Lifestyle changes could save $92,000 in medical costs per person

Intensive therapeutic lifestyle medicine intervention could help reverse chronic disease — leading to significant health care cost savings — according to a recent study conducted by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and published Oct. 29 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

The study examined four individual patient cases of disease reversal achieved through intensive lifestyle changes and the associated reduction in health care costs. A substantial potential cost savings for both the patients and their insurance providers was identified in each case. For an adult male who lost up to 200 pounds after committing to a lifestyle change for six months, the potential savings in avoided discrete medical costs reached $92,000.

“Our findings are important because accumulated chronic and mental health conditions are responsible for 90% of the $3.8 trillion spent each year on health care in the U.S.,” Micaela Karlsen, senior director of research for the ACLM, said in a statement. “This case series is a promising foundation for further research into how lifestyle medicine not only benefits a patient’s overall health but makes a positive economic impact on patients and our heavily burdened health care system.”

What is lifestyle medicine?

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine is a medical professional society that advocates for “the use of evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic intervention — including a whole-food plant-dominant eating pattern, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connection — as a primary modality delivered by clinicians trained and certified in this specialty.”

Data for the case studies used in the study were self-reported by participants, and histories were collected through online surveys. Participants were asked to share their previous diagnosis, lifestyle changes, and cost details for their diet, lifestyle, and health care (both pre- and post-lifestyle change).

Examples of cost savings included $18,000 to $35,000 for potential gastric bypass surgery and a decrease in the annual pharmaceutical costs paid by a participant’s insurer from $19,000 in 2009 to $122.24 in 2015 and 2016 combined. Another formerly obese participant avoided bilateral knee replacements at a cost of $58,000 to $68,000, according to the study. Participants also reported saving money on grocery bills and heath appointment copays.

More research needed

The study’s authors noted that additional research is needed, and they outlined key research priorities to further demonstrate the benefits of lifestyle medicine. Those priorities include conducting rigorously designed studies to adequately measure the effects of intensive therapeutic lifestyle medicine intervention changes on chronic disease health outcomes, and modeling the potential economic cost savings enabled by health improvements following lifestyle interventions.

“We know that chronic disease places an enormous burden on both individuals and our health care system,” Padmaja Patel, a study co-author and medical director of the Lifestyle Medicine Center at Midland Health in Midland, Texas, said in a statement. “The current health care quality measures, performance measures and incentive models are tied to a disease management model. They do not serve well for lifestyle medicine providers who focus on disease reversal and remission. We believe this case study provides the justification for these research priorities and hope it will lead to other study designs that further explore the full benefits and value of lifestyle medicine.”