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Chiropractic Care Reduces X-Rays, Surgeries

A study in the October 11, 2004 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that low back pain patients with chiropractic coverage in their insurance plan needed less surgery and fewer X-rays than patients on the same insurance plan without chiropractic coverage.

 

In the largest study of its type, four years of back pain claims were examined. 700,000 insured patients with chiropractic coverage were compared with 1,000,000 insured members without chiropractic coverage. Other than the chiropractic coverage, both groups of patients were on the same insurance plan.

 

By comparing the two groups, the study found that:
·        Chiropractic care cut the overall cost of back pain care by 28%.
·        Chiropractic care reduced the cost of X-rays and MRIs by 37%.
·        Chiropractic care reduced back pain patient hospitalizations by 41%.
·        Chiropractic care reduced the number of back surgeries by 32%.

 

Dr. Douglas Metz, chief health services officer at American Specialty Health, the insurer that sponsored the study said, "No matter how we perform the analysis - whether we look at total costs to the health plan, at lower back pain care, at musculoskeletal care - in each data set, the population covered for chiropractic had a lower overall cost to the health plan than the population without access to chiropractic benefits."

 

Although this study did not examine patient satisfaction, Metz says that other company studies show that 95% of chiropractic patients are satisfied with the care they receive.

 

Commentary: It always comes down to "try the simple things first" doesn't it? The simple, yet effective process of restoring and maintaining proper body function through lifetime chiropractic care should be a major component of everyone's health plan.