Hypnosis Shown to Reduce Medical Cost of Sedation

Saturday, September 19, 2009 by: Steve G. Jones, Ed.S.
Tags: sedation, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) Hypnosis research covers a vast number of topics from treating medical conditions such as asthma and irritable bowel syndrome to researching pain control from headaches and surgery. Research on hypnotherapy has also included brain images to discover what areas of the brain are affected by hypnosis and how they are affected. Research has also been conducted to see if there are cost benefits of using hypnosis compared to sedation and analgesia. Researchers have found major differences between the cost of sedation and the cost of hypnosis. It was estimated that in 2009, Americans will spend $2.5 trillion on health care (NCHC).

A study was conducted consisting of 161 participants undergoing either renal or vascular interventional procedures. The researchers wanted to compare the cost of standard intravenous sedation with the cost of self-hypnotic relaxation techniques. Seventy-nine participants received normal intravenous conscious sedation and 82 participants were given hypnotic suggestions by a licensed hypnotherapist to provide sedation. The hypnosis consisted of imagery and relaxation techniques.

Researchers also looked at the various costs of both of these procedures. They looked at the cost of the trained hypnotherapist to induce a hypnotic state, the cost of the room for the medical procedure, observational time after the procedure, and the cost and frequency of complications from the sedation (Lang & Rosen, 2002).

Forty-six percent (38 out of 82) of participants receiving hypnosis in the study did not request more sedation. Out of those receiving standard sedation, 18% (14 out of 79) did not request more sedation during the procedure (Bates, 2001).

Results showed that the average price of intravenous conscious sedation for the 79 participants receiving standard treatment was $638. The average price per participant receiving hypnosis and sedation was $300. This resulted in savings of $338 per hypnosis participant. The hypnosis participants also had to spend less time in the procedure room. The results showed that even if those who received hypnosis spent 58.2 more minutes in the procedure room, they would have cost the same.

Participants were more likely to be stable, have fewer complications, and require significantly less pain medication when they received hypnosis during the procedure. The study was conducted at Harvard University; following the study, Harvard's interventional radiology team underwent hypnosis training so that they could incorporate hypnosis into procedures to help people reduce anxiety or pain from their procedure. This study shows that hypnosis is an effective and cost-reducing technique to use with sedation during procedures requiring intravenous sedation.

Sources

Bates, B. (2001). Hypnosis reduced surgical cost, time, and anxiety. Family Practice News.

Health Insurance Costs. The National Coalition on Health Care. Retrieved September 11, 2009: http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml

Lang, E.V. & Rosen, M.P. (2002). Cost analysis of adjunct hypnosis with sedation during outpatient interventional radiologic procedures. Radiology, 222, 372-385.

About the author

Steve G. Jones, Ed.S. has been practicing hypnotherapy since the 1980s. He is the author of 22 books on Hypnotherapy. Steve is a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists, American Board of Hypnotherapy, president of the American Alliance of Hypnotists, on the board of directors of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Lung Association, and director of the Steve G. Jones School of Clinical Hypnotherapy.
Steve G. Jones, Ed.S. is a board certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Florida (1994), a master's degree in education from Armstrong Atlantic State University (2007), and is currently working on a doctorate in education, Ed.D., at Georgia Southern University. Learn more at:
http://www.betterlivingwithhypnosis.com/