Scope Changes & Primary Care in Wisconsin

In what is shaping up to be a nationwide push by chiropractic trade organizations and state regulatory boards, the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association (WCA) has just released a White Paper outlining its plans to change the scope of practice.

The changes call for advanced training through a Masters Degree and medical rotations to allow chiropractors to prescribe drugs, perform surgery, medical rotations. The plan calls for changing the scope of practice and changes to malpractice coverage.

According to the White Paper their plan to retrain chiropractors will, among other things, “make it simpler and more effi­cient for patients to get the medi­cations they need.”

The White Paper goes on to state:   

Wisconsin should expand the scope of practice for chiropractors trained as PSCPs to include limited prescription rights and the ability to perform some minor procedures. To obtain the appropriate training necessary for an expanded scope of practice, we propose a program similar to that required of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who also have prescription authority in Wiscon­sin.

The move in Wisconsin follows those in several other states including New Mexico where the profession now has two classes of chiropractors and is not longer “drugless”.  The effort to formally tier the profession got its most recent start in 2002 with the publication of a series of papers in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine.

Recently, Palmer Chiropractic College changed its focus to a similar model with the training of primary care professionals for spinal health and well-being and follows the model outlined by .Nelson, Lawrence and Triano published in 2005. 

Nelson et al call for  shedding a “reliance upon obsolete principles of chiropractic philosophy” as part of their plan to position chiropractors within primary care.

According to John Murray, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association: “This is a discussion about more than the chiropractic scope of practice in Wisconsin—it is about the future of the profession to which you have dedicated your life.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER FROM WCA PRESIDENT