepreneurial aspects of the initiative in the interests of the FCLB should not be obscured or minimized by any entity considering this proposal. In this evaluation process, it is vital to consider whether the economic costs to the profession, levied in the form of obligatory added costs for continuing education, to the sole benefit of the FCLB, are in the profession's best interests.

*** The potential restrictions and limitations to the free exchange of ideas inherent in the proposed approval process.

*** The issue of examinations following seminars is especially problematic for the doctor in the field both because of the cost and because of the lack of any evidence to indicate that such a burden adds anything of substance to the educational experience.

*** There is no basis for the argument that the "PACE" system would in any way enhance chiropractic's political status or positive profile.

Of the more than 2,000 individual doctors of chiropractic and the several dozen organizations with whom ICA has consulted or had unsolicited contact, all are in opposition to this proposal because of the many elements outlined above.

ICA urges all state chiropractic board representatives that will be attending the Denver FCLB Annual Conference to speak and vote in opposition to the PACE proposal.

"This issue cuts across all geographic, philosophical and organizational lines, and ICA wants to be very clear about its opposition to the PACE proposal. The lack of willingness of PACE proponents to make anything other than cosmetic changes means that the initiative still retains the potential for the grossest abuse. We have no choice but to call for its demise," Walsemann concluded.