The costs and outcomes of chiropractic and physician care for workers' compensation back claims

This article analyzes differences in costs, patterns of care, and returns t o work between workers treated by either a chiropractor or a physician for an episode of back pain. The article extends prior research by adding contr ols for unobserved heterogeneity to the models and by using data on health care payments rather than charges. The results imply that chiropractors and physicians are equally effective in treating back pain and that neither gr oup offers a clear advantage in terms of the costs of care or the total cos ts of a workers' compensation back claim. In effect, chiropractors and phys icians are close substitutes as care givers for non-surgical. cases of work -related back pain.