The CTA Experience:
Standards Advancing a Profession
The Need for Standardization
Re-active vs. Pro-active
• Our experience –
BC/BS Policy Change
• Some steps are the same
• Pro-active – determine own
timelines, etc.
Building the Case for Standardization
Strategy to Delay Payer and Assess Needs of the Profession
• Research available CA
training resources
• Survey physicians and staff
as to current training
methods
• Survey patients - perception
Choice to Ensure
Chiropractic Guides Chiropractic
Taking the Legislative Course
SAMPLE LEGISLATION
SOURCE: Tennessee Code/TITLE 63 PROFESSIONS OF THE HEALING ARTS/CHAPTER 4 CHIROPRACTORS
63-4-123. Minimum educational standards and criteria.
a)
(1) The board shall adopt rules and regulations that shall establish minimum educational
standards and criteria for persons performing physical agent modalities and physical treatment
in a chiropractic physician's office.
(2) These regulations shall include, but not be limited to, provisions for grandfathering, waiver,
reciprocity, renewal, continuing education, fees, examination and hardship cases.
(b) No person shall perform therapeutic procedures in a chiropractic physician's office who does not
meet these standards and who has not received a certificate of proficiency from the board.
[Acts 1999, ch. 306, § 1.]
Board of Chiropractic Examiners
Rules and Regulations
General Rules Governing Chiropractic Therapy Assistants (key sections):
A person must comply with the following procedures and requirements prior to submitting an application:
•
be at least eighteen (18) years of age;
•
be of good moral character;
•
and be a high school graduate or equivalent.
Also requires that individuals seeking licensure as a CTA complete three key components of education. These three
components in order of required completion are:
•
CTA 50 Hour Distance Learning Program
•
CTA State Examination
•
CTA 1200 Hour Clinical Internship
Post-Course Completion Hours –
•
Six (6) hours of continuing education (CE) credits each calendar year for all licensed CTAs (not in the year they
are licensed)
•
One-time, two (2) hour course covering sexual boundaries, risk management, and jurisprudence is mandated
in addition to the six hours of CE the first year that continuing education is required.
Standardization in CA Training
Be Proactive - Things to Consider
Commitment from the profession
•
•
•
•
•
Dedicated Staff to Oversee
Start up cost
Committee to Create/Update
Exam Proctors and Testing Locations
Speakers for Continuing Education
Distance Learning Issues
• Licensed to Individuals, Not Clinic
• Affidavit Policy
• Transfer Policy
CTA Program Curriculum
• The Professional CTA
• Principles of Chiropractic
Healthcare
• Terminology for Healthcare
Professionals
• Documentation &
Recordkeeping
• Common Duties of the CTA
• Anatomy & Physiology
• Treatment Principles and
Procedures
• Spinal Rehabilitation
Fundamentals
• Professional Boundaries and
Ethics
• Emergency Procedures
CTA 50 Hour Distance
Learning Program
• Textbook
• Practical Workbook
• Video Component
• Affidavit of Completion
documentation
• Completion Exam and Certificate
Making It Work in
Your State……
Standardization in CA Training
Be Proactive - Things to Consider
Licensing Matters
• Licensing Verification
• Insurance Claim Denials
• Practicing Without a License
– Affects Doctor and CTA
Standardization in CA Training
Be Proactive - Benefits to Profession
• Parity of training, applicable in all chiropractic
practices
• Pool of licensed professionals with potential for
reciprocity among states
• Annual CE keeping CTAs current with the latest
research and technology
• Knowledgeable patient education leading to
increased retention
• Higher level of professional CTAs = increased quality
to patient care
The CTA Experience:
Standards Advancing a Profession