Several months ago we discussed the Big 5 in medical exercise training. Those being the five conditions that every MES must be able to manage. Well its 2016 and the Big 5 is now the Big 6. We’ve added obesity. In 2014, the American Medical Association officially designated “obesity” as an acceptable medical diagnosis. With that, obesity treatment and management is eligible for insurance reimbursement. This means potentially, medical professionals could refer large numbers of obese clients for MET services. We will see what happens over the next year but here are some interesting stats on the “Big 6”.
- Total Joint Replacements (TJR) – Estimates place the number of hip and knee replacements annually at 450,000 to 720,000 respectively.
- Diabetes (DM) – 25.8 million Americans are affected at a cost of $245 billion + annually.
- Osteoarthritis (OA) – More than 400,000 hospitalizations occur due to complications from osteoarthritis. The price associated with OA care is estimated at $89.1 billion annually.
- Hypertension (HTN) – 67 million Americans are affected at a cost of $93.5 billion.
- Low Back Pain (LBP) – 80% of Americans suffer with low back pain. Based on 2010 figures, the estimated cost annually to manage LBP is $100 billion with an additional $20 billion spent on spine surgery.
- Obesity (OB) – $190 billion was spent to manage obesity. A number of conditions are associated with obesity. These conditions increase costs. These conditions include: gallbladder disease, hypertension, colon cancer, hypertension, diabetes, thyroid disorders and cardiovascular disease.
If every Medical Exercise Specialist effectively managed just these 6 conditions, our health care crisis would diminish – “Exercise is the Key to Long-Term Management of Most Chronic Conditions”.
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