• Hildebrandt RW

• Chiropractors
• Referral and Consultation

Chiropractic physicians are primary health-care providers who offer a highly beneficial, conservative approach to treatment of human ailments that is presently underutilized in the nation's health-care delivery system. It is accepted that this underutilization is due mainly to a general lack of understanding within the health-care professions-at-large of what these chiropractic physicians' services are, and under what circumstances a patient may be considered for referral for these services. In an effort to provide information that might be generally useful and to serve as guidelines by which other heath-care providers (and third party payers) may make a decision to refer patients for these services, this presentation discusses such considerations as: 1) therapeutic philosophy, 2) principal therapeutic hypothesis, 3) qualifications by education and licensure, 4) scope of clinical practice and guidelines for referral, 5) national studies of chiropractic physicians' services, 6) cost containment in health care, and 7) a proposal for development of "Departments of Chiropractic Services" in the nation's public (tax supported) hospital system.

Author keywords: chiropractic, chiropractic physician, chiropractic physicians' services, chiropractic therapeutics, chiropractic education, chiropractic licensure, chiropractic practice

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher. Article only available in print.