Photo by Owen Beard on Unsplash

At Capital Chiropractic we send our patients out for imaging only when necessary. There are a few reasons we would refer out for an x-ray.

1. Medicaid insurance – If your insurance is a Medicaid policy (Iowa Total Care or Amerigroup, Iowa Medicaid (Elevance and Moline in future) they require chiropractors to have a new patient x-ray on file.
2. Clinically necessary – Patients suspected of having a more serious/life threatening condition that needs to be investigated before conservative care is given.
3. Failure of conservative care – Most musculoskeletal conditions respond favorably to conservative care (chiropractic and physical therapy). If after a trial of care (2-4 months) without significant progress, imaging can be a next step.

Typically, our office refers patients to Iowa Radiology, but we can also refer patients to their imaging location of choice. If you are referred to Iowa Radiology for imaging, you will receive a form that looks like this:

The front of an Iowa Radiology x-ray request form

After the doctor fills out the form, our team will scan and fax it to the desired location. It’s then up to you to get the imaging done. The good news is that no appointment is required and the visits typically only last about 10 minutes. Generally, Iowa Radiology accepts walk-ins until 4:30pm each work day.

If you lose this sheet, don’t fret! Iowa Radiology has the copy that our team previously faxed over – you can still go in and get your x-rays done.

Iowa Radiology has a few locations around the metro including downtown, Clive, and Ankeny. We send most patients to the downtown office as it is closest to our clinic. Though if the other locations are more convenient for you we are happy to send the referral there instead.

After you have gotten your x-ray or other imaging, a radiologist will review them and write a report on the findings. The report is then faxed back to us at Capital Chiropractic and will be discussed with you at your next visit.

For additional information on x-rays and why we don’t have our own machine, check out this this previous blog of ours: https://capitalchirodsm.com/to-x-ray-or-not-to-x-ray/

Give us a call for any further questions you may have regarding our x-ray policies!