Impact of On-Site Chiropractic

There has been a growing body of evidence that having on-site chiropractors at your place of work increases efficiency, lowers the risk of worker’s comp claims as well as provides an alternative to costly medical care for common-non-complicated conditions like low back pain, neck pain and headaches. A study in 2014 published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine analyzed the benefits of on-site chiropractic.

The objective of this study was to compare the influence of employer-sponsored, on-site chiropractic care against community-obtained care on health care utilization. It was a retrospective claims analysis study, using 876 on-site and 759 off-site participants.

Important Points From This Article:

1. Musculoskeletal conditions are the primary cause of physical disability in the United States.
2. About 50% of US adults have back pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, or bodily injury in excess of 3 months’ duration annually.
3. 17% of US workers have absenteeism as a result of musculoskeletal conditions yearly.
4. Neck pain inhibits about 14% of workers from successfully completing their jobs.
5. In 2006, the average direct cost of treatment for musculoskeletal conditions was $576 billion, and indirect costs added an additional $373 billion, primarily in wage losses. [total = $949 billion]
6. “Doctors of chiropractic promote wellness and injury prevention.”
7. “Chiropractic care has been demonstrated to deliver effective treatment for the symptoms of musculoskeletal conditions.”
8. “On-site chiropractic care has been shown to deliver substantial value through convenience of access, high quality of care and delivery, and lowered overall costs.”
9. On-site chiropractic care has “demonstrated significant improvements in headache, neck pain, and low back pain functional status in patients utilizing on-site services over a short time frame while still showing lower utilization and cost outcomes than community-based care.”
10. Employer-sponsored worksite clinics could control costs and increase workplace productivity while providing high quality and convenient care to their employees.
11. “This study demonstrates that users of on-site chiropractic services have lower health care utilization than those who obtain their care at off-site community care centers.”
12. “Patients receiving chiropractic care on-site were significantly less likely to have radiology [diagnostic imaging, including MRI, ultrasound, and x-rays] testing.”
13. The off-site group received more radiology services overall (55.5% vs 38.2%) including magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and radiograph; had higher outpatient and emergency department utilization; and demonstrated greater use of chiropractic care and physical therapy.
14. “The mean number of chiropractic services and physical therapy visits per member were both significantly higher in the off-site group.”
15. “The results of this study support the value of chiropractic services offered at on-site health centers in comparison with chiropractic services provided off-site. Future research into potential indirect and direct cost savings would supplement this study and further demonstrate the advantages of on-site chiropractic care.”
16. “Compared with off-site care, on-site chiropractic services are associated with lower health care utilization. These results support the value of chiropractic services offered at on-site health centers.”

Reference:

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine September 2014; Volume 56; No. 9; pp. 990-992 Sylvia L. Kindermann, MPH; Qingjiang Hou, MS; Ross M. Miller, MD, MPH