When we are offered different healthcare options, it is easy to assume that more expensive means better.
But when it comes to healthcare, that is not always true.
We usually think of ‘cost’ as money. But there are other costs too, including time, stress, worry, inconvenience and the risk of being led down an unnecessary treatment path.
Before having any test, treatment or procedure, it can help to ask:
‘What are the potential costs and benefits?’
Take uncomplicated or non-sinister low back pain as an example. This accounts for around 90–95% of low back pain cases.¹
The good news is that acute uncomplicated low back pain usually has a favourable prognosis, with most people improving significantly within 6 weeks.² However, around 1 in 3 people still have low back pain at 6 months that interferes with daily activities.³
Importantly, the risk of acute low back pain becoming persistent appears to be higher when people receive care that is not recommended, such as unnecessary:
• opioid medications
• diagnostic imaging, including CT scans or MRIs
• referral to a medical subspecialist, such as an orthopaedic surgeon or neurosurgeon.³
In one study, receiving one type of non-recommended care was associated with a 1.39 times higher risk of developing persistent low back pain. Receiving two types was associated with a 1.88 times higher risk, and receiving all three was associated with a 2.16 times higher risk.³
This does not mean imaging, medication or specialist care are never needed. Sometimes they are very important. But for uncomplicated low back pain, they are often unnecessary and may come with hidden costs.
These costs can include money, time spent attending appointments, waiting for results, increased worry, and sometimes fear caused by findings that sound alarming but may not actually explain your pain.
So, in some cases, you may end up paying more – in money, time and stress – for care that may not improve your outcome and could even make the overall experience worse.
The key message is simple:
More healthcare is not always better healthcare.
Consider all the costs: obvious and hidden, financial and non-financial, short-term and long-term.
