Enhanced Underinsured Motorist Coverage Now Available

Enhanced Underinsured Motorist Coverage

As my avid blog followers are already aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with five Baltimore Chiropractic clinics. We offer chiropractic services in Baltimore City, Catonsville, Dundalk, and Glen Burnie. We routinely treat patients with headaches, neck pain, back pain, and arm and leg pain. We use drug-free conservative measures to rehab acute injuries. Many of our patients present to us with acute whiplash pain, from having been rear-ended in Baltimore automobile accidents. We also see a lot of patients who are injured while working and require acute rehabilitation to help get them back to work. And even “regular people” and “weekend warriors” with occasional aches and pains utilize our chiropractic care and rehab services to help with their pains in order to maintain their quality of life.

As a clinic that spends a lot of our time treating acute whiplash patients who suffer with headaches, neck pain, and back pain following Baltimore auto accidents, any time there is a new law that impacts this segment of the population it tends to pique my interest. As recently as July 1, 2018 the Maryland General Assembly enacted a new law meant to to deal with automobile insurance coverage. The law mandates that auto insurers now offer “enhanced underinsurance motorist coverage” or “EUIM” coverage.

Prior to the new law, if someone was injured as a result of the negligence of another driver, they would be entitled to recover monies up to the policy limits of the adverse driver in addition to any Underinsured Motorist Coverage that they carried on their own policy. This presumes that the injuries suffered were enough to warrant the full policy limits, which in many cases, they are not. However, the amount that the injured party collected from the adverse driver’s insurance company would be subtracted out from their UIM coverage.

By way of example: Lets say an injured party is struck by a driver who had a 30k limit policy. Unfortunately for our example they suffered 150k worth of damage/injury/lost wages/pain and suffering. This person could only collect maximimally 30k from the adverse insurance and 70k from their own UIM coverage. Both insurances would be “off the hook” with 100k in policy limits tendered. The injured patient would be “short 50k” and this would go uncompensated.

As a result of the law change, EUIM coverage, if purchased, now allows for policies to be stacked whereby you can now ADD or STACK the coverage amounts when recovering as an injured party. Using the same example, a patient with 150k worth of damage can now recover 30k from the injured party and the full 100k from their own EUIM policy, bringing their total compensation to 130k, a significant amount more than the 100k they were able to recover in the first example.

In short, the new EUIM policy laws allows for injured parties and/or their legal representatives to “stack” liability and EUIM claims in order to recover more. Having treated auto accident injury patients for years in Las Vegas, NV and Baltimore, MD I can attest that most patients don’t think about auto insurance policy limits until after they’ve been injured. In the vast majority of cases, they determine that in an effort to save money they do not have access to necessary coverage for their injuries, and it is usually too late. We use this time to educate them on the coverage that they should speak to their insurance brokers about should they need it again in the future.

It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway. I am not licensed to sell automobile insurance in Maryland. Nor am I a personal injury attorney in Maryland. I am not attempting to give legal advice or insurance advice. I am just looking to educate our followers on how available and affordable this new EUIM coverage is. I recently added it to my policy and to my wife’s policy and it added about 10 dollars a month total. To me, the additional premium of $120 per year makes me feel much safer on the road should the worst happen and should one of us become injured.

If you have questions about the new EUIM law and how it applies to you, you should contact your auto insurance broker. If you have suffered headaches, neck pain, back pain, or whiplash, you should contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at (443) 842-5500. We have your back on the road to recovery.

Dr. Gulitz

Summary Of Treatments at Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic

As my avid blog followers are already aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with now five clinics in Metropolitan Baltimore. In addition to clinics in Northwest Baltimore (Park Heights Avenue) and Downtown Baltimore (Fells Point, Eastern Avenue), we also have clinics on Wilkens Avenue (Catonsville), Dundalk (North Point Blvd.), and in Glen Burnie (Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard). Some of the questions that keep coming up when I meet prospective patients is – what is a Chiropractor? What services do you provide in your clinics? Can you help me and my particular situation?

It made me realize that it was probably time to come up with a blog post that deals with specifically all of the therapeutic services that we provide. That way they are all located in one place and if anyone has any specific questions about a particular procedure they can ask me. So in no particular order here is a summary of the therapeutic procedures that my clinics provide:

• Initial Evaluation:

During your first visit you will receive an initial evaluation in order to determine the treatment plan that best suits your individual needs. This evaluation will include a complete history, physical examination of presenting musculoskeletal symptoms, range of motion evaluation, orthopedic evaluation, neurological examination, chiropractic examination, and x-ray evaluation if clinically indicated. At the end of the initial evaluation we will have determined your working diagnosis (what is wrong), prognosis (how likely you are to make a complete recovery), and treatment plan (what we intend to do to help you get back to normal).

