Impacts of a Re-designed Care Path for Back Pain Directing Patients to Physiotherapists

OBJECTIVE To evaluate impact of directing patients with back pain for first visit to a physiotherapist on sick leaves, healthcare utilization, and patient satisfaction. METHODS Pre-post intervention study of 70,138 patients treated in Poland for back pain: 27,034 before the care pathway redesign and 43,104 after. RESULTS After the redesign, all per-patient measures (mean ± SD) significantly decreased over the 12-month follow-up: sick leaves number from 0.32 ± 0.87 to 0.29 ± 0.86, sick leaves days from 2.78 ± 11.56 to 2.56 ± 11.25, doctors' visits from 2.02 ± 1.70 to 1.51 ± 1.63, diagnostic imaging services from 0.63 ± 0.79 to 0.43 ± 0.71 and rehabilitation services from 7.55 ± 14.90 to 4.70 ± 12.61.The Net Promoter Score was higher for physiotherapist (83), than for orthopedists (59), primary care (74), or neurologists (67). CONCLUSIONS Involving physiotherapists early in the back pain care may result in benefits for patients and healthcare organizations.