Fall 2022 Convention // Speakers

In this engaging presentation, Dr. Erik Kowalke will discuss the current state of chiropractic offices in the country and the key principles that they can use and implement to create an extraordinary patient experience that results in increased compliance. By using available technology, attendees will receive the tools they need to achieve their true vision for their practices. In our ever-changing environment, chiropractors who fail to embrace this technology will get left behind. This will be an interactive session that attendees will make attendees think, engage, and come away with clear action steps for their practice.

2 CEs possible.

Sponsored by SKED.

A graduate of Life and member of the MAC, Dr. Erik Kowalke is on a mission to transform how chiropractic offices and patients schedule and reschedule appointments. He and his wife, Shannon, founded SKED in 2016 as an intelligent software platform that’s transforming how chiropractic patients manage their care plans, reschedule appointments 24/7, get more reviews, send appointment reminders, and much more. Using the combined expertise from a team of highly experienced chiropractors and highly skilled engineers, they’ve built an exclusive, new, simple approach to the $12 billion patient management market. SKED offers chiropractors a solution with robust integration capabilities for chiropractic practices and currently serves hundreds of chiropractic offices and hundreds of thousands of chiropractic patients across the United States. He founded Higher Health Chiropractic in Grand Rapids in 2011. He now has two locations and seven chiropractors on staff who serve more than 1,600 patients every week in a fun, family wellness-based atmosphere.

The practice of chiropractic includes the care of the individual through all stages of life. Dr. Elwartowski-Cooper will present an evidence-informed, natural health care perspective for the care of the child during the initial stages of life. She will offer clinical insights into diagnosis, treatment, and management of the infant including common conditions seen in our family practices. Topics of discussion will include taking a thorough prenatal history (with a focus on infant development and red flags), the infant examination, including primitive reflexes, range of motion, and musculoskeletal considerations, and doctor-parent communication skills that can put the parent at ease when discussing treatment options. Also on the agenda are the types of conditions chiropractors will see in practice and the impact spinal subluxation has on these conditions, as well as the role diet and supplementation plays on the patients’ overall clinical outcome and what to remove or add to influence the patients’ health. This will include a discussion on testing for food intolerance. Finally, home care suggestions, including positioning, supplementation, and diet, will be presented.

3 CEs possible. Pain and Symptom Management. Performance and Ordering of Tests.

Sponsored by WDC.

Coming from a family with 21 chiropractors, Dr. Nancy Cooper, a Diplomate in Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics, was passionate about chiropractic at a young age. Her commitment to providing optimal care led her to study Pre-Med at Ferris State University and then to Palmer. After taking the accelerated program, she graduated with her Doctor of Chiropractic degree in December of 1987.

After graduating, she moved to Indianapolis and began her practice. Her postgraduate education includes the treatment of pregnant women and becoming Webster certified. She is member of the State Association of Pediatric Council and is board certified in Pediatrics and Pregnancy. Dr. Cooper believes wholeheartedly in natural healthcare – especially for children – and continues to encourage patients to think out of the box by considering natural chiropractic care before medicine. She currently serves as Board Treasurer and is a founding board member of Women Chiropractors (WDC), a non-profit organization launched from a collective dream of female chiropractors around the world whose mission is helping women chiropractors, across the globe, to achieve their purpose and goals in life, defined by their definition of success.

While our job as chiropractors has us being as objective as possible when it comes to delivering the best plans of care for our patients, how much of who we are as people can affect how we interact with our patients? How much does who our patients are as humans affect how they engage in that care plan? Dr. Farrell will highlight how we can use our innate strengths – along with minimizing our weaknesses – for better patient outcomes. Topics of discussion include the Enneagram, an overview of and characteristics for the nine types of Enneagrams, doctor and patient tendencies, the theory of patient outcomes as a result of Enneagram types, and patient compliance vs. patient defiance. Don’t miss this exciting presentation!

1 CEs possible.

Sponsored by Sherman College.

Dr. Jillian Farrell serves as the Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement for Sherman College. In this position, she is responsible for growing the Sherman College brand in the chiropractic profession and local community through outstanding continuing education programming, development, public relations, marketing, and communications. She previously served as Sherman’s Director of Continuing Education, where she was responsible for scheduling on-campus CE events and working with seminar partners to offer quality programs for chiropractors across the country. She is also a member of Sherman’s Board of Regents, been named the college’s Staff Member of the Year (2016), and won the Distinguished Service Award (2017).

Chiropractic neurology is an evidence-based model of care that uses diagnostic and treatment approaches that measure and improve the function of the brain and nervous system. Join Dr. Engel for this look at chiropractic neurology, including the science behind subluxation and the chiropractic adjustment, what is subluxation, brain development, the effects of the adjustment on the cerebellum and the pre-frontal cortex, proprioception vs. nociception, stress response, and a review of biomechanics. Also on the agenda are proper patient education, conducting workshops inside and outside of the office, and creating a legit report of findings.

