Chronic pain is one of the more commonly misunderstood medical conditions. For something that impacts close to a third of the US population, we have a limited recognition of the economic impact of pain and a scarcity of effective treatment options. In this blog, I report on an analysis conducted on three large claims databases that compared the cost of care for patients with chronic pain and those without pain. In this data, I found that approximately 30% of patients suffer from chronic pain, with a slightly higher prevalence in females (58%). I also found that the cost of care for chronic pain patients was 430% higher than for those without chronic pain, and for patients with high-impact pain or opioid use, costs were 655% higher. Given the impact that chronic pain has on human suffering and as a driver of healthcare costs, payers and providers should prioritize resources to address this condition. Further efforts should be made to provide effective treatment strategies, including interdisciplinary care teams such as Override Health, to address chronic pain and reduce the cost of care. See my blog below #chronic pain #healthcare
https://lnkd.in/ePzKVyJi