SP R IN G S YM P O S I U M
Christine Goertz, DC, PhD Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University & Spine IQ Sitting next to the right person in chemistry class at the University of Minnesota put pre-med student Christine Goertz, DC, PhD on the chiropractic path. “The more she talked about chiropractic, the more I was intrigued,” she said. “I really resonated with the whole-person approach that chiropractic represents.” Today, Dr. Goertz is a professor in musculoskeletal research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, director of system development and coordination for spine health in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Duke University and CEO of the Spine Institute for Quality. She is also the 2020 recipient of the Dr. Beatrice B. Hagen Award, which will be presented during the Spring Symposium where Dr. Goertz will be speaking about the role of the Doctor of Chiropractic as primary spine practitioner and the current evidence base for chiropractic care. “There’s never been a better time to be a DC,” she said. “There are tremendous opportunities for the profession and, more importantly, the patients we serve. Given the high prevalence of spine-related disorders, combined with the growing understanding that conventional treatments can often result in more harm than benefit, health systems are increasingly open to being more inclusive of chiropractic. However, there are still barriers that must be addressed.” Dr. Goertz said those barriers include policymakers who do not think about chiropractic as part of the solution, remnants of bias against the profession and inconsistencies in the quality
26 SPRING 2020 • LOGAN UNIVERSITY
of chiropractic care delivery among chiropractic physicians. As chiropractors, she said, we need to do a better job of making sure we are familiar with the evidence available on chiropractic and share that knowledge with patients and other health care providers. “We need to be straightforward about what we know is beneficial, what we know doesn’t work and where there are still significant gaps in understanding,” she said. Five years ago, Dr. Goertz founded the Spine Institute for Quality with the goal of defining quality, demonstrating value and building trust among those concerned with spine care. She said it all started with a simple question. Someone from Sen. Tom Harkin’s office called and asked for a referral to a “good chiropractor” in Alexandria, Virginia.
“I realized that I really didn’t know how to answer that question beyond looking up what college a doctor attended or if he/she was affiliated with a professional association,” she said. “I began to think about how we could use data for this purpose, starting with how to define what ‘good’ means.” Dr. Goertz believes that for patients to make an informed choice about what treatment options to pursue, they need to have access to knowledge and tools. “Spine IQ takes a data-driven approach to spine care delivery, putting information about conservative spine care and chiropractic providers into the hands of patients, with a focus on performance measurement and best practices,” she said. “When we talk about barriers in chiropractic, we must consider what it takes to be a part of an integrated health care team and to maximize benefit to the patients we serve. Research has shown that it matters to patients when their health care team—MDs and DCs—are working together to achieve optimal outcomes.”
“There’s never been a better time to be a DC. There are tremendous opportunities for the profession and, more importantly, the patients we serve.” –Dr. Christine Goertz