4 CEs possible. Pain and Symptom Management Performance and Ordering of Tests.

Sponsored by LCW.

Dr. Jamie Engel is the owner and head chiropractor of Aligned for Life Chiropractic in Beverly, Massachusetts, where she specializes in spinal and postural correction, as well as family wellness. She is extremely passionate about teaching families about the importance of spinal hygiene and making sure children grow up with a healthy spine, rather than waiting for illness or health conditions. She enjoys adjusting patients of all ages, ranging from newborn babies to grandparents to pregnant women.

Dr. Engel graduated cum laude from Palmer West, where she was the president of the patient education and spinal health awareness club. Upon graduation, she received the highest philosophy honor, the Virgil Strang award. She is also a graduate of the University of California, Davis, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Neurology, Physiology, and Behavior. Dr. Engel is a proud member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) and has put in extra hours of postgraduate education to become Webster certified. She is very passionate about promoting spinal and holistic health and strives to teach the community about how to heal the body from within, especially when it comes to children.

Sometimes a fear of what third parties might do can get in the way of taking care of patients. In this riveting presentation, you will find out how to give auditors and reviewers what they are looking for so that they leave you alone and you can focus on your practice. You'll learn what makes you an audit target and how to communicate medical necessity so clearly that no one will doubt it. Course objectives include creating goals that support the care provided, identifying audit triggers, learning where experts find the guidelines they apply, becoming proficient with the “Chain of Medical Necessity,” and easily creating compliant SOAP notes.

6 CEs possible.

Sponsored by ChiroHealthUSA.

Dr. Evan Gwilliam graduated from Palmer as the Valedictorian of his class. He serves as Clinical Director for PayDC Chiropractic Software. He is a Certified Professional Coding and ICD-10 Instructor, Medical Compliance Specialist, and Certified Professional Medical Auditor. In his own practice, he learned the clinical side of insurance coding by documenting patient care, submitting claims and appeals, credentialing, and facing the everyday challenges that affect clinics and health care professionals. To better understand this aspect of the business, he became a self-described “certification junkie.” Dr. Gwilliam teaches continuing education programs around the country and has published dozens of articles in many trade journals. He provides expert witness testimony, medical record audits, consulting, and education for health care providers and has authored and contributed to reference books and articles for multiple publications.

The purpose of this course is to provide participants with an overview of the principles of radial pressure wave therapy and its implication to clinical practice of sport medicine. Dr. Proulx will introduce the biomechanical and physiological effects of radial pressure wave therapy. Participants will review treatment indications related to sports injuries and integration into practice. Attendees will be able to describe various methods of soft tissue mobilization, define the basic physiological and biomechanical aspects to radial pressure wave therapy, list the indications to radial pressure wave therapy, and apply RPW as part of pathology management.

2 CEs possible. Physical Measures or Paint and Symptom Management.

Sponsored by Digitsole.

New York Chiropractic College graduate Dr. Christopher Proulx is Director of Education for Digitsole, French startup, makes the latest developments in biomechanical technology available to runners and walkers in search of optimal performance. He is also in private practice and a consultant as a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist and performance coordinator for individuals and athletic teams. He is also an adjunct assistant professor of research at his alma mater. Dr. Proulx has more than 25 years of clinical and sport science experience in research and development of human movement, from prevention to rehabilitation of injuries and product development. He has particular interest in the assessment of human motion in the prevention and treatment movement disorders, including restoration of abnormalities through the application of therapeutic exercise and modalities. He has over authored and co-authored several peer reviewed publications and has presented his work across the United States, Central and South America, and Europe. He has been a consultant to several manufacturers, clinicians, athletes, and coaches at all levels. Besides being a licensed chiropractor, Dr. Proulx is a certified athletic trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist.

Everyone has bias. By the end of this presentation, attendees will understand the difference between implicit and explicit bias, how implicit biases are formed, the effect these biases have in our community, and how they can affect the quality of care your patients receive. Topics of discussion include differences, effects, and steps to tackle implicit and explicit biases, external influences, cognitive biases, how implicit bias affects community healthcare, interpersonal behaviors, and strategies for your office, including stereotype replacement, perspective taking, and partnership building.

2 hours in implicit bias training possible.

Sponsored by ABCA.

