Multidisciplinary Firms and the Treatment of Chronic Pain: A Case Study of Low Back Pain

Abstract

Sixteen million people suffer with chronic low back pain and related healthcare expenditures can be as high as $USD 635 billion. Current pain treatments help a significant number of acute pain patients, allowing them to obtain various treatments and then “exit the market for pain services” quickly. However, chronic patients remain in pain and need multiple, varying treatments over time. Often, a single pain provider does not oversee their care. Here, we analyze the current pain market and suggest ways to establish a new treatment paradigm. We posit that more cost effective treatment and better pain relief can be achieved with multi-disciplinary care with a provider team overseeing care.

Integrated pain care models and the importance of aligning stakeholder values

“…As a result, highly structured treatment protocols may not specifically address individual patient needs and, similarly, payers may be reluctant to reimburse for preselected services that have limited clinical relevance to some patient groups. 31,39 Despite the critical shortcomings in the core architecture of the multidisciplinary care model, the synergy of partly aligning the payer vector was evident in a retrospective study where health care costs were significantly reduced in a group of adults receiving multidisciplinary care for a broad range of chronic pain diagnoses. 38 The interdisciplinary model, which is the second anchor on the integrated care continuum, is defined as 2 or more health care professionals working jointly across disciplinary boundaries while espousing shared treatment philosophies (Fig.…”