• Re-Evaluation:

You will undergo a periodic re-evaluation of your condition approximately every 10-12 visits, or every 4 weeks, whichever occurs first. We will assess how well you are responding to treatment and we will make future treatment recommendations at that time. Those recommendations may include referrals for advanced imaging or for co-treatment with other specialists such as orthopedists or pain management doctors, depending on your response to treatment up to that point in care.

• Final Evaluation:

All good things must come to an end. Once it is determined that you have reached Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) for your injuries a final evaluation will be performed. During the final evaluation your provider will determine what subjective complaints you have remaining. We will perform repeat physical evaluations, range of motion evaluations, and orthopedic evaluations. You will be released from our care with instructions on what to do if your pain or symptoms return.

• Moist Heat Packs:

One or more moist heat packs are wrapped in several layers of towel and placed on the area of complaint. Moist heat promotes healing by improving circulation. This allows muscles to become more elastic giving relief from muscle tension and spasms.

• Cold Packs:

One or more cold packs are wrapped in a towel and placed on the area of complaint. Cold packs reduce inflammation and swelling that occur following an injury.

• Electrical Muscle Stimulation:

Electrodes are placed on the skin by a professional who increases the muscle stimulation to the patient’s tolerance. This therapy improves circulation and decreases inflammation treating muscle pain and spasm. The electric muscle stimulation therapy also helps to “trick the brain” by overriding its pain signals with low voltage, thus helping reduce pain.

• Mechanical Traction Table (Roller Table):

Patient is placed face up on an intersegmental traction table while a mechanism applies pressure to different regions of the spine. This therapy induces passive motion to the spinal joints thus increasing the flexibility of the spine and promoting healing. Each joint segment (where two spinal vertebrae connect) is stretched using the patient’s body weight and a rolling lever to passively separate joint articulations one-by-one from the neck all the way to the lower back.

• Ultrasound:

Professional applies the ultrasound using an applicator and a water-based gel to the area of complaint. Ultrasound generates heat using sound waves that can penetrate deeper into the musculature then a moist heat pack. This form of deep heat increases blood flow and promotes healing. This treatment is used very commonly with swollen joints to help reduce joint swelling (edema). We often also use ultrasound on very bony joints (i.e. wrists, hands, ankles, feet) where the application of heat may be less appropriate.

• Therapeutic Exercises:

Professional will instruct the patient on various exercises to be performed. The professional will increase the duration, repetitions and difficulty depending on individual patient need. This type of exercise helps to increase range of motion and promotes muscle healing. It also facilitates the patients return normal activities of daily living. Therapeutic exercises can be performed either in an individual (one-on-one) or group setting.

• Massage Therapy:

The chiropractor will use his/her hands and/or a series of tools that uses vibration to massage the tissues that require treatment. This therapy causes relaxation of the muscles, increased blood flow and softens muscle adhesions promoting healing of the injured areas. Massage therapy is directed to the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.) rather than to the spinal joints.

• Manual Therapy:

The chiropractor will use his/her hands or a series of tools to apply focused pressure to stretch tight and tender muscle fibers. This procedure includes manual traction therapy and myofascial release treatment. The goal of this treatment is to increase a pain free range of motion and to facilitate a return to functional activities. Manual therapy is directed to the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.) rather than to the spinal joints.

• Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation Therapy:

The chiropractor will use his/her hands or an adjusting instrument to impart a controlled force to a joint resulting in mobilization or manipulation of that joint. Inducing motion into a joint increases range of motion and improves tissue circulation promoting healing. Chiropractic manipulation ranges in intensity from spinal mobilization (passively moving joints to their end range of motion as performed by a Chiropractor’s hands), to instrument assisted mobilization (using tools to tap the vertebrae to induce spinal motion), to drop techniques (utilizing momentum from a table to drop out beneath a joint) to high velocity low amplitude spinal manipulation (the traditional joint manipulation most people associate with chiropractic manipulation). It is very important to note that not all patients have spinal conditions which indicate traditional spinal manipulation, and as such, the providers may need to utilize alternative and less invasive techniques to impart the desired spinal mobilization/manipulation indicated for a particular patient. In short, we will impart spinal mobilization/manipulation beginning will less invasive and working towards more invasive techniques as clinically indicated and as tolerated.

I recognize that this is a fairly long list. So if you require further explanation let us know and one of the many chiropractors and support staff at Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic would be happy to help you.

Dr. Gulitz

Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ford Explorer Receive Worst Possible Rating in Passenger Side Crash Test

As my avid blog followers are already aware, Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic has recently grown to five Baltimore area Chiropractic Clinics. Our locations now serve Baltimore City, Catonsville, Dundalk, and Glen Burnie. We have a total of nine chiropractors and countless other support staff to best serve your headache, neck pain, and back pain needs. It has been an exciting week launching the Dundalk and Glen Burnie locations and we are expecting the momentum of the first week to carry over to this week and beyond.

One of my favorite past times is studying the news and current events, particularly when it relates to auto accident injuries and car crash biomechanics. When I see news stories that cover these topics I usually pay really close attention. Just this past week I saw a story that I found interesting. The story detailed the crash test results for two very popular SUVs, the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Ford Explorer.

The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) recently tested the top 8 selling SUVs and rated their crashworthiness in a “small overlap front crash test.” This means that the vehicles were accelerated to 40 mph and then struck a barrier head on, where the brunt of the impact was just off the passenger side front wheel. This is meant to mimic a vehicle striking a tree or pole, which is very common in cases of head-on impacts. IIHS found that the Ford Explorer’s passenger side crushed in more than a foot. This leads them to conclude that injuries to the right lower extremity and hip are likely for these impacts. Ford reported that it is a safe vehicle, but they mentioned that a newer updated version of the explorer will be released next year.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee faired even worse than the Explorer. The passenger’s head was found to go through the airbag and to strike the dashboard and the passenger side curtain airbag failed to deploy. For the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the head injuries are thought to be worse than the lower extremity injuries that would also be generated under these conditions.

Unfortunately for both the Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokees, these cars performed only marginally better when the impact was tested on the driver’s side of the vehicle.

The reason I found this article interesting was because it seems that about half the cars on the roads in Baltimore are either Jeep Grand Cherokees or Ford Explorers. Americans love SUVs and especially with it being summer, I am seeing many more of them on the road lately. Most people tend to think of these SUVs and impenetrable tanks on the road. It gives the drivers and occupants a false sense of security on the road.

While I’m not suggesting you turn these vehicles in and get new ones if you happen to drive them, I am suggesting that you maintain awareness of your surroundings at all times and that you drive cautiously if you are operating or are a passenger in one of these vehicles.

If you, or someone you know, has suffered an injury as a result of a Baltimore, Catonsville, Dundalk, or Glen Burnie auto accident injury, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at 443-842-5500. We will get you back on the road to recovery.

Dr. Gulitz

Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic Announces 2 New Clinics, New Clinical Director

As my avid blog followers are already aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with three Chiropractic clinics in and around the Baltimore, MD community. Up until this point the primary focus of the clinics has been on treating spinal pain in Baltimore City. Typically our patients present with headaches, neck pain and back pain. Some are weekend warriors, but many have acute injuries sustained in Baltimore work accidents and Baltimore car accidents. About a year ago we began noticing that patients outside of the city were traveling longer and longer distances to come and see us in our city clinics. After polling several hundred patients we decided that it was time to expand our horizons and open clinics outside of Baltimore City proper. With this in mind, it is with great pleasure that I announce the grand opening of our Dundalk and Glen Burnie clinics, effective June 18, 2018.

The Dundalk Clinic will be operated by Dr. Kaykavoos Kashi D.C. He has worked in both the Fells Point and Park Heights clinics alongside Dr. Gulitz over the past 18 months. When an opportunity came up to purchase Henry Chiropractic from Dr. Paul Henry, he could not resist the opportunity. Dr. Kashi is overseeing extensive renovations in his current clinic, and assures me that it will be ready to start seeing patients in Mid June. Some of you may recognize the name Dr. Kashi in Dundalk. His older brother, Dr. Kiumarce Kashi has been a primary care medical provider in and around Dundalk and Rosedale for nearly 20 years. It seemed only fitting to have another Dr. Kashi extend his brother’s legacy in East Baltimore County. The Dundalk clinic will be serving the communities of Dundalk, Essex, Middle River, and Rosedale. The clinic is located at 1103 North Point Blvd #404, Baltimore, MD 21224. It is conveniently located on the corner of North Point Blvd and Merritt Blvd and is easily accessible by all major forms of transportation. And yes, there is plenty of patient parking as well!

