When care for back pain extends beyond primary care, chiropractic is far less expensive than medical care. These findings are from a study that examined the costs of managing low-back pain (LBP) in a managed care organization in northeast Wisconsin.

Investigators compared the expense of managing LBP by medical providers (both primary care and other providers) with the expense of managing LBP by chiropractors.

According to the report, “allowed costs of chiropractic treatment were 12% greater than medical primary care and 60% less per case than other types of medical care combined, on a per-case basis: median cost of medical primary care was $365.00, chiropractic care was $417.00, and medical nonprimary care was $669.00.”

“This study suggests chiropractic management as less expensive compared with medical management of back pain when care extends beyond primary care. Primary care management alone is virtually indistinguishable from chiropractic management in terms of costs.”

JMPT – November 2009;32:734-9.
www.jmptonline.org