In 2020, the Ontario Chiropractic Association (OCA) formed the Evidence-based Framework Advisory Council with a mandate to help develop a shared understanding or framework around what exactly evidence-based practice means for chiropractic care.

In this episode, we check in with Caroline Brereton, OCA's CEO, to hear about the Evidence-based Framework Advisory Council (EBFAC), its goals, the process it’s following, how it will help OCA members support better patient care and advance the profession. Caroline chats about the EBFAC’s progress, what to look for in the near future and what its long-term goals entail.

This episode will provide you with practical research and insights on proven approaches to effectively assess, diagnose and treat patients with spinal stenosis and other forms of arthritis. Hear 'world expert in spinal stenosis' Dr. Carlo Ammendolia outline how he delivers optimal treatment to his patients and subtle variations between demographics.

He offers tips and resources on how to assess a patient's physical, functional and psychosocial issues to help you strengthen your skills in these areas. As part of an interprofessional clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Dr. Ammendolia shares examples of his collaborations with physicians as part of a patient's circle of care team.

And be sure to check the show notes for links to ‘must read’ arthritis research and resources discussed throughout this podcast. (29:09 minutes)

In this second episode of a two-part series on Extended Health Care (EHC), Dr. Moez Rajwani returns to explore the rise of virtual chiropractic care or telehealth and how insurers, as well as patients, are responding. For this segment, he's joined by Dr. Amy Brown who shares her experience with virtual care and how she's using it in her Cambridge-based practice.

Dr. Rajwani also highlights the perils of incentives and why you'll want to avoid them. For new chiropractic grads and early career practitioners, he offers specific EHC tips. He also revisits OCA's Extended Health Care Guide and as an example, outlines how you can use one of its unique templates.

Finally, Dr. Rajwani discusses how the pandemic is affecting EHC, what its future may look like and how this may impact your practice.

(22:36 minutes)

This two-part series on Extended Health Care (EHC) will help you keep up with trends and work effectively with insurers across Ontario. In episode one, Dr. Moez Rajwani discusses how EHC is evolving and what that means to chiropractors like you.

From cost containment to digital transformation, he highlights current trends and outlines what you need to know to support your patients and protect your practice. He also chats about the pros and cons of preferred provider networks and how big data is informing insurers’ questions and actions.

Tune in to also hear about the rise of audits and how to prepare for one.

And Dr. Rajwani suggests how your practice can use OCA’s Extended Health Care Guide and its tools, resources and information on leading EHC insurance practices to protect you and your patients. (25:35 minutes)

In the second episode of this two-part series, chiropractor Dr. Albert Scales explains how he contacts and builds rapport with a prescribing health care professional to collaboratively help a patient with an opioid dependency.

Tune in to hear how he coordinates care to help their shared patient safely taper their use of opioids to treat their neuromusculoskeletal (spine, muscle, joint, and related nervous system) pain, while staying within the chiropractor’s scope of practice.

Dr. Scales also discusses when and how to use OCA’s Opioid and Pain Reduction Collaborative’s tools, including the Manual Therapy as an Evidence-Based Referral for Musculoskeletal Pain Clinical Tool developed with the Centre for Effective Practice (CEP). (22 minutes)

In part one of a two-part series, St. Catharines-based chiropractor and OCA member Dr. Albert Scales discusses his experience engaging patients who are using opioids to treat their MSK pain. Tune in to hear how he raises the topic with patients and discusses contacting their prescribing health professional to coordinate their care while staying within the chiropractic profession’s scope.

Dr. Scales also shares his ideas on how you can use OCA’s Opioid and Pain Reduction Collaborative tools to gently move this process forward. (25 minutes)

Trailer for ON Spinal Chat - the Ontario Chiropractic Association's podcast.