Annual Report

9. extra vertebral treatment
During the year the Board approved regulating a
list of practitioners who are qualified to receive
payment from ACC for extra-vertebral (EVT) work.
ACC have decided that those chiropractors who
received appropriate EVT under-graduate training
or have completed, to a similar standard, postgraduate
courses in EVT, will be able to diagnose
and treat this category of patient. The Board, in
association with the Chiropractors Association,
conducted a very exhaustive appraisal of all
chiropractic educational institutions and their
graduates. The result is an ‘A’ list of those
qualified for ACC reimbursement and a ‘B’ list of
those who are not. This does not affect the way
chiropractors currently work, the only difference
is that practitioners on the ‘A’ list may be paid by
ACC for EVT diagnosed problems.
10. annual practicing certificates
In the 2004/05 year the Chiropractic Board issued
302 Annual Practicing Certificates.
11. board finances
I have been very happy with the Board’s finances
this year. Not only has the Board achieved its
goal of establishing a fund from which continuing
competence programmes for members of the
profession can be supported, it has also been
able to implement the requirements of the HPCA
without increasing the cost of annual practicing
certificates to chiropractors.
Continuing professional development programmes
are encouraged under the provisions of the new
legislation and the early decision to establish a
funding base for this purpose was one which
the Board took in early 2003. This fund is now
available to support competence programmes
and the Board has already made a number of
grants.
The Board has adopted the view that reserve
funds need to be maintained at a level which
equates to one year of base operations. It is likely
that these reserves will be used in situations
where unusually high demand is placed on the
Board, in particular when faced with the expense
of disciplinary hearings. However, with the
budget under tight control I see no reason why
the cost of an annual practicing certificate will
need to rise in the near future. It is noteworthy
that the budget has had to be amended to reflect
the increased costs of competence reviews and
Professional Conduct Committees and this is
likely to result in a levy being applied to APC
holders to fund this increase.
12. late payment for apcs
For a number of years the Board has been
concerned at the habit of some chiropractors of
leaving payment for their APC until a date later
(sometimes considerably later) than 31 March of
each year. This has meant that the chiropractor
concerned is likely to be practicing illegally and,
certainly is not permitted to access ACC funding.
In an attempt to eliminate this practice the Board
has gazetted an additional fee of $100 for APC
payments received after 31 March each year. This
insures that ACC, the Chiropractor’s Association
and other interested parties are informed of the
status of individual chiropractors with regard to
their APC. This year has been the first full year
of this policy and I am pleased at the drop in the
number of chiropractors who are paying for their
APCs after 31 March.
Registered Chiropractors have been and will
continue to be reminded in future newsletters
of their obligations to pay for their APC by 31
March each year.
13. trans-tasman mutual
recognition agreement
In the past the Board has drawn to the attention
of the Minister of Health to the fact that a number
of chiropractors who have not been required
to demonstrate their professional competence
before being registered to practice in New
Zealand. This situation has now been largely
overcome by the establishment of a policy, in
conjunction with Australasian jurisdictions, of
examining all applicants for registration from
outside Australasia. Early indications are that
4 CHIROPRACTIC BOARD