On-Site Chiropractic Care Offers Employees Increased Wellness
As healthcare costs continue to skyrocket in America, more and more companies are looking for ways to save. Many businesses have implemented wellness plans within their offices in order to encourage employees to get healthy, including on-site exercises classes, incentives for participating in classes, or even office-wide walks. In addition to showing employees that they care about their well-being, a potential incentive for implementing these programs could be lower healthcare costs.
A new study states that offering on-site chiropractic care for employees may be just as effective as other wellness programs in lessening healthcare utilization by them and thus, decreasing healthcare costs overall. The study, conducted over two years, looked at over 1,600 people that experienced chiropractic care at least once. Some participants utilized on-site chiropractic facilities sponsored by their bosses, while the others went to off-site chiropractors.
After analyzing volunteer data, researchers found that those in the off-site group tended to have higher rates of initial radiology services and subsequent radiology related visits. Their overall chiropractic return visits were also higher than the group who experienced care at work. Additionally, off-site chiropractic patients visited the emergency room more often than the on-site patients. This leads researchers to conclude that offering on-site chiropractic care would lessen the need for subsequent visits, thus increasing worker productivity.
While researchers did find the study to be promising, they must push for further research into the benefits of employers offering on-site chiropractic facilities. While this study showed that offering the services can reduce overall healthcare utilization, there are other factors to examine more closely. Subsequent studies that are similar in nature will need to correlate, and employers will need to be convinced that overall benefits exceed current spending. Many big corporations, while becoming more wellness oriented, are not always good at making changes.
Either way, visiting the chiropractor off-site in the meantime can still improve overall company wellness. Everyone can benefit from treatments as there are many different ways the back and spine can be manipulated. From sedentary office workers to farmers that work 12 hour days, anyone can reach their health goals by consulting with a chiropractor. A treatment plan will treat current issues and prevent ones from flaring up in the future. And everyone knows an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure.