Trauma is costly to business. Every year, 10,000 people experience spinal cord injuries in the U.S., primarily from automobile accidents or falls. The annual cost amounts to $3.4 billion.1 Spinal cord injuries rank number eight among the most costly health conditions for employees, according to a recent analysis of data from 375,000 workers from six large companies. More than 50 percent of total health-related costs for such injuries were due to absence or disability.2
The orange columns show that the number of cases of paralysis declines, both in high- and moderate-risk patients, when CT is used for cervical spine injuries. Given the increased risk of disability in such patients, CT screening is cost-saving in the high-risk patient group and cost-effective in the moderate risk group (shown in the two green columns.) Source: "Cervical Spine Screening with CT in Trauma Patients: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis," by Blackmore et al., Radiology 1999; 212:117-125.
Medical imaging is helping business fight these costs.3
A study in the medical journal Radiology concluded that CT scanning helps prevent paralysis from spinal cord injuries – and saves money in treating high-risk patients. The savings result from the more detailed understanding that CT provides physicians, thus allowing interventions that prevent paralysis and the long-term costs associated with it. Click here to view the study
In 100,000 high-risk patients, according to the study, CT scans would prevent 23 additional cases of paralysis and save a total of $3.4 million. In moderate-risk patients, the CT screening strategy would prevent an additional 8.5 cases of paralysis at an incremental cost of $16,500 per year, well within the range of what is considered to be cost-effective.
According to the study: "…The use of cervical spine CT to screen high- and moderate-risk patients prevents cases of paralysis and may save money for society. On the basis of our cost-effectiveness analysis, CT should be considered as the primary cervical spine screening modality in selected victims of major trauma who are examined in high-volume urban emergency departments and trauma centers."4
1 "Cervical Spine Screening with CT in Trauma Patients: A Cost-effectiveness Analysis," Blackmore CC, Ramsey SD, Mann FA, Deyo RA, Radiology, 212:117-125, 1999. 2 "The Health and Productivity Cost Burden of the 'Top 10' Physical and Mental Health Conditions Affecting Six Large US Employers in 1999," Goetzel RZ, Hawkins K, Ozminkowski RJ, Wang S, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Volume 45, No. 1, January 2003. 3Ibid., Blackmore, p 122. 4Ibid., Blackmore, pp. 124-125.
