A new systematic review compares the cost of caring for patients with spine-related pain, examining the difference in downstream costs between chiropractic care and medical management.1
The authors conducted a Medline search, initially finding 2,256 citations from which they identified 44 applicable studies of high or acceptable quality. The 44 studies include 26 cohort studies, 17 cost studies and one randomized, controlled trial.
This is the first such study conducted since a similar paper was published in 2015.2 This is important, as most of the papers published since then identified not only initial costs of care, but downstream costs as well, which can be even more expensive than the initial care.
Here are all the ways chiropractic management resulted in lower downstream utilization and cost compared to medical management:
The authors concluded: “Patients with spine-related musculoskeletal pain who consulted a chiropractor as their initial provider incurred substantially decreased downstream healthcare services and associated costs, resulting in lower overall healthcare costs compared with medical management.”
Perhaps one of the greatest values of this paper is the list of references for each of the above variables. This arms DCs with the necessary citations to write their own articles, post on social media or have dialogues with other providers.
The study was funded in part by the Clinical Compass and the NCMIC Foundation. It is available without cost or subscription, with a pdf format downloadable for future reference. Every DC is encouraged to download and utilize this study.
References
Many relevant diagnostic signs are not performed deliberately by the examiner or by the patient at the examiner’s direction. They are observed as the patient reacts to their condition. Fortin’s finger sign, Minor’s sign, and Vanzetti’s sign are three examples of this principle.
Spearheaded by burgeoning scientific and clinical research literature, psychedelics have reached a level of media coverage and popular interest that has not been seen for over half a century. By “psychedelics,” we are referring to the unique class of substances that includes psilocybin (the active compound found in so-called “magic mushrooms”), LSD, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT, and mescaline – each of which occurs in the natural world (except for LSD, which is a semi-synthetic compound).
While working at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., one of the primary care physicians stated that imaging every patient prior to receiving chiropractic was not medically necessary. It was at that point I reconsidered the need for the imaging of every patient to avoid malpractice.
