|
Clinical
outcome highlights at DenverSpine
63%
of patients had therapy as part of their care
43%
of patients had injections as part of their care
27%
of patients had surgery as part of their care
93%
of chronic patients returned to work
95%
of patients were satisfied with the time the doctor spent
with them
97%
of patients were satisfied with the doctor’s explanation
of medical problem
97%
of patients would be likely to recommend DenverSpine to
a friend
|
Pain relief through function
The main reason people go to the doctor is for relief of pain. But if a spine clinic focuses exclusively on pain, it can miss the target of return to function. A spine specialized physical therapist provides pain relief and then moves the patient quickly into supervised exercise. This chart shows that DenverSpine has good success relieving pain, eliminating numbness and radiating pain in legs or arms, and ultimately returning the back pain sufferer to activity — after only three months of care. The gains in function did not come from pills either. For example, the percent of patients relying heavily on pills for pain control declined from 21% to 10% after three months. Self-reported pain levels decreased, as did patient-reported limitations related to carrying groceries, climbing stairs and standing for a half hour.
Return
to work & activity
Having a more complex patient mix makes return to work more difficult than an occupational medicine clinic, or primary care clinic that treats simple onsets of acute back pain that can go away on their own.
Of DenverSpine’s new patients, 74% had back or neck pain for more than four months, and 53% had radicular pain below a knee or elbow. Another 51% had numbness in a leg or arm. One in five new patients to DenverSpine had previous back or neck surgery, implying either failed back syndrome or degenerative disc disease — a highly complex patient base. Encouraging patients to get moving and return to activity is key. For example, even with a complex patient mix, about nine out of 10 simple and chronic patients were back to work within three months after visiting DenverSpine.
A nonsurgical approach
Why do patients go to the doctor? Of those studied, 95% hoped for relief from pain symptoms, 83% wanted to return to their leisure activities, 69% wanted improved sleep and 19% wanted to return to their jobs. The trend in spine is to emphasize nonsurgical treatment options first — like spine therapy, exercises and spinal injections which may relieve symptoms without the need for surgery. Consequently, a spine center should see a “stairway to success” in this histogram, showing that the more nonsurgical options are emphasized first (e.g., therapy and injections), the fewer patients ultimately need surgery. Spine physicians without effective spine therapy, typically resort more to surgery to relieve symptoms.
About us | Contact us | Appointments | Physicians | Center of Excellence | Clinical outcomes | Conditions | Causes | Symptoms | Diagnostics | Prevention | Treatment | Therapy | Nonsurgical | Surgical | Home remedies | Exercise library | Patient testimonials | Home
Web design & Copyright 2006 © Prizm Development, Inc.,
the most experienced developer of spine centers of excellence.
www.prizmdevelopment.com
|
