Kirstin A. Counts, D.C.
Dr. Kirstin A. Counts has dedicated over 20 years to patient care, advocacy, and the healthcare industry and is a Board Certified Chiropractic Physician with an additional certification in Functional Medicine Chiropractic Family Practice from the American Chiropractic Association’s Council on Diagnosis & Internal Disorders. Focusing on patient care, practice development, compliance strategies, and community outreach, her primary interest is in harmonizing all practical and philosophical approaches to patient care for the unified advancement of the entire healthcare industry.
Having spent many years of her life as a modern dancer, Dr. Counts is no stranger to chronic pain and the sacrifices required to live through it. Her first professional job as a dancer was with the Firethorne Dance Theatre in Tampa, Florida when she was nine years old. She continued to dance professionally at Cypress Gardens, act in public service announcement films for child abuse victims, dance at Carnegie Hall, perform and choreograph with multiple regional dance companies, and perform in Paris through her teenage years and as a young adult. Her choreography and group performance of “Shallow Waters” won the regional competition of the American College Dance Festival representing the University of South Florida.
Initially pursuing a career as a medical doctor following several serious knee injuries and a life-saving hospitalization to treat a systemic infection, she was introduced to chiropractic as a college student by visiting a chiropractor for help with a low back injury. With subsequent treatment, she began to see dramatic changes in her health, including fewer headaches, the elimination of asthma (which she had battled since childhood), and the resolution of chronic knee pain that had been unchanged by surgery.
Her fascination with the human body, its structure, its function, and its potential combined with the powerful chiropractic experience she had as a patient led her to pursue a career as a chiropractic physician rather than as a medical doctor, as she had originally planned, after her early career in dance. She built her patient practice on this foundation and with a deep passion for sharing this knowledge and improving the daily lives of patients. During her time in daily practice she discovered that many medical doctors were reluctant to refer their patients to chiropractic specialists and often chose pharmaceutical interventions over manual therapies or dietary supplementation. This realization led her to find alliances within the medical and pharmaceutical communities to build significant bridges between chiropractic and allopathic care and to seek further education in Functional Medicine through the Diplomate American Board of Chiropractic Internists (DABCI).
During a change in her practice location and management, she became aware of new requirements for small entity compliance to federal law. As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, all public and private healthcare providers and other eligible professionals were required to adopt and demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic medical records (EMR) in order to maintain their existing Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement levels. While Dr. Counts had spent her career as a physician and private practice owner managing the rigors of insurance participation requirements, changes from ICD 9 to ICD 10, and all of the general standards of practice (including HIPAA), the new regulatory requirements for meaningful use (42 CFR Part 495) were her first entry into formalized federal law changing her practice model and how she needed to think about regulations in a private practice.
In recent years, her focus has been on helping practitioners and manufacturers navigate the regulatory landscape safely to bring well-managed products to patients. She has co-authored published works with a globally renowned pharmaceutical executive and joined a recognized corporate authority on global regulatory compliance for pharmaceutical and dietary supplement manufacturing. Her first audit and inspection of a dietary supplement manufacturer resulted in a multi-company Warning Letter issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
She received her doctorate degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 2000, graduating magna cum laude. She received her BS in Biology with a minor in Modern Dance from the University of South Florida in Tampa and attended high school and her first year of college at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem where she also majored in Modern Dance.
Having spent many years of her life as a modern dancer, Dr. Counts is no stranger to chronic pain and the sacrifices required to live through it. Her first professional job as a dancer was with the Firethorne Dance Theatre in Tampa, Florida when she was nine years old. She continued to dance professionally at Cypress Gardens, act in public service announcement films for child abuse victims, dance at Carnegie Hall, perform and choreograph with multiple regional dance companies, and perform in Paris through her teenage years and as a young adult. Her choreography and group performance of “Shallow Waters” won the regional competition of the American College Dance Festival representing the University of South Florida.
Initially pursuing a career as a medical doctor following several serious knee injuries and a life-saving hospitalization to treat a systemic infection, she was introduced to chiropractic as a college student by visiting a chiropractor for help with a low back injury. With subsequent treatment, she began to see dramatic changes in her health, including fewer headaches, the elimination of asthma (which she had battled since childhood), and the resolution of chronic knee pain that had been unchanged by surgery.
