Interprofessional Relations

Two responses to a recent preferred provider group questionnaire will help explain my thoughts regarding interprofessional relationships:

What is your philosophy of the Medical Doctor/DC interface? I enjoy my position as a portal of entry physician but appreciate the fact that the norm is for patients to have medical doctors as their primary care physicians.

Do you refer? I freely refer back to PCPs (primary care providers) for examination and care beyond my own scope of practice and also make specialty referrals where indicated. Recent years have also provided considerable experience in coordinating care with "gate keeper" PCPs.

Managed care programs have altered the dynamics of healthcare. Patients having managed care constraints cannot self-refer to specialists of their choice anymore. Instead, they have to first be seen by their primary care providers who must then decide to render treatment in-house or agree to make a specialty referral. This is a laborious, often tedious practice. At its worst it delays or denies treatment that a patient wants and needs. At its best it opens an avenue of communication between primary care providers and chiropractors that has not previously prevailed. As a result, the cooperation that has developed between many primary care physicians and chiropractors who have earned their trust has grown immensely in recent years. The old days when a patient was afraid to tell his or her medical doctor about seeing a chiropractor are pretty much gone.

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 Gerard E. Sullivan, DC
4401 Bridgeport Way W
University Place, WA 98466