Cost-Effectiveness

Chiropractic Cost-Effectiveness

By Frank M. Painter|March 16, 2011|Cost-Effectiveness, News|

Chiropractic Cost-Effectiveness

By Daniel Redwood, DC

“Doctors of chiropractic are a vital part of our nation’s health care system. Your services have been proven both effective and cost-effective and every day you help countless Americans with a variety of health conditions.”

~ Kathleen Sebelius,
Secretary of Health and Human Services
2011 National Chiropractic Legislative Conference

Health care costs in the United States continue to rise and now account for 17.6% of the economy. In the public sector, Medicare and Medicaid budgets are under continual strain, while accelerating private sector insurance premium increases are pricing millions of American families out of the market each year.

Aside from outlawing pre-existing condition exclusions and providing premium subsidies for those who need them most, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) empowers the Department of Health and Human Services to take a variety of steps toward controlling costs. But attempts to utilize these powers will trigger strong opposition from groups facing adverse impact to their bottom lines. Further complicating matters, the future of PPACA remains uncertain as opponents seek to vilify, defund and repeal it. (more…)

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Chiropractic Treatment of Workers’ Compensation Claimants in the State of Texas

By Frank M. Painter|February 24, 2011|Cost-Effectiveness, Low Back Pain, Research|

Chiropractic Treatment of Workers’ Compensation Claimants in the State of Texas

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: MGT of America, Austin, Texas ~ February 2003

In 2002, the Texas Chiropractic Association (TCA) commissioned an independent study to determine the use and effectiveness of chiropractic with regard to workers’ compensation, the results of which were published in February 2003. According to the report, chiropractic care was associated with significantly lower costs and more rapid recovery in treating workers with low-back injuries.

They found:

Lower back and neck injuries accounted for 38 percent of all claims costs.

Chiropractors treated about 30 percent of workers with lower back injuries, but were responsible for only 17.5 percent of the medical costs and 9.1 percent of the total costs.

These findings were even more intertesting:

The average claim for a worker with a low-back injury was $15,884. However, if a worker received at least 75 percent of his or her care from a chiropractor, the total cost per claimant decreased by nearly one-fourth to $12,202.

If the chiropractor provided at least 90 percent of the care, the average cost declined by more than 50 percent, to $7,632.

Doctors of chiropractic have been licensed to practice in Texas since 1949 and have been a fundamental part of the state’s workers’ compensation system since 1953. Each year, Texas DCs treat tens of thousands of injured workers, but until recently, little data were available comparing the cost-effectiveness and efficacy of chiropractic versus other forms of care available through the workers’ compensation program.

(more…)

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Newly Published Study Confirms That “Maintenance Care” Delivers!

By Frank M. Painter|January 26, 2011|Cost-Effectiveness, Low Back Pain, Research|

Newly Published Study Confirms
That “Maintenance Care” Delivers!

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2011 (Aug 15); 36 (18): 1427-37

Senna, Mohammed K. MD; Machaly, Shereen A. MD

Shereen A. Machaly, MD,
Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department,
Mansoura Faculty of Medicine,
Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt;
shmach_237@hotmail.com

This new, single blinded placebo controlled study, conducted by the Faculty of Medicine at Mansoura University, conclusively demonstrates that maintenance care provides significant benefits for those with chronic low back pain. [1]

The authors concluded that spinal manipulation is effective for the treatment of chronic nonspecific LBP and that to obtain long-term benefit for the patient, this study suggests maintenance spinal manipulations after the initial intensive manipulative therapy can provide that additional benefit.

BACKGROUND: Spinal manipulation (SMT) is a common treatment option for low back pain. Numerous clinical trials have attempted to evaluate its effectiveness for different subgroups of acute and chronic LBP previously, but the efficacy of maintenance SMT in chronic non-specific LBP has never been studied. (more…)

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The Cost-Effectiveness of Chiropractic

By Frank M. Painter|April 17, 2009|Cost-Effectiveness|

The Cost-Effectiveness of Chiropractic

The Chiro.Org Blog

John’s recent post on the de-listing of chiropractic generated a lot of interest and comments from DCs, MDs and RMTs.

In the USA, Chiropractic has been included in several managed care programs, and a recent review of 70,274 member-months over a 7-year period within an IPA demonstrated:

decreases of 60.2% in-hospital admissions,
59.0% less hospital days,
62.0% less outpatient surgeries and procedures, and
83% less pharmaceutical costs when patients were seen by a DC rather than an MD for the same complaint!

The authors concluded that:

“this clearly demonstrates that chiropractic nonsurgical nonpharmaceutical approaches generates reductions in both clinical and cost utilization when compared with PCPs using conventional medicine alone.”So, Alberta, Canada may save some money that won’t be paid to the chiropractors, but inevitably will lose much more money in the long run.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Chiropractic Page contains many more prospective studies going back to 1985 that demonstrate the cost savings associated with chiropractic care.

There’s a lot more like this in our LINKS Seection

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