Patients visiting Chiropractors and other Holistically-oriented Physicians who serve as Primary Care Providers, have lower utilization costs and higher patient satisfaction levels than patients treated by Conventional Medical Doctors.

According to a new study published in the May issue of Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics that tracks data from a unique, Independent Physicians Association where Chiropractors serve as first-contact Primary Care Physicians.  The escalation of medical expenditures remains an urgent problem in the United States and it's becoming quite clear that the cost-containment strategies by conventional Medical Providers are failing to achieve even mediocre results, said co-author, James Winterstein, DC.  This study confirms that integration of Allopathic and Chiropractic and other Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Providers can positively impact patient Quality of care while limiting over all costs.

This approach to patient care has a great potential to improve the US Healthcare System.  Led by Richard Sarnet , MD, researchers directly compared cost and clinic utilization data from Integrative Complementary and Alternative Medicine providers of the Independent Physicians Association with Conventional Medical IPA data from members enrolled in a traditional health maintenance organization, HMO.  The recent report analyzes data from 2003 to 2005 and is a follow-up to the original report published in 2004, which compared data from 1999 to 2002.

Our most recent analysis supports earlier findings that patients visiting CAM-oriented Primary Care Physicians, primarily Chiropractors, experience fewer hospitalizations, underwent fewer surgeries and used considerably fewer pharmaceuticals than HMO patients who received traditional Medical Care.

Dr. Winterstein said moreover, Doctors of Chiropractic succeed in diagnosing and treating patients at a level nearly equal to medical doctors.  Researchers found that over the course of the seven-year study, patient visiting chiropractors and other CAM-oriented Primary Care Physicians had 50% fewer hospitalizations, 62% fewer outpatient surgical cases and 85% lower pharmaceutical costs when compared with the total network HMO utilization rates and cost.  The Chiropractors and other doctors treated and managed cases ranging from upper respiratory track infections and allergies to headaches, orthopedic, and other medical conditions.

In 2005, the Chiropractic PCPs managed 60% of their enrolled patients without requiring a referral to a Conventional Medical Specialist.  This data mirrors the 2001 findings, which also demonstrated that 60% of the patient population within the Integrative IPA was solely managed by their Chiropractic Primary Care Physicians.  The most current data from our ongoing study suggests that Doctors of Chiropractic are well-suited to provide patients with valuable primary care services.  Dr. Winterstein notes, we have demonstrated that it is possible to deliver CAM-oriented Primary Care in a highly regulated environment without compromising either quality or safety.

Patients reported on the quality of the care that they received through the use of annual patient satisfaction surveys. On average, data of the patients enrolled between 2003-2005 suggested, demonstrated a high-degree of satisfaction, 96%, 94%, and 91%, respectively. These findings were similar to data in 1999 through 2002 in which 100%, 89%, 91%, and 90%, respectively where satisfied with their level of service.  The Integrative CAM Patients consistently rated their experiences more positively than did members enrolled in HMOs Conventional Medical IPAs.

The Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics, is the premier biomedical publication in the Chiropractic Profession and the official scientific journal of the American Chiropractic Association provides the latest information on current research developments as well as clinically-oriented research and practice information for use in clinic studies.  For more information about Chiropractic, visit the American Chiropractic Associations website at www.acatoday.org.

Source: 
Richard L. Sarnat, MD, James Winterstein, DC, Jerrilyn A. Cambron, DC, PhD.  Clinical Utilization and Cost Outcomes from an Independent Physician Association:  An Additional 3-Year Update.

For more information on this study contact Angela Kargus at the American Chiropractic Association.