Hey guys, what’s up? Happy Friday folks… it’s Stephen here coming from CORE Therapy and Pilates in Austin, Texas. I wanted to go over something really quick today. I found some interesting stats this week as I was checking on some information about back pain. The statistics of it led me to say, “I gotta get this information out there”…
It’s just fascinating to me and it really goes into the process of when someone has back pain and what happens when they try to get some treatment. So with that said, when someone calls their their doctor, their primary care doctor, to make an appointment for back pain, the average wait time is 19 days to get that appointment. Okay, so back pain today, call my doctor, “Doc I got back pain, I need to get in to see you”…average wait time across America is 19 days…
Once that person gets in to see that doctor, the average wait time is 21 minutes, the amount of time that they’ll wait in the lobby… 21 minutes… I thought that would actually be longer than that, that shocked me that it was only 21 minutes. Once they get in to see the doctor, and this is if they see the MD versus the physician assistant or nurse practitioner, but when they got in to see the MD, they had 13 minutes of face-to-face time with the MD… so, 19 days to get in, 21 minute wait and 13 minutes of actual time of face-to-face with the doctor in that process…
What the research then said is that physical therapy is highly underutilized in patients that show up to the doctor with low back pain, it’s only prescribed in 7% of those clients… so 7% of the people seeing a doctor for back pain actually get a referral for PT… however 59% of them get a referral for opiates… so that’s something to to chew on… 7% get physical therapy, 59% get opiates!
What this study showed is that the medical cost for low back pain was $2,736.23 less for patients that got Physical Therapy within 14 days of the onset of back pain. So with that said, how does someone get their back pain solved for less money if it takes that amount of time (19 days) to get in to see the doctor and the chance of them actually getting the PT is very, very slim…
So, that’s my story for the day… when you have back pain, you have to seek physical therapy on your own, your doctors aren’t going to send you to us. If you’re waiting to see them (those 19 days), by the time you get in to see them there’s a good chance that your back pain is going to be worse, not better in that time.
So those are some statistics that I found pretty interesting that I wanted to share. Alright that’s it for today.
I hope everyone’s going to have a fantastic and safe Spring Break, do your homework wherever you’re at…
Keep up with all the things you’ve learned in therapy and Pilates and we will see you on the flip side when we get back in town… take care… have a great one, bye now…
Don’t Delay!!! Take action as soon as Low Back Pain Strikes! E-mail us at info@therapyandpilates.com or call us at 512.215.4227 to start the conversation…We will listen to your story first and then go from there!
Want more information of back pain? Download our Free Guide titled: 8 Essential Tips To Eliminate Back Pain… Without Pain Meds or Injections…For The Active Parent
