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| Margolies and Zemelka Join CP Editorial Advisory Board Chiropractic Products welcomes Joel E. Margolies, DC, and Wayne Henry Zemelka, DC, to its Editorial Advisory Board (EAB). After stints as a military man and professional orchestral musician in the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Margolies entered Sherman College of Chiropractic, Spartanburg, SC, transferred to Life College in Atlanta, and graduated in 1978 with a degree in chiropractic. From 1995 to 1999, he taught at his alma mater and wrote Smart Start, a guide to help chiropractors jumpstart their new practices. A member of the Georgia Council of Chiropractic and the International Chiropractic Association, Margolies currently practices in Tucker, Ga, is the “Practice Sense” business columnist for Chiropractic Products, and runs a free weekly chiropractic email newsletter and a website that features resources for practicing DCs. “I am pleased to participate in the Editorial Advisory Board of Chiropractic Products magazine. I look forward to sharing my 25 years of practical experience,” says Margolies. “There is no greater challenge to the practicing chiropractor than to assist colleagues to be as successful as they wish to be.” A 1975 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa, Zemelka is certified in videofluoroscopy and the Thompson Technique. Throughout the years, “Dr Z” served as airport commissioner and president of the Iowa Chiropractic Society East Central Division. Now retired from full-time teaching at Palmer College, Zemelka operates the Zemelka Family Chiropractic Center, Davenport, Iowa, conducts interpersonal communication workshops for local organizations, and teaches the Thompson Technique at seminars throughout the world. In January 2002, he completed his training on the Subluxation Station. “It is my desire as a member of the editorial board to contribute my expertise as a member of the chiropractic family to provide advice and guidance to the editors of Chiropractic Products on what types of informational articles will best serve the chiropractic profession,” says Zemelka. As EAB members, Margolies and Zemelka will contribute articles, technical expertise and advice, and editorial direction to the magazine. |
Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Explain Reimbursement Discrepancy In the American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) lawsuit against Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Judge James Jones of the federal district court in Abingdon, Va, ordered the Virginia managed care organization to answer questions regarding its reasons for paying doctors of chiropractic less than medical doctors for the same services. The ACA requested in March that the court compel Trigon to answer a series of questions relating to the comparative education and training of doctors of chiropractic and medical doctors, as well as Trigon’s justification for the reimbursement amounts they provide to doctors of chiropractic and medical doctors under the applicable CPT codes. The March 18, 2002, order partially complied with ACA’s written request by requiring Trigon to defend its chiropractic compensation policies by April 18, 2002. Specifically, Jones ordered Trigon to “identify every market survey, study, analysis, and/or other information on which the applicable defendants rely as supporting or tending to support the amounts of payments to chiropractors, the amounts of payments to medical doctors, or both.” In addition, Jones requested that Trigon “identify every medical doctor who consulted, was in any way involved with, or in any way participated in any decision and/or policy to pay chiropractors less than medical doctors for procedures billed under the same CPT code.” Jones did not demand Trigon answer the interrogatory seeking information concerning the training of doctors of chiropractic versus medical doctors. The lawsuit has been ongoing since August 2000, when the ACA, the Virginia Chiropractic Association, five doctors of chiropractic, and 18 chiropractic patients filed suit against Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield, raising allegations of conspiracy, racketeering, extortion, mail fraud, and antitrust violations. At press time, there were no new developments.
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