Elton & Zhang · medRxiv 2022 · Optum Labs

Low back pain care pathways
among U.S. commercially insured

A retrospective cohort study of 503,958 non-surgical LBP episodes (2017–2019) revealing the chaotic, provider-driven variation in how Americans navigate low back pain care.

503,958
LBP episodes analyzed
$388M
Reimbursed claims
17
First-contact provider types
1.4M
Possible HCP sequences
8×
Variation in opioid prescribing rates by first-contact provider type
10×
Variation in imaging (MRI) rates depending on who you see first
3×
Cost difference between lowest-cost and highest-cost first-contact pathways
Select a first-contact provider to explore their pathway

Source: Elton D, Zhang M. "Low back pain care pathways – is the last provider seen more important than the first: A retrospective cohort study." medRxiv 2022. doi:10.1101/2022.10.27.22281624
Data: 503,958 commercially insured individuals, single episode non-surgical LBP, 2017–2019. Optum Labs. Cost figures represent median total episode reimbursed cost estimates derived from study data.