What's Up With the CCGPP?

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:    Frankp@chiro.org

By Dr. Mark D. Dehen ~ Vice Chair of the CCGPP

CCGPP Press Release ~ April 26, 2007

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So whatever happened to the CCGPP and their best practices initiative? Things have been pretty quiet in the land of evidence base care since the COCSA convention in Baltimore last year. Has the initiative lost momentum?

Not hardly! While things have been quiet, the process has continued forward. With something that potentially has this much impact on the future of the chiropractic profession, that means there is still a lot going on. The highlights include the following:

The Introductory Chapter has been reviewed and revised, per our discussion with COCSA. This was done to improve its clarity and readability without amending the existing research or conclusions, as necessitated maintaining the editorial independence of the project. Currently, the CCGPP is in the process of hiring a healthcare editor to further revise the "evidence synthesis" to make it more user-friendly to the profession at large.

Dr. Bill Meeker and Dr. Dana Lawrence, team leads for the low back evidence synthesis chapter, are completing the review and synthesis of the commentary received. Once that commentary has been collated, it will be reviewed by the team for consideration as part of the expert opinion process. That commentary and the team response will then be included in the final version of the low back evidence synthesis.

When the above 2 projects have been completed, the CCGPP will release the revised Introduction and low back evidence synthesis for final review. We are hopeful that release will occur within the next few months. As indicated in Baltimore, the CCGPP will provide the profession with 45 days of advanced notice of that release date. Please keep your eyes open in the months immediately ahead.

All the team leads met at the ACC RAC conference in mid March. Most of the teams have completed the gathering and rating of evidence on their specific topics. They are now involved in the expert opinion phase of their discussions. The format for the chapters was discussed at length with an eye toward readability. Based on those discussions, Dr. Cheryl Hawk is finalizing a proposed format for the evidence based synthesis chapters. Once that format is adopted, it will be utilized to revise the Low Back chapter. It will then be made available for application in the subsequent chapters and their release should quickly follow.

In light of some of the feedback the CCGPP received on review of the Low back evidence synthesis and our discussions at COCSA, the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) has expressed a desire to develop an additional chapter specifically on Subluxation. The ACC has recommended a task force comprised of representatives of each of their member chiropractic colleges be seated and chaired by Drs. Carl Cleveland and Meridel Gatterman. This team will utilize the same evidence synthesis protocols employed in the other chapters to review and rate the available subluxation literature. The board of the CCGPP sees this as a welcome addendum to our document.

The dissemination, implementation, evaluation and revision (DIER) process also continues to move ahead. An initial seminar on evidence based care is currently being developed. The CCGPP is creating this seminar in conjunction with Dr. Michael Haneline with the goal of enhancing the appreciation of the field practitioner for the utilization of evidence in promoting and defending the care they provide for their patients.

The CCGPP is also in discussion with the FCER on ways of partnering to promulgate the dissemination and implementation of evidence based care for the chiropractic profession. The FCER has recently published their evidence base care initiative and the CCGPP sees this partnership as a win/win for the chiropractic profession as the profession moves forward.

Evidence and evidence based care continues to blossom throughout the healthcare arena. With it come opportunities for the chiropractic profession to grow. Quiet, not hardly!

For further information, please visit the CCGPP website at www.ccgpp.org

Dr. Mark D. Dehen is a second generation Doctor of Chiropractic practicing in North Mankato, MN. He does ergonomic consulting and injury prevention for local industries. Dr. Dehen is a past president of the MN Chiropractic Association and recipient of the MN Chiropractor of the Year award. Currently, he serves as Vice Chair of the CCGPP.

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