We're going to talk about primary spine care providers. If you follow this blog for quite some time, you know that spine problems and spine disorders are among the most common, most costly and most disabling problems that we experienced in Western society with regard to chronic pain. For the purpose of this blog, when we talk about spine-related disorders. We're talking about a group of conditions that include back pain, neck pain, all the various types of headaches and migraines, radiculopathy and other types of symptoms that are related directly to the spine. If you want to know an interesting and perhaps shocking statistic, virtually 100% of the population is affected by this group of disorder s at least once in their life, if not twice.
One proposed solution to treating chronic spinal pain in our healthcare system is to train practitioners who can function as primary care providers for the care of the spine itself. There are already physical therapists and chiropractors who function in a primary care role for the spine, although we don't have enough that are trained adequately. Some may lack the clinical skills and the confidence to function in this primary care provider role. At times, these can be big shoes to fill because a primary spine care provider requires a particular skill set that includes the ability to apply the latest evidence-based procedures, adequately educate and motivate patients and prevent and manage disability. The interesting thing is that much of this has already been tested and it's proved to improve patient satisfaction, reduced pain, reduced disability and reduce medical costs.
Joining us on this episode to discuss this important topic is Dr. Marcia Spoto, who is a professor at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. What's interesting about Marcia that she holds both a degree in physical therapy as well as in chiropractic medicine. She understands the care of the spine from two very important professions that contribute to the health of spine care throughout our nation and perhaps even globally. She has over 35 years of educating and caring for the spine. She also taught classes at the university level with regards to musculoskeletal management, pain management and differential diagnosis. She's maintained an active private practice called STAR Physical Therapy, which is in Fairport New York. She also serves on the American Physical Therapy Association Orthopedic Practice Committee and is a Co-chair of the New York Physical Therapy Association Public Policy Committee. Dr. Spoto does serve as a consultant for BlueCross BlueShield where she's a member of the Spine Care Pathway Program.
If you want more information about this episode and if you want more information to read along and follow along with us, I recommend you download a paper that's free. It's called The Establishment of a Primary Spine Care Practitioner and its Benefit to the Healthcare Reform System in the United States of America. To download this free resource, all you have to do is text 133 Download to the number 44222. You can go to the website at IntegrativePainScienceInstitute.com/132Download and you can download it directly from there. This is an evidence-based paper from a reliable medical journal that talks about the establishment of a primary spine care practitioner. It’s great information. If you are a practitioner who works with spinal care too, check this out and also if you’re someone who's interested to learn more information about care of the spine. Without further ado, let's begin with Dr. Marcia Spoto.
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