It sits there on your bookshelf waiting for you to have a reason to read it. Your opinion of this document may be based on what you have read or heard other people say about the guidelines. Meanwhile the health care world continues to change. Their 14th guideline will soon be followed by guidelines for headaches, sure to have additional impact on your practice. Too bad the same can't be said for the third-party payers you deal with.
Clinical guidelines are a reality.
The federal government is involved, third-party payers have their own, and managed care organizations are utilizing them heavily. This search for efficiency is bringing the benefits of spinal manipulation into the spotlight. In contrast, the Mercy guidelines were developed by chiropractors for chiropractic practice. Obviously, what may work well in the context of a chiropractic practice may be ineffective in a medical practice. Currently most managed care organizations utilize profession-specific guidelines about twice as much as federal guidelines in establishing their internal guidelines.