Combating The Opioid Crisis: How Chiropractic Can Save Lives!

Chiroeco reports:

Chiropractic needs to be heavily involved in the war against the opioid epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017, 17,029 people died from overdosing on prescription opioids alone. That number skyrockets to 47,600 when you take into account all opioid-related deaths, including the use of illicit opioids. Research indicates the majority of illicit users first misused prescription opioids. Early integration of effective and appropriate chiropractic care could have potentially saved thousands of lives.

Most experts agree that improving prescribing practices and the way pain is treated is an effective avenue to help prevent misuse, addiction and overdose. At the same time, it’s critical that patients continue to receive legitimate access to effective pain management. Educating patients and collaborating with other medical professionals on effective utilization of chiropractic care is the right thing to do for patients, and an important part of addressing this national crisis. 

The American health care system is the most expensive health care system in the world and spends more per capita on health care than all other countries. Skyrocketing health care costs have placed an enormous burden on society, which has led to legislation designed to both improve quality and lower costs. Health care systems will be required to create innovative delivery systems with a coordinated model that reduces costs while delivering high-quality care across a continuum of care.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) encourages integrated health systems, providing incentives for physicians to form “Accountable Care Organizations.” In these groups, doctors can better coordinate patient care and improve quality, help prevent disease and illness, and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.

Chronic pain affects more than 100 million people in the United States and leads to more than $635 billion per year in costs attributable to medical treatment and lost productivity. It is obvious musculoskeletal injuries are often poorly managed, and this lack of a clear path to pain resolution leaves patients frustrated, confused and suffering unnecessarily. Unfortunately, only about 10% of the public seeks care from chiropractors without a referral, leaving the other 90% to seek more expensive traditional avenues to manage pain.

However, as implementation of PPACA and the National Prevention Strategy moves health care from a system of sick care to one based on wellness and prevention, primary care providers will increasingly be called upon to provide treatment of chronic pain through coordinated care. This means medical providers are more open to collaborating with chiropractors than at any other time in history.

Making health care more effective

There is an obvious need in the United States to improve the evaluation and management of patients with chronic pain, and chiropractic services can be an integral part of the solution.