Study Shows Chiropractic Saves People Money

On March 6, 2024, the scientific journal Chiropractic & Manual Therapies published the results of a literature review study showing that people who utilized chiropractic for spine-related pain first saved money on all healthcare related costs.

The authors of the study begin by describing the magnitude of spine related pain in society. "Spine-related musculoskeletal pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and one of the most common reasons for missed work. In the United States (U.S.), healthcare costs for low back and neck pain are rising and as of 2016 were the highest for any condition, with an estimated $134.5 billion for care related to spinal pain."

As reported in this study, there are many options people utilize for caring for either acute or chronic spine-related pain. These options include prescription and over-the-counter medications, manual or behavioral therapies, injections, and surgery. They also report that in the U.S., chiropractic care is one of the most commonly utilized types of care for spine-related pain.

One of the issues related to the problem of spine-related pain is the overall costs of the care itself, as well as the "downstream costs." Downstream costs are those additional costs that may not be directly related to the treatment of the condition but were impacted by the initial care rendered. These costs can include things such as medication side effect costs, hospital costs, work loss related costs, and costs to other areas. The authors of the study note, "For spine-related musculoskeletal pain, most often LBP, an emerging body of evidence suggests that downstream costs are significantly affected by the specialty of the initiating care provider."

In this study, thousands of studies were reviewed. Of those, 44 studies with valid data met the criteria and were studied to look at the overall costs of different forms of care for spine related musculoskeletal pain. The results of the study showed that overall, if a patient went to the chiropractor first for spine related pain, the costs would be greatly reduced as compared to seeking medical care first.

The authors of the study wrote in their conclusion, "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."

Based upon the results of the study, and the fact that much of chiropractic care costs are borne by the patient receiving care, the authors made a recommendation for the healthcare system. "When considering this evidence, it may be in society’s best interest for U.S. healthcare organizations and governmental agencies to consider modifying benefit designs to reduce barriers to access to chiropractic providers. Modifying or eliminating preauthorization requirements, medical doctor gatekeepers, arbitrary visit limits, co-pays and deductibles may all be considered. Eliminating these barriers would allow easier access to chiropractic services, which based on currently available evidence consistently demonstrate reduced downstream services and associated costs."