Old School models of rehabilitation of low back pain start with WAITING for a meeting with a physician, WAITING for a referral for a specialist, maybe WAITING for imaging, then FINALLY going to Physical Therapy. On average this costs $2100-2200 per episode. What if we could help you feel better sooner, faster, and cheaper? The New Model of direct access to a Physical Therapist first on average costs $900-1000 without all of the WAIT!
The American Physical Therapy Association performed a study that focused on costs between Physical Therapy, Injections, and Surgery with comparisons of total costs of initial treatment as well as total costs for 12 months after diagnosis.
The study, commissioned by the Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation (APTQI), focused on Medicare A and B claims data from 472,000 beneficiaries who received a diagnosis of Low Back Pain and began treatment between February and October of 2014.
Here’s what they found:
Here’s what they Found:
- Treatment cost perspective, physical therapy wins out.
- PT first on average was $3,992—19% lower than total average costs when injections were used first ($4,905) and 75% lower than the total average costs for the surgery-first group ($16,195).
- Physical therapy also is associated with savings over time.
- Average 12-month spending for the physical therapy group was $11,151, compared with $13,606 for the injection group and $36,772 for the surgery group. That’s an 18% and 54% savings, respectively.
- Starting physical therapy sooner correlates with lower costs.
Physical therapy within the first 15 days of diagnosis incurred lower average treatment costs than those whose physical therapy began later.
Not only can you save money over the course of your care, but you can get better SOONER when you start PT FIRST!
Let us help you manage your pain and get back to your life. Choose Physical Therapy!
