It’s time to change the conversation on chiropractic care in Saskatchewan
For more than 80 years, chiropractic care has been a regulated health profession in Saskatchewan and is now the second most consulted health care practitioner in the province for those with back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions.
But why should you trust chiropractic care?
Chiropractors complete extensive training, including at least three years of undergraduate studies and a four-year Doctor of Chiropractic degree.
Chiropractors complete extensive training, including at least three years of undergraduate studies and a four-year Doctor of Chiropractic degree.
Chiropractic services are evidence-based and focus on hands-on patient care. They help treat musculoskeletal injuries and conditions and promote healthy living
Don’t take our word for it. Evidence and research indicate that chiropractic care can make all the difference in addressing health concerns that impact us all.
Chiropractic care limits opioid prescriptions for back pain by up to 64%.
This means reducing a patient’s risk of developing potential addiction or dependency issues.
Back pain is the third most common reason for an emergency room visit in Canada (and it isn’t because of uncomfortable waiting chairs).
With accessible chiropractic care, we can divert emergency room visits and help solve the root of the problem.
As the leading cause of disability worldwide, we all know someone that has been impacted by low back pain.
Chiropractors use universally recommended evidence-based treatments to alleviate symptoms for patients.
Our patients and Saskatchewan residents know the improved quality of life that timely and professional chiropractic care can offer, and we believe it’s time that all Saskatchewan residents have the opportunity to access the care they need.
Reinstate chiropractic coverage for low-income Saskatchewan residents.
Saskatchewan is the only province in Western Canada that does not provide some form of publicly funded chiropractic coverage for low-income residents.
In 2017, chiropractic care was removed from social assistance programs. This meant approximately 6,000 Saskatchewan residents had to cancel their care, with thousands of others unable to seek this service. Most of these patients were, in turn, diverted to family physicians and emergency rooms. This means that instead of getting the care they need, an additional burden is being placed on our already strained system.
Reinstating chiropractic coverage for low-income residents can fix that.
Expand access to allow chiropractors to order publicly funded musculoskeletal MRI and CT scans and lab work.
Currently, in the publicly funded system, MRI and CT scans can only be ordered by a chiropractor if a physician is copied as the co-orderer and the radiologist’s recommendation from previous imaging is included. This increases unnecessary visits to specialists and family doctors.
Limited lab ordering privileges have been discussed between the Ministry of Health and chiropractors in Saskatchewan for decades.
Chiropractors are extensively trained in these diagnostic tools and can potentially save time and money by reducing unnecessary referrals to family doctors.
It’s time to eliminate unnecessary red tape in our health care sector.
Have chiropractic services included in provincial urgent care centres and further integrated into primary care services.
We believe having chiropractors on the funded on-site care team within the urgent care centre to assess, diagnose, and treat back pain and musculoskeletal issues can reduce ER visits, mitigate wait times, and improve patient outcomes. This integrated model with primary care teams has been successful across Canada.
We want to see similar results in our province.
Join us in calling for provincial changes that would make chiropractic care a part of your health care system.
Ready to join the conversation?
Add your voice to the conversation online by sharing this information with your friends, family, and coworkers! Check out our Facebook page to follow along and repost resources directly to your page.
And remember, when you speak with your local provincial candidate this fall, make sure to mention that you support chiropractic care in our health care system.
Sask. chiropractors can help overstressed health-care system
As the province prepares to go to the polls, health care is top of mind for many. Indeed, according to a recent Angus Reid poll, three in five Saskatchewanians say it’s the most pressing issue facing the province.
This isn’t surprising. No other public policy issue has such a profound and intimate impact on our lives. The challenges facing the health-care system are by no means unique to Saskatchewan. Service closures and disruptions in rural areas, long waitlists for surgeries and staffing shortages, the story is the same across the country.
Like elsewhere in Canada, the family doctor shortage is having downstream effects on the health-care system in Saskatchewan. Roughly 200,000 people don’t have a family doctor in the province.
Without a primary care provider, many people have no choice but to go to a walk-in clinic or the emergency room, placing undue pressure on an already stressed system.
Money alone isn’t a feasible solution. Health care is already far and away the largest expense for provincial governments, with this year’s budget in Saskatchewan including record spending of $7.6 billion. Taxpayer dollars are finite, so there are only so many that can be spent.
What’s more, Saskatchewan’s unprecedented population growth is complicating matters. Last year’s annual population increase was the highest in over a century of reporting annual estimates.
As a result, the provincial government is already trying to stretch its budget to cover desperately needed investments in education and infrastructure to accommodate the influx of newcomers.
Despite these constraints, there are two things the government can do to ease the pressure on the health-care system: use existing resources more effectively and make targeted investments in primary care that reduce costs further down the line.
The province’s 245 practising chiropractors can help on both these fronts. Chiropractic services are evidence-based and focus on hands-on patient care, helping treat injuries and health conditions and promote healthy living.
By providing safe, accessible, reliable treatment for spine, muscle, joint nerve, and other musculoskeletal conditions, practitioners in the province help one in four adults achieve a good quality of life every year.
Critically, they can also lessen the burden on emergency services by addressing injuries and musculoskeletal health conditions. Back pain is the third most common reason for emergency room visits in Canada.
By proactively addressing the underlying causes, chiropractors can save people a painful and time-consuming trip to the emergency room, making space for those with genuine emergent needs.
Chiropractic care can also limit opioid prescriptions for those suffering from spinal pain by up to 64 per cent. This is hugely important, given how many people develop life-shattering addiction issues because of these powerful drugs.
The provincial government can dramatically reduce emergency room visits and improve Saskatchewanians’ health and quality of life by taking three simple steps.
First, chiropractic coverage for low-income residents needs to be reinstated. Saskatchewan is the only province in Western Canada that doesn’t provide some form of publicly funded chiropractic coverage for these residents, leaving them vulnerable to pain and missed days of work.
Second, chiropractors need to be allowed to order publicly funded musculoskeletal MRI and CT scans and a limited set of lab work. Doctors of chiropractic are extensively trained in these diagnostic tools and have the potential to save time and money by reducing unnecessary referrals to already overburdened doctors.
Finally, chiropractic services need to be included in provincial urgent care centres and further integrated into the primary care system.
An integrated model with primary care teams has seen success across Canada, and it would undoubtedly secure similar results in our province. Saskatchewan’s chiropractors are an under-utilized resource in addressing the province’s health-care challenges. They can do more, and they want to do more.
With a few policy tweaks, the provincial government can empower them to do so. It would be a win-win for all: better health outcomes for Saskatchewanians and less strain on our health-care system.