Sent in by Veterans News and Information Services SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Are chiropractors in DoD's future?
Well, technically, they're here now.
In what could become a normal option for beneficiaries of
military health care, DoD hired civilian chiropractors to
demonstrate their profession at test sites around the
country, including Wilford Hall Medical Center, at Lackland
Air Force Base, here.
Although the demonstration began three years ago, Wilford
Hall is one of three major service hospitals that entered
the test this September. The others are the National Naval
Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., and Walter Reed Army
Medical Center, D.C. They joined hospitals at Travis Air
Force Base and Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Fort Carson, Colo.;
Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Scott Air
Force Base, Ill.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Jacksonville Naval Air
Station, Fla.; Fort Jackson, S.C.; and Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Each is involved in the Chiropractic Health Care
Demonstration Program mandated by Congress in 1994 to find
out if chiropractic medicine is feasible for the military.
Dr. Sue Bailey, assistant secretary of defense for health
affairs, will evaluate results of the demonstration and
advise Congress by May 2000 if DoD wants to offer
chiropractic medicine department-wide.
If patient interest here is any indicator, chiropractic
care could catch on fast.
"We maxed out the patient appointment line the first month
and were seeing as many as 48 patients a day," said Jim
Carlson, who administers the Wilford Hall program.
At all test sites, chiropractic appointments are available
to locally based active duty service members and their
families, and to retirees and their families located within
40 miles of the servicing hospital. No other doctor can
have treated the patients for the condition warranting
their visit to the chiropractor.
At Wilford Hall, 90 percent of the patients visiting Dr.
Matthew Williams are active duty service members. Since the
first month, he and another chiropractor assigned here have
been seeing up to 28 patients daily.
Chiropractic medicine involves manual and electronic
manipulation and adjustment of the spine, Williams
explained. And, because it doesn't involve the use of
prescription drugs, Williams said, it's very appealing to
pilots and other air crew members who make up a large part
of the military population in San Antonio.
Williams said he first evaluates a new patient by taking an
oral medical history. All patients also must agree to
answer surveys that will be used to evaluate the
effectiveness of the demonstration. He defends chiropractic
care as feasible for a number of ills.
"The body's structure affects all bodily functions, and the
base of the structure is the spinal column," he said. "If
the spinal column is out line, that's going to affect other
parts of the body, from numbness in the finger tips to
severe lower back pain. We try to re-establish proper
structure. We don't treat symptoms, we treat causes."
The key to measuring the demonstration's success is the
post-care, fourth-week survey, Williams said. "That's where
we ask two important questions: 'How successful was the
first meeting?' and 'How do you feel today?'," he said.
The neck and back patient load has dropped way off at other
clinics, because they're coming here," Carlson said. And,
if DoD bases its decision on the surveys, chiropractic care
is highly desirable among beneficiaries, he said. "It's
pretty popular."
Williams suggested that anyone considering chiropractic
care should give it a try. "Generally, alternative health
care doesn't do any harm, and it may help," he said. "If
patients have problems we can't treat, we will refer them
to the proper specialist."
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By Douglas J. Gillert
American Forces Press Service
