CCN to Air Chiros Insurance Complaints

I came across an announcement that Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN this Monday at 10pm EST there will be an interview with a Dr. Mathis (DC) who worked inside the no-fault insurance companies for years and is now revealing the inner workings of a software program called Colossus that is designed to inappropriately deny payments.  Here is an excerpt from the email:

"Most doctors do not even know that Colossus exists, much less how it operates and what you can do to beat it. Mathis is fast becoming know as the Colossus Buster, training doctors and attorneys how the program works and how to win with Colossus.

This is not the first time Mathis has been a part of a CNN or other news media reports on this insurance fraud issue. He was featured on the first insurance fraud report on the Anderson Cooper 360 show a couple of weeks ago. The report received so much interest, CNN has interviewed Mathis for several hours and is planning two additional reports on this issue, the first of which is this coming Monday evening at 7:00 PST.

Mathis has also been interviewed on this issue by over 20 different media sources including NBC, Newsweek, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report and more. He has been deposed or offered expert opinion in over 55 individual lawsuits including several class action suits as well."

I went to the website promoting this http://www.ebcseminars.com/ - you can scroll down to the section on Colossus to read more.  Note the ebc stands for Evidence Based Chiropractic.  While I encourage all professions to embrace EBP, it concerns me when you read their definition - and then read why they say to use EBC (the first right hand box -the last bullet) says: "Validates any technique and supports chiropractic philosophy"  I don't think that is what embracing EBP is all about!

So you may want to TiVo or watch this to see what is being reported (i believe it is a 2 part series) - Jeff

Comments

[John Raymond DC]

You wrote the statement onthe EBC site stated

"Validates any technique and supports chiropractic philosophy"

then commented:

I don't think that is what embracing EBP is all about!

I would agree with you if that is what it said, but what it actually stated was

"EBC validates your technique and supports chiropractic principle"

Big difference Jeff. Please try and be less sensationalor at least more accurate in your reporting.

Chiropractic principle(s) and philosophy (which is an often misused term) are worlds apart.

As a side note, Colossus is nothing new, and worth learning about.

JM Raymond DC

[Selena Horner]

John... you can nitpick all you want about what Jeff commented.

Honestly, please don't tell me that Evidence Based Chiropractic (EBC) wasn't just a buzzword tossed out there to get attention. Or does Evidence Based Chiropractic insinuate knowing how to dot your i's and cross your t's for reimbursement purposes?

Everything on that link seemed to point more toward appropriate documentation and making more profit. It's evidence based all right - an evidence based focus on increasing cash flow. Tell me, does that kind of focus improve patient care? Does that kind of focus improve efficiency of care? Does that kind of focus reduce the cost of healthcare?

Don't get me wrong, from a business perspective clean claims and excellent documentation are fabulous things... I suppose getting more referrals from attorneys is also a good thing from a business perspective.

The whole feel of the information on that link felt very nacissistic in nature, don't you think?

[Jeff Hathaway]

I want to apologize for the mistake on my part for the incorect posting of the wordng from the website – I thought I had cut and pasted the statement from the website but obviously let my filters get in the way!! It was not a conscious attempt to misrepresent.

I understand there is a difference between principles and philosophy. When I read it, it was “validates your technique” that caught my interest – I interpreted that as find evidence to back up what you currently do versus check the evidence to maybe change what you do.

Hope this helps the dialogue get on the track I intended - the Colossus feature and the website on EBC.

thanks - Jeff

[Jeff Hebert, DC]

Jeff,

I think that you are right to be skeptical of this group touting EBC seminars. I agree with Selena that the "feel" of this organization is suspicious. As one who tries to promote evidence based practice within the chiropractic profession, I find it discouraging to see the paradigm used as a buzzword in the apparent attempt to increase profitability.

On the other hand, there is a recently published book entitled "evidence based chiropractic" - http://tinyurl.com/2mh9pt - which looks legitimate, although I have not yet had the opportunity to view it.

As a point of clarification, I do not believe that Mathis is a chiropractor. For those wishing to see the Anderson Cooper show, it can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/2chvll

Jeff