Dr. Shereffa Clarke is a fulltime practicing chiropractor, public speaker, and educator who serves as Vice President of the American Black Chiropractic Association. She has also served as the ABCA’s Parliamentarian, Secretary, Eastern Region Director, Fundraising Chair, and Eastern Region Student Representative. In these positions, she facilitated national fundraising initiatives, community service, and learning opportunities, planned and executed the Regional Conference in 2009, 2014, and 2016, and served on the Planning Committee for National Conventions. A graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida, she has received several honors and awards, including the ABCA’s Chiropractor of the Year for 2016, Emerging Leader of the Florida Chiropractic Association (2014-2016), and one of the 100 Outstanding Women of Broward County by the Boys and Girls Club of Broward County.

Dr. Rosemary Batanjski will discuss the importance of effective communication for both patients and your team. Attendees will learn how to identify meta programs in language, learn how to identify barriers and strategies to communicate more authentically, and understand neurolinguistics and its effect on leadership, communication, and treatment. Attendees will learn the tools and techniques to immediately enhance communication with both doctor and patients. Finally, she will discuss common barriers or mistakes that can hurt the doctor-patient and doctor-staff relationship, as well as strategies to protect the practice from risks due to poor communication and the “hierarchy of a patient’s needs.” This will be an action-packed morning of learning strategies, interactive team building activities and breakout sessions where we will “work together” as a team to give you tools & resources to take back to your practice & implement Monday Morning.

• We will discuss the importance of effective communication for your patients and your team
• You will be given tools and techniques to enhance your communication with both your staff and your patients
• Common barriers or mistakes that can hurt your doctor-patient & doctor-staff relationship & protecting your practice from risks due to poor communication
• We will bring the DISNEY Experience to YOU! Identify the hierarchy of a patients needs & create a culture of excellence
• Hiring strategies - creating roles & expectations, performance reviews & how to evaluate your team for excellence & train them properly
• Team Building strategies

Don’t miss this exhilarating presentation!

Sponsored by WDC.

Dr. Rosemary Batanjski is a MAC member and a member of the Board of Directors of WDC, a non-profit whose goal is to empower and mentor women chiropractors around the world. She was the founding president of WDC. She graduated from National in 2001 and opened her practice three months later. She has committed her life to wellness and providing patient-centered care to the City of Warren and surrounding areas. In 2018, she was proudly named Women Chiropractor of the Year. A sought-after motivational speaker and lecturer, she brings her passion to schools, state associations and chiropractic organizations. Her topics include personal development and motivation, business, human resources, and leadership training.

There is now a greater risk of financial loss due to improper discounting and faulty financial and collection policies. It is widely known that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Medicare are cracking down on healthcare fraud and abuse, but what most chiropractor offices are unaware of, is how widely successful these efforts have been. In this presentation, Ms. Simmons will identify the five most dangerous things we face in chiropractic – dual fee schedules, improper time of service discounts, inducement violations, the False Claims Act, and anti-kickback statutes – and how to avoid them. Also on the agenda are the steps for developing a compliant financial policy. Don’t miss it!

Sponsored by ChiroHealth USA.

Since 2012, Heather Simmons has worked for ChiroHealthUSA, the network that works for chiropractic. She started her chiropractic journey as the first voice you heard when calling the CHUSA office. In a few short months, her spunky personality had her travelling to seminars, where her passion to help the profession took off. She is now a Network Specialist helping doctors and their teams with the struggles of setting their discounts and implementing the network successfully. Her “no-holds-barred” approach has been effective in helping thousands of chiropractic teams overcome their biggest challenges while generating the single largest amount of fan mail at the ChiroHealthUSA office. Heather will tell you like it is, which will leave you hanging on to her every word.

Breathing pattern disorder is a complex set of behaviors that leads to over breathing in the absence of a pathological condition. The breathing pattern is inappropriate for the situation, resulting in confused signals to the central nervous system, setting up a whole chain of events. Persons experiencing this difficulty often are told that nothing is wrong, which may add to their anxiety, or they are told to take a few deep breaths, which increases their symptoms. One review indicates that as many as 28% of patients in various medical populations may experience functional breathing pattern disorder. This condition is indicated as a factor in post/long covid symptoms. The massage therapist can assess for breathing pattern disorder and use the information to develop appropriate treatment plans.

8 MT CEs possible.

Sandy Fritz, MS, BS, NCTMB, is a massage therapist, author, and noted educator. She is the owner, director, and head educator for the Health Enrichment Center in Lapeer, which provides education for approximately 50 massage students per year and is dedicated to achieving excellence in massage practice. She has authored several massage texts, including Mosby’s Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage, Mosby’s Essential Sciences for Therapeutic Massage, Clinical Massage in the Health Care Setting, and Sports and Exercise Massage. An educator for more than 30 years, she was named to the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame in 2008. She has earned a Master’s degree in Management from Thomas Edison State College and a BS in Health Sciences from Central Michigan.