The Board of Chiropractic Examiners consists of seven Board members appointed by the Governor; five of whom are doctors of chiropractic and two public members. A public member cannot be a licensee of any of the health care regulatory boards or have any connection to the profession, either personal or professional, i.e. spouse, employee, investment partner, etc.
The Board regulates doctors of chiropractic only. The Board approves licenses and registrations for these individuals and also decides when to impose disciplinary or corrective action.
Information regarding doctors of chiropractic who may be in violation of the Minnesota Chiropractic Practice Act (Minn. Stat. 148.01-148.108, or Minnesota Administrative Rules 2500.0100-2500.6050,) comes to the attention of the Board through submission of a complaint. Complaints or reports may be filed by anyone and are typically submitted on a complaint form, although the Board may act on complaints submitted by phone, letter or other format. Complaints and reports are not public information and may not be discussed with anyone except the respondent (subject of the investigation) and the complainant (person filing the complaint.) The Board is mandated to pursue all jurisdictional complaints against individuals it regulates. In other words, if the complaint alleges a violation of the Chiropractic Practice Act by a doctor of chiropractic, the complaint will be investigated. An example of a non-jurisdictional complaint is one which alleges that the patient did not get better after treatment. Health care professionals, courts and others are required by law to report conduct which may be grounds for disciplinary action under the Chiropractic Practice Act. Minnesota Statute 148.102 describes the reporting obligations for licensed health professionals. Minn. Stat. `
B. File Set up and Assignment
Set Up: When a jurisdictional complaint is received, a file is assigned to a Panel which will have responsibility for that file until no further action is required.
Beginning the Investigation: For most complaints, the board staff will obtain a response from the respondent including all pertinent health care and billing records. Complaints alleging sexual misconduct must, by law, be investigated by the Minnesota Attorney General's Office which may also provide investigative and legal services for other types of complaints. The completed investigation will be returned to the Board for appropriate follow up.
C. Complaint Panel Review Meetings
The Complaint Panel:
A Complaint Panel is comprised of three members; two are members of the board, and the third is the Boards Executive Director.
Because of the number of complaints received and processed by the Board each year, it is typical that three complaint Panels are operating at any given time.
Each Panel meets once per month (usually) to decide triage, discuss pending disciplinary offers and petitions, discuss the next appropriate step in any given case, and to meet with respondents who have been asked to appear before the Panel.
Outcomes of Discussions and Appearances:
Dismissal. The Panel may choose to dismiss the complaint and so inform the respondent and complainant. A dismissal requires the agreement of at least two Panel members.
Continue, pending further investigation or some other specified action.
Corrective Action. The Panel may recommend that the respondent enter into an Agreement for Corrective Action. This Agreement is a contract between the Panel and the respondent in which the respondent agrees to take certain remedial action, often educational, to correct problems identified in the Complaint Review process. Corrective action is not disciplinary action, but it is a public action. This action will be described in an official document referred to as an Agreement for Corrective Action. The Agreement does not require action by the full Board.
D. Disciplinary Action:
The Panel may recommend that the respondent's license be disciplined. Formal Discipline may include such things as a reprimand, conditions, limitations or restrictions, suspension, or revocation. Should the Panel determine that the respondent's license be disciplined, it will generally first offer to impose the disciplinary action by Stipulation and Order. (See below) Failure to come to an agreement, may result in the need for a contested case hearing. (See below.)
The Panel may recommend that the respondent's license be immediately suspended, known as a summary suspension. In this case, it requires a nearly immediate convening of the board. If the Board approves the summary suspension, based on a finding that the respondent has violated the Chiropractic Practice Act and that the respondent's continued practice creates an immediate and serious risk of harm to the public, the respondent is entitled to a hearing within 30 days of the issuance of the suspension order.
The Stipulation is an agreement between the respondent and the Complaint Review Panel in which the respondent agrees that certain disciplinary action should be imposed on their chiropractic license as a result of the Panel having identified areas in which the respondent violated the Chiropractic Practice Act.
The Order is issued by the full Board when it has reviewed and ratified the Stipulation between the Panel and the respondent. The Order implements the terms of the Stipulation. The Stipulation and Order are incorporated into one written instrument. This document is public and may be obtained by anyone upon proper request.
When the Panel finds the respondent is in violation of the Chiropractic Practice Act, it will ask the respondent to voluntarily enter into a Stipulation and Order to place restrictions on their chiropractic license.
Should the respondent refuse to agree to stipulate to the restrictions offered by the Panel, or, if the full Board rejects the proposed Stipulation and Order, the matter may proceed to a contested case hearing initiated under the Administrative Procedures Act.
B. Contested Case Hearing
The Administrative Hearing is held before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and involves the presentation of testimony and submission of exhibits in a manner similar to a civil trial.
If the Panel is successful at the Contested Case Hearing, the ALJ will indicate that the Board's position is correct and make a recommendation which will be limited to discipline is warranted or discipline is not warranted. After reviewing an ALJ report stating that discipline is warranted, the Board may issue a Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and a Final Order which describes the disciplinary action taken against the respondent.
