The Cost of Health Care

The Cost of Health Care


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We have all heard it as a regular discussion topic, whether with family and friends or in political debate, 

the cost of health care is discussed as a burden.  We all would like to reduce our expenses and we all need help or guidance with our health at times.  Very often, we feel as though health care is very expensive.

Here in Bozeman, when a generally health person goes to the doctor for an initial exam or physical in the office of a family practice Medical Doctor the cost starts at around $250 and goes up from there; this includes about 10 minutes of face time with the doctor.  The same exam with a Naturopatic Doctor is over $200 and includes about 15-20 minutes of face time with the doctor.  At Gallatin Valley Chiropractic our Doctors of Chiropractic provide the same level of service for typically between $45-125, depending on the extent of health care conditions needing to be addressed.  Typically you will receive between 15-45 minutes of time with a doctor during the initial exam at Gallatin Valley Chiropractic.

Some may be inclined to say that we are not comparing apples to apples...that you are not getting the same level of exam from the different types of doctors.  Let's take the time to address this thought.

Doctors of Chiropractic (DC), Doctors of Osteopathy (DO), Medical Doctors (MD), Naturopathic Doctors (ND) and Doctors of Physical Therapy (DPT) all undergo a doctoral level of education that follows an undergraduate education, all require extensive national board examinations and state examinations to obtain a license to practice.  Comparing the hours of doctoral education programs of typical schools:

DC~4629 hours, DO~4665 hours, MD~4800 hours, ND~4748 hours, DPT~2261 hours

The doctor of chiropractic receives less education in biochemistry, pharmacology, gynecology and surgical procedures than the DO, MD or ND.  The DC receives the most education of all in anatomy, radiology, physical diagnosis and manual health care than all other types of doctors, while receiving comparable levels of education in most other areas of education.

What does research say when comparing health outcomes using Doctors of Chiropractic as primary care doctors?

Clinical and cost utilization based on 70274 member-months over a 7-year period demonstrated decreases of 60.2% in-hospital admissions, 59.0% hospital days, 62.0% outpatient surgeries and procedures, and 85% pharmaceutical costs when compared with conventional medicine IPA performance for the same health maintenance organization product in the same geography and time frame.  Another similar study reported that the cost of care when DCs were used for primary care was 40% less than when care was initiated by MDs.

In addition to standard education, the doctors at Gallatin Valley Chiropractic are Certified Medical Examiners (CME).  This means that they have taken additional training and testing in order to be certified as competent to provide thorough health exams and screenings (most people would be appalled to know how many MDs and NDs in our community have not been passed the CME testing).

Bringing this full circle, to save money while receiving high quality health care and advice, your best option is to see you doctor at Gallatin Valley Chiropractic.  They will treat you compassionately and appropriately and will refer you to an appropriate specialist if necessary.

Call for an appointment today!  406-551-2177



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Our Regular Schedule

Monday:

7:00 am-6:00 pm

Tuesday:

7:00 am-6:00 pm

Wednesday:

7:00 am-6:00 pm

Thursday:

7:00 am-6:00 pm

Friday:

7:00 am-6:00 pm

Saturday:

8:00 am-1:00 pm

Sunday:

11:00 am-4:00 pm