The Glen Burnie clinic will be operated by Drs. Tricia Muneses and Dr. Xavier Touze, of Preferred Care Center. They have been practicing Chiropractic in the Glen Burnie area for over 20 years and are well known in the community for providing great care and patient satisfaction. Their clinic is currently undergoing some upgrades including new wiring for internet, new televisions in the waiting room and exercise rooms, and computer upgrades to keep pace with the advances in healthcare. The Glen Burnie practice is located at 7389 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd, Suite L, Glen Burnie, MD 21061. It is located at the light rail stop in Glen Burnie and it is very accessible by all means of conveyance. And yes, there is plenty of parking at this location, too. Drs. Muneses and Touze are excited to join the Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab team and to continue to provide great service to the Glen Burnie community.

As a result of the addition of two new clinics, Dr. Gulitz has recently promoted his associate Chiropractor Dr. Erica Wise to the role of Clinical Director of Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab. Dr. Wise’s responsibilities will still be patient care in the Fells Point clinic, but will now extend to overseeing patient care, documentation, and multi-clinic consistency across all five Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic locations. Dr. Wise is excited to embrace her new role and to help the ever-expanding needs of the clinic.

It is with the utmost sincerity that I thank you, the Baltimore community, for your continued patronage and support of Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic. We look to continue to innovate, to improve, and to expand over the next several years to become the number one choice for chiropractic care in and around Baltimore. Thank you.

Dr. Gulitz

Tesla Model X in Autopilot Mode Just Before Fatal Crash

As my avid blog followers are already aware, I am a Baltimore Chiropractor with three Baltimore Chiropractic clinics in Baltimore, MD. We have plans to expand our operations to include Dundalk (Baltimore County) and Glen Burnie (Anne Arundel County) locations shortly, so keep an eye on our blog for an upcoming announcement.

The patients that we see in our clinics typically present with headaches, neck pain, and/or back pain. Sometimes these ailments present from athletic injuries, sometimes from repetitive strain injuries, and other times due to traumatic injuries suffered as a result of Baltimore auto accidents or Baltimore work injuries. Regardless of the cause of these injuries it is our collective goal to correctly diagnose the injuries and to begin treatment right away in order to get the injured party (patient) back to their normal lives as quickly as possible.

One of the things that I like to do is to scan the internet for stories related to automobile safety and automobile trends. As a company we treat so many Baltimore auto accident patients that I feel it is imperative that we stay up on the changes in how cars are designed and how they function on the road around us. I found a recent news story about a Model X Tesla in California that was involved in a fatal crash with a jersey wall while operating in autonomous mode. Tesla reports that this vehicle did have a human occupant behind the wheel and referred to the death as “devastating.” This story is immediately on the heels of another deadly impact that I reported on a few weeks back where an autonomous Uber (this time a Volvo SUV) struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.

I love technology as much as anyone else. I love the idea of a future where we depend on computers and radars and sensors to deliver us from point A to point B but what we are seeing from the early iterations of autonomous and semi-autonomous driving technology is that the safety is just not there yet. In both the Uber and now the Tesla incidents both vehicles were operating in autonomous mode with drivers behind the wheel. In both instances it is reported that drivers were distracted while operating the vehicle, either looking at their phones, or not paying close attention to other visual or audio cues being produced by their vehicles at or before the time of the impact.

Tesla has reiterated that operating their vehicles in autonomous mode still requires the driver to pay attention to their surroundings and to heed the warnings of the vehicle in order to take over at a moment’s notice. Perhaps these senseless deaths could have been avoided had the vehicle operators been paying more close attention, as opposed to depending on their vehicles from keeping them safe.

The big rhetorical question is – if humans must still be on alert while operating autonomous vehicles, then why do we really need them in the first place? Is it just as a feat for human technological advancement or does it actually cut down on preventable injuries and deaths?

With this now being the second reported fatality associated with autonomous vehicles I suspect there will be more red tape thrown up which will prevent (at least temporarily) the wide spread advancement and adaptation of this technology. I think its smart that we make sure that the technology is ready for everyday driving conditions before its tested in real-world settings. To me, even one fatal crash due to an autonomous vehicle is one too many. Given the opportunity I do not believe I would own or operate a car that drove for me. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this technology in the next few years in light of these tragedies.

If you, or someone you know, has been injured as a result of a Baltimore, Catonsville, Dundalk, or Glen Burnie auto accident, please contact Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic at (443) 842-5500. We’ve got your back on the road to recovery.

Dr. Gulitz