Impossible to subdue or defeat.
I felt this word was incredibly applicable to the experiences I and all the other DC students are currently undergoing. What keeps us going? What is it that drives us to circumnavigate this torturous existence? Is it merely fortitude or something deeper? I personally can't answer this for any of you, but I can answer it for myself.
In 2005, I unfortunately got tangled up into an unethical chiropractors web of fraud. It all started when I decided to open a personal training business tied with a chiropractic office. Sean Toner, the chiropractor, told me it was okay to operate under his license as long as I used the insurance codes he gave me. Being a naive personal trainer, I thought this seemed legitimate, so I began building my business under his license. A year went by and everything seemed fine. I was billing (with the codes he provided me) for the services I rendered such as: initial consultations, fitness assessments, medical bike fit, and strength training sessions. Unfortunately, I didn't know he was fraudulently billing my services as chiropractic services such as: diagnosis codes and x-rays. He got caught, of course, and I escaped the web by closing my business and pursuing pre-med.
Still today, I find myself reliving the nightmare of losing my business to a fraudulent DC. I wonder if others will do the same as Sean did to me. This is why I am fighting to put an end to the theorist chiropractors out there because Sean was a theorist and he got caught up in making a ton of money. He affected my life in the extreme sense and 4 other massage therapists who operated their businesses under him (under that same trust as I). He surrendered his license to practice chiropractic in Arizona and was found guilty of defrauding the insurance company, Blue Cross. He practices in the midwest under surveillance of the FBI currently. Go Sean!!
I walked away with an enormous amount of debt (double the amount needed to go to DC school and that is what I intend to pay back). During the times I was really busy, I had 100 regular clients/patients per month. My business made about $7,000-9,000 per month at that time. The lifestyle that followed such a money flow consisted of a 1/4 million dollar town home, a $65,000 Infiniti FX 35 and a lucrative travel budget for my race team (cycling team, like the Tour riders). It was a dream come true for me. I was coaching athletes, teaching regular clients a good way to live and following my passion. It all vanished within a week. I was left with an enormous monthly outflow that I could not sustain, so I took out a few private student aid loans that skyrocketed my overall school loan debt.
It took me a year to gain a foothold in the market in Flagstaff Arizona when I opened my business and I anticipate it taking me about the same when I get out of school, so I have no worries.
I know a lack of education was the main culprit for all of the problems that I endured (and continue to endure). This is why I want chiropractic to change. I want to see ethics become the norm rather than deception.
I now understand why many chiropractors choose the traditional route versus the modern path of conservative primary care when they get out of school. Their debt is huge, their business loans are enormous and their goals are too large. See, Sean could have done things right if he somehow integrated me into his treatment plan for his patients, but he allowed me and 5 other massage therapists to operate independently. This was a mistake. He could have had me build plans for his patients (core stability etc) if he was smart, but he learned he could make more money off of me by having me operate on my own. Sad for him, he lost his license and paid back Blue Cross over $250,000 (this is all publicly documented if you are interested).
Unfortunately, he is practicing in the midwest somewhere and is most likely doing the same thing as before.
I wonder sometimes, if some of my classmates will do the same thing as Sean. I hear men and women saying they plan on making a lot of money etc., etc., and I hope they don't try to grow too fast. In my opinion, those who think this way should be forced to take an ethics course or two. The system is set up to force those who don't know shit about business to run businesses, so they rush for the money and screw innocent bystanders. If we were selling popsicles, that would be another story, but we are selling health care.
The problem is that there is no real supervision for practicing DC's. We operate independently and free from critique. Many times, the stupid DC decides to use a technique system that makes them feel as if they have all the answers. This is why people like me are suffering to pay their bills! The selfish needs of weak minded DC's causes a ripple effect that goes beyond what most people can understand. This is because the expense to the the new DC is huge when they start out and this plays a role in the decision of whether to buy into subluxation theory or not. Those who buy into this theory are weak minded and lack integrity.
That is all I have for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment