Chiropractor says being able to order X-rays is paring redundancy from P.E.I. medical system

After a long wait, chiropractors practising on Prince Edward Island are now able to order X-rays to help them diagnose and treat patients.

"This change helps reduce the reliance on primary-care providers and emergency departments to order an X-ray," Health P.E.I. said in a statement to CBC News. "More importantly, it helps to support our Island health care professionals working towards their full scope of practice to enhance access to quality care services for Islanders."  

Chiropractors had been lobbying the province since at least 2022, seeking to be able to requisition X-rays themselves instead of going through a family doctor. That was impossible in some cases anyway, given that 36,000 people are on the P.E.I. Patient Registry waiting for a primary care provider to be assigned.

"It's always been in our scope of practice on Prince Edward Island to be able to order imaging, and it was something that we had hoped wouldn't take as long as it did," said Dr. Chris McCarthy, the chair of the P.E.I. Chiropractic Association.

"It's something that we definitely wanted to have happen quicker, but sometimes things can take time."

McCarthy said the process would go like this: "We would do up a report, send it off to their primary health-care provider, the patient would then have to book an appointment with that provider, they'd have to wait a bit of time before they could get in, then get the requisition and then get the X-ray done."

Patients without a primary care provider would have to use the Maple virtual health-care platform, visit an emergency room, or line up for a walk-in clinic.

McCarthy said the change, in effect since April 21, will remove at least one duty from the health-care system's family doctors and nurse practitioners.

"It really comes back to just improved health care and patient-centred focus," he said. "It was a bit of a redundancy in the system."

He said chiropractors ordering X-rays under the new procedure have been able to identify some injuries already and get the patients the appropriate kind of care. 

"There was a few fractures that were identified. I know that for sure because I've spoken to a few of the chiropractors that did order those X-rays," he said. "That can make a big difference. If you have a fracture that needs to be addressed, the quicker they can have that addressed the better."

Will now lobby for lab access

Now for the association's next challenge. 

"Under the Chiropractic Act, chiropractors in P.E.I. have the scope to diagnose and treat biomechanical disorders, which includes ordering imaging, laboratory, and clinical diagnostic procedures," the Department of Health and Wellness said in a statement to CBC News. 

But there's something missing, said McCarthy. 

"We don't have access to labs at the moment. That's something that the association is hoping to move forward, in being able to access some labs," he said. 

"But it's one step at a time right now... We are hopeful that we'll be able to move forward on that."