Kurt Wood, vice chancellor for clinic affairs at Palmer College of Chiropractic, said the inclusion of chiropractic into the Senate health-care bill is recognition of the “significant contribution we can make in the health-care system.”

“Obviously, there are a number of steps that have to take place before the final legislation is signed by the president, but it’s certainly an important step forward,” Wood said.

Wood said patients do not have to “believe” in chiropractic. 

“What we have is data that has come from dozens of well-constructed studies that show the efficacy of chiropractic,” he said.

That is particularly true of complaints for back pain, neck pain and headaches, he said, adding that research shows the cost-effectiveness of chiropractic in “maintaining the health and well-being of the individual.”

The use of chiropractic by all kinds of elite athletes, from football players to Olympians, also is a reflection of how “chiropractic has become more mainstream as opposed to being an alternative,” Wood said.

What is important is that chiropractors are part of the health-care team, he said.

“In the past, chiropractors were a separate part of the health-care system,” Wood said. Now chiropractors have become a productive member of a person’s health-care team.

Not every patient responds to a particular type of treatment, he said. “What we’re interested in is what is in the best interest of the patient.”