DC and MD Communications

Yahoo News: Family Physicians, Chiropractors Do Not Share Info

Based on a recent report in the Archives of Family Medicine, it was found that chiropractors and medical practitioners are not communicating when it comes to patient care.

According to the article and the report, it was found that “98% of chiropractors referred their patients to family physicians and 65% of family physicians referred their patients to chiropractors.”

The report notes that among those referrals, “family physicians received information from chiropractors on only 26.5% of patients, while chiropractors received information from family physicians on only 25% of cases.”

According to the article, it was also found that “family physicians were less inclined than chiropractors to feel comfortable sharing patient care, although neither group was particularly oriented towards sharing care.”

With chiropractic being a leadership profession and chiropractors being masters at doctor – patient communication, I think the greatest service the chiropractor could do when referring to a medical doctor would be to notify the doctor of patient concerns regarding unwanted medications.

Recent studies have shown patients in medical offices often do not express their fears about the side effects of medication, and concern about being given an unwanted prescription. Are patients expressing their concerns in your office?

Yahoo News: Family Physicians, Chiropractors Do Not Share Info