Szydlowski SJ* and Linhares DM
Chiropractic services as mainstream medicine continues to be a major debate among allopathic providers, chiropractic physicians, payers, consumers, and most health care stakeholders. It has been viewed by many as an alternative to traditional treatment for pain relief, structural manipulation for body alignment, and other acute and chronic anatomy and physiological conditions. Historically viewed by many as the outskirts of medical care, chiropractic care recently has become more prevalent among first and second choice care among consumers for certain health ailments. The evolution of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) beginning in the late 1990’s has helped support the chiropractic profession in establishing ground to be more mainstream medicine including some claims coverage by insurance carriers. Post Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) America has one of its main focuses on improving primary and preventive care as well as hospital care across the United States with a purpose of reducing the overall cost of healthcare. Chiropractic care, being one of the largest CAM approaches, is certain to see changes. In this systemic review article (N=22) we will look at the role of chiropractic services in hospital settings, its funding, and potential marketing and economic value added to hospitals and the health system. The authors identify relevant literature to the research question through an exhaustive review and draw conclusions based on common factors within the literature. Hospital continues to find treatment protocols and efficiencies to reduce cost per inpatient stay. The results of this study suggest that chiropractic care can reduce cost per stay and improve health outcomes. The impact of increased integration of chiropractic services into hospital settings needs to be studied to determine long-term cost/benefit.