College Receives National Recognition for Providing Quality Back Pain Care

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced in August that the Palmer Chiropractic Clinic in San Jose, Calif., has received Recognition from the Back Pain Recognition Program (BPRP) for providing superior care to clinic patients suffering from low back pain. The Clinic, located on Palmer College of Chiropractic's West Campus at 90 E. Tasman Dr., San Jose, CA is only the second healthcare provider in California to receive BPRP Recognition.

Palmer University News

Palmer College of Chiropractic Receives National Recognition for Providing Quality Back Pain Care at its West Campus Clinic — Back Pain Recognition Program focuses on high-value, patient-centered care

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced in August that the Palmer Chiropractic Clinic in San Jose, Calif., has received Recognition from the Back Pain Recognition Program (BPRP) for providing superior care to clinic patients suffering from low back pain. The Clinic, located on Palmer College of Chiropractic’s West Campus at 90 E. Tasman Dr., San Jose, CA is only the second healthcare provider in California to receive BPRP Recognition.

The Back Pain Recognition Program was designed to improve the quality of care to the nearly 30 million Americans who experience low back pain, by motivating healthcare providers to document and improve their delivery of spine care. To receive recognition, which is valid for two years, Palmer’s West Campus Clinic submitted data demonstrating performance that meets the Program’s key measures. These measures include Initial Visit, Physical Exam, and Appropriate Imaging in Acute Back Pain, among others.

Pamela Hymel, M.D., president-elect of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, said, “Having served on the Advisory Committee of the NCQA BPRP, it is rewarding to see that healthcare providers are now adopting NCQA’s recommendations and incorporating them into their practices. This is an important step forward in ensuring that patients with back pain get the most appropriate and effective care.”

Back pain is among the most common ailments in America. Each year, nearly one in nine Americans experience pain severe enough to impair their usual daily activities. Treatment costs total approximately $91 billion a year and back pain accounts for 25 percent of all workers’ compensation claims. The BPRP is the first independent program to systematically evaluate back pain care. NCQA developed the program’s requirements from widely accepted medical evidence with significant input from back pain specialists, and health plan and employer representatives. BPRP-Recognized healthcare providers provide patients with the care that best meets their needs, restores health and mobility and avoids unnecessary treatment and procedures.

“Needless imaging and procedures provide no real benefit to patients who suffer from back pain,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, president, National Committee for Quality Assurance. “By earning recognition, the Palmer Chiropractic Clinic on the West Campus has demonstrated that it consistently provides proven, evidence-based care to its patients with low back pain.”

According to Palmer’s West Campus Dean of Clinics Gregory Snow, D.C., “Our recognition through the NCQA Back Pain Recognition Program provides external validation for our patients and community that we have processes in place to ensure that we consistently deliver high-quality, evidence-based care in an effort to generate the best patient outcomes.”

“The Palmer College clinics at each of its three campuses are committed to the delivery of quality, patient-centered care, and to providing a clinical education model that prepares our graduates for today’s practice environment,” said Executive Dean for Clinic Affairs Kurt Wood, D.C. “The NCQA recognition for West Campus Clinic is but the first of such acknowledgments that we intend to pursue at our Davenport, Iowa, and Port Orange, Florida, Campus Clinics as well.”

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality. To find out if your physician or chiropractor has been recognized by the Back Pain Recognition Program or for further information, please visit www.ncqa.org/BPRP. To order application materials, call (888) 275-7585 or order online at web.ncqa.org/bprppubs.aspx.

Palmer College of Chiropractic’s West Campus opened in 1980 in Sunnyvale, Calif., and moved to San Jose in 1993. It is one of three campuses of Palmer College of Chiropractic, founded in Davenport, Iowa, by the discoverer of chiropractic, D.D. Palmer, in 1897. Today Palmer College of Chiropractic has more than 2,500 students attending its three campuses and nearly 25,000 alumni practicing worldwide. Palmer’s third campus opened in Port Orange, Fla., in 2002.

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Contact: Lori Leipold, Media Relations; Palmer College of Chiropractic;
Phone (563) 884-5726; fax (563) 884-5225; e-mail [email protected]; College web site at www.palmer.edu