WCA supports use of open adjusting rooms

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The Chiropractic Journal

A publication of the World Chiropractic Alliance

The World Chiropractic Alliance has issued a position paper concerning the use of open adjusting areas, which has come under scrutiny in regard to patient privacy issues. There have been scattered reports that some regulatory boards have tried or threatened to prohibit the use of open adjusting areas, where doctors adjust patients in a room shared by other patients.

According to the WCA paper, the concept of "open" or "community" areas where health care is provided is not unique to chiropractic. This style of practice is found in such diverse areas as physical therapy, orthopedics, emergency rooms and psychotherapy.

The position paper also noted that the benefits of using open areas to provide care isn't limited to efficiency or economy. "The role of community in healing and the empowerment that it brings may be central features in a practice member's recovery and the ability of the doctor to facilitate healing," the WCA explained.

That's one of the main reasons many hospitals are turning to open treatment areas. St. Luke's Cancer Center at St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital, for instance, boasts that the room provides "a supportive environment for patients to interact and gain insights from others who are experiencing similar situations."

The same advantage was mentioned in an article for the January/February 2002 issue of Physicians Practice, which noted that one oncology practice in Memphis is finding the open treatment area helps relax patients. "After introductions, new patients are directed into the open treatment area. There, they see a roomful of patients hooked up to machines, yes ‑‑ but more often than not, laughing and gabbing with each other. This goes a long way toward de‑stressing the newcomers," said author Suz Redfern.

The WCA also pointed to, and adopted, the Recommendation of the Council on Chiropractic Practice as contained in the 2003 Clinical Practice Guideline Number 1: "Vertebral Subluxation in Chiropractic Practice," which stated: "It is acceptable for chiropractic care to be provided in a setting where more than one patient receives care in the same room. In such a case, the patients involved must consent to this arrangement. The chiropractor should have procedures where a patient who wishes to be examined or adjusted privately may do so."

Any attempts by regulatory boards to encourage or impose sanctions upon chiropractors merely for offering and making available such opportunities to patients must be vigorously opposed, the position paper stressed.