a health care system in transformation making the case for chiropractic一个卫生保健系统变换进行按摩.pdfVIP

Brown Chiropractic Manual Therapies 2012, 20:37 /content/20/1/37 CHIROPRACTIC MANUAL THERAPIES COMMENTARY Open Access A health care system in transformation: making the case for chiropractic Richard Brown Abstract There are a number of factors that have conspired to create a crisis in healthcare. In part, the successes of medical science and technologies have been to blame, for they have led to survival where lives would previously have been cut short. An informed public, aware of these technological advances, is demanding access to the best that healthcare has to offer. At the same time the burden of chronic disease in an increasing elderly population has created a marked growth in the need for long term care. Current estimates for expenditure predict a rapid escalation of healthcare costs as a proportion of the GDP of developed nations, yet at the same time a global economic crisis has necessitated dramatic cuts in health budgets. This unsustainable position has led to calls for an urgent transformation in healthcare systems. This commentary explores the present day healthcare crisis and looks at the opportunities for chiropractors as pressure intensifies on politicians and leaders in healthcare to seek innovative solutions to a failing model. Amidst these opportunities, it questions whether the chiropractic profession is ready to accept the challenges that integration into mainstream healthcare will bring and identifies both pathways and potential obstacles to acceptance. Keywords: Chiropractic, Healthcare transformation, Healthcare reform Background access to the most advanced available care, costs of A need for transformation in healthcare systems through-