Her fascination with the human body, its structure, its function, and its potential combined with the powerful chiropractic experience she had as a patient led her to pursue a career as a chiropractic physician rather than as a medical doctor, as she had originally planned, after her early career in dance. She built her patient practice on this foundation and with a deep passion for sharing this knowledge and improving the daily lives of patients. During her time in daily practice she discovered that many medical doctors were reluctant to refer their patients to chiropractic specialists and often chose pharmaceutical interventions over manual therapies or dietary supplementation. This realization led her to find alliances within the medical and pharmaceutical communities to build significant bridges between chiropractic and allopathic care and to seek further education in Functional Medicine through the Diplomate American Board of Chiropractic Internists (DABCI).
During a change in her practice location and management, she became aware of new requirements for small entity compliance to federal law. As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, all public and private healthcare providers and other eligible professionals were required to adopt and demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic medical records (EMR) in order to maintain their existing Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement levels. While Dr. Counts had spent her career as a physician and private practice owner managing the rigors of insurance participation requirements, changes from ICD 9 to ICD 10, and all of the general standards of practice (including HIPAA), the new regulatory requirements for meaningful use (42 CFR Part 495) were her first entry into formalized federal law changing her practice model and how she needed to think about regulations in a private practice.
In recent years, her focus has been on helping practitioners and manufacturers navigate the regulatory landscape safely to bring well-managed products to patients. She has co-authored published works with a globally renowned pharmaceutical executive and joined a recognized corporate authority on global regulatory compliance for pharmaceutical and dietary supplement manufacturing. Her first audit and inspection of a dietary supplement manufacturer resulted in a multi-company Warning Letter issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
She received her doctorate degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 2000, graduating magna cum laude. She received her BS in Biology with a minor in Modern Dance from the University of South Florida in Tampa and attended high school and her first year of college at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem where she also majored in Modern Dance.
Mindy J. Allport-Settle, MBA
Ms. Allport-Settle has over 25 years of experience in health care and in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industry. Her career began when she was a teenager working as an emergency medical technician. Later, she joined the U.S. Navy's advanced hospital corps and attended Wake Forest University's Bowman Gray School of Medicine (specializing in ophthalmology and organ and human tissue procurement). Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, an MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix, and completion of the corporate governance course series in audit and compensation committees and board effectiveness at Harvard Business School.
Professionally, she has served as a key executive, board member, and consultant for some of the best companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industry. She was the youngest elected member of the Board of Directors of a publicly traded company in North America (Generex Biotechnology, NASDAQ: GNBT) where she served as the Chairman of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit and Regulatory Compliance Committees. She also proudly served as a Senate and Congressional lobbyist in the United States for government health care reform and the inclusion and promotion of novel therapies in Washington, DC and as a representative of patient protection and commercial integration strategies internationally. She developed the only FDA-recognized and benchmarked quality systems training and development business methodology and has authored more than 30 industry-leading books balancing regulatory requirements, shareholder expectations, patient protection, and community outreach.
Today, Ms. Allport-Settle continues to provide expert guidance in regulatory compliance (both domestic and international law), corporate structuring, restructuring and turnarounds, new drug submissions, research and development, product commercialization, and new business development.
Professionally, she has served as a key executive, board member, and consultant for some of the best companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industry. She was the youngest elected member of the Board of Directors of a publicly traded company in North America (Generex Biotechnology, NASDAQ: GNBT) where she served as the Chairman of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit and Regulatory Compliance Committees. She also proudly served as a Senate and Congressional lobbyist in the United States for government health care reform and the inclusion and promotion of novel therapies in Washington, DC and as a representative of patient protection and commercial integration strategies internationally. She developed the only FDA-recognized and benchmarked quality systems training and development business methodology and has authored more than 30 industry-leading books balancing regulatory requirements, shareholder expectations, patient protection, and community outreach.
Today, Ms. Allport-Settle continues to provide expert guidance in regulatory compliance (both domestic and international law), corporate structuring, restructuring and turnarounds, new drug submissions, research and development, product commercialization, and new business development.