If you are concerned about the way a chiropractor practices chiropractic, you may wish to take one or more of the following steps:
1) Talk with the chiropractor about your concerns, for in most cases she/he will want to know that you are dissatisfied with the chiropractic services received.
2) If applicable, talk with the facility or clinic manger about your situation for they, too, want satisfied patients who will recommend their services.
3) If you are unable to receive satisfaction from the above efforts or if you feel it is inappropriate to do (1) and/or (2) above, call the Minnesota Board of Chiropractic Examiners at (651) 201-2850 to discuss your concerns. If the Board is able to be of assistance, you will receive complaint forms. To initiate a formal review, complete the forms and return the packet to the Board. You may also receive complaint forms simply by requesting them from our website.
Most complaints about doctors of chiropractic fall into these categories:
1. Competency matters of all kinds
2. Impairment or chemical abuse
3. Sexual misconduct
4. Misleading advertising or fraud
5. Record keeping
6. Mismanagement of patient records
7. Improper delegation of authorities
8. Misleading patients with regard to health care coverage and financial responsibilities
While these are common areas of complaints, there are others. If you are unsure of whether or not you have a complaint that is within the jurisdiction of the Board, you are encouraged to call and discuss it with the Board staff.
The Board can only take action against a doctor of chiropractic's license or other registration. The board can only take action against doctors of chiropractic. It can't help you with problems regarding any other health care professional such as nurses, physical therapists or medical doctors. The Board can't help you with any billing or collection problems unless the doctor of chiropractic is engaged in threatening, dishonest, or misleading fee collection techniques.
No, but it is preferred as it facilitates the process by requesting information that may be of assistance in the complaint review process. While the board will evaluate all manner of complaints, including anonymous phone calls, having a completed complaint form allows members of a complaint review committee to actually see the complaint and its details in the complainants own words. Statistics will bear out that those complaints which are reviewed following the receipt of a completed complaint form, are most successfully resolved.
First, the Board's staff gathers information from a variety of sources, starting with the information you include in your complaint. The staff may gather health care or billing records, collect data and may interview those involved. You will be asked to sign a release of information form to allow the Board to obtain your records. Signing this release will speed the handling of your complaint. If it is appropriate, the staff will also obtain a response from the doctor of chiropractic involved. This response may initially be in written form, but may be in the form of a meeting between the Board Complaint Panel When the information gathering is completed, the Board Complaint Panel will review the facts and decide whether to take action against the doctor of chiropractic involved.
The Board can take a variety of actions: It can limit, place conditions upon, suspend or revoke a doctor of chiropractic's license to practice chiropractic in Minnesota. It can order a doctor of chiropractic to pay civil penalties and to pay all court and investigative costs incurred during the complaint review process. It can order doctors of chiropractic to take more training, to stop treating some illnesses or to stop performing certain procedures. It can order doctors of chiropractic to enroll in appropriate treatment programs. It can issue a written reprimand.
During the review process, the board will protect your identity, unless you consent to have it disclosed. Disclosing your identity can, however, assist the board in investigating your complaint, since doctors of chiropractic must respond to specific complaints rather than to general accusations. The Chiropractic Practice Act provides immunity from civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution to people who file a complaint.
There is no set time limit. The length of the review process tends to vary with the complexity of the complaint. Some reviews move very quickly, others take months, some have taken years. Recent changes in procedures and technology have served to speed the process up substantially.
You can contact the Board staff at any time. In addition, the Board staff will contact you when the review process is complete and the Board has made a decision about your complaint. If the complaint has resulted in formal action against the doctor of chiropractic, you will receive a copy of the document which describes the action.
The Board receives some complaints that do not lead to action against doctors of chiropractic. The Board cannot take action against a doctor of chiropractic unless there is sufficient evidence to show that the doctor of chiropractic violated Minnesota's Chiropractic Practice Act and related Administrative Rules. The Board must thoroughly review each complaint before it takes any action.
The Board's staff may advise you on the services of other governmental agencies or professional associations if the Board is not the appropriate agency to deal with your concerns. Additionally, there may be remedies in other venues such as civil or criminal court.
There are no costs for filing a complaint. The costs for review and resolutions of complaints are borne by the license fees of the practitioners, and to some degree by fines paid by the specific practitioner.
The Board's complaint process is designed for the public. If you have questions about filing your complaint, the Board's staff can assist you. Although a complainant (the person filing the complaint) is free to consult an attorney before filing, it is not necessary to do so.
The Board of Chiropractic Examiners has seven members including five doctors of chiropractic and two members of the general public, all appointed by the Governor. The Board is supported by a professional staff. The staff and the Board work closely with attorneys from the Minnesota Attorney General's Office when reviewing complaints against doctors of chiropractic. Doctors of chiropractic under investigation are required, by law, to cooperate with the Board and its staff.
