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| Can the Transcendental Meditation Program Reduce the Medical Expenditures of Older People? A Longitudinal Cost Reduction Study in Canada > | | Herron, R. E. Cavanaugh, K. (2005). Can the Transcendental Meditation Program Reduce the Medical Expenditures of Older People? A Longitudinal Cost Reduction Study in Canada. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 17(1), 415–442.
Abstract
We examined whether a method for enhancing psychological and
physiological balance and health, the Transcendental Meditation® (TM)
technique, can reduce medical expenditures in people over 65 years old.
Inflation-adjusted payments to physicians for treating 163 TM
practitioners were compared with those for 163 control subjects matched
for age, sex, and median pre-intervention payments. Yearly changes in
physician payments were estimated for each subject using separate least
squares regression for pre- and post-intervention periods. During the
pre-meditation period, mean changes in payments differed
non-significantly between groups (p = 0.27). After learning the TM
technique, mean annual change in payments for TM practitioners was
significantly lower than for controls (p = 0.001). The TM group’s
five-year cumulative reduction relative to controls was 69.84%.
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| Impact of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Medical Expenses > | | Herron, R. E., Hillis, S. L. (2000). Impact of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Medical Expenses. Abstracts of the American Public Health Association 128th Annual Meeting and Exposition, Nov. 12-16, p. 178.
Abstract
We examined whether a method for enhancing psychological and
physiological balance and health, the Transcendental Meditation® (TM)
technique, can reduce medical expenditures in people over 65 years old.
Inflation-adjusted payments to physicians for treating 163 TM
practitioners were compared with those for 163 control subjects matched
for age, sex, and median pre-intervention payments. Yearly changes in
physician payments were estimated for each subject using separate least
squares regression for pre- and post-intervention periods. During the
pre-meditation period, mean changes in payments differed
non-significantly between groups (p = 0.27). After learning the TM
technique, mean annual change in payments for TM practitioners was
significantly lower than for controls (p = 0.001). The TM group’s
five-year cumulative reduction relative to controls was 69.84%.
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| The Impact of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Government Payments to Physicians in Quebec: An Update > | | Herron, R. E., Hillis, S. L. (2000). The Impact of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Government Payments to Physicians in Quebec: An Update. American Journal of Health Promotion, 14(5), 284-291.
Abstract
The purpose of this quasi-experimental, longitudinal, cost-minimization
evaluation study was to determine whether practice of the Transcendental
Meditation® technique can affect medical expenses. 1,418 health
insurance enrollees from the Province of Quebec, Canada who practiced
the TM technique were compared with 1,418 randomly selected subjects
matched for age, gender, and region. TM subjects had chosen to begin the
technique prior to learning about and choosing to enter the study. This
14-year, pre- and post-intervention study retrospectively assessed
government payments to physicians for treating the TM and comparison
groups. Other medical expense data for individuals were unavailable.
Data were inflation-adjusted. For each subject, least squares regression
slopes were calculated to estimate pre- and post-intervention annual
rates of change in payments. We compared the groups? means and 1%, 5%,
and 10% trimmed means (robust estimators) of the slopes. Before starting
meditation, the yearly rate of increase in payments between groups was
not significantly different (p > 0.17). After commencing meditation,
the TM group?s mean payments declined 1–2% annually. The comparison
group's payments increased up to 11.73% annually over 6 years. There was
a 13.78% mean annual difference (p = 0.0017). The results suggest the
TM technique reduced payments to physicians from 5% to 13% annually
relative to comparison subjects over 6 years. Randomized studies are
recommended.
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| Reduced Medical Care Utilization and Expenditures Through An Innovative Approach > | | Orme-Johnson, D. W., Herron, R. E. (1997). Reduced Medical Care Utilization and Expenditures Through An Innovative Approach. Abstracts of the Association for Health Services Research 14th Annual Meeting, June 15-17, p. 19.
Abstract
This study was designed to assess the reduction of medical use and costs
in a group participating in a comprehensive, natural,
prevention-oriented health care system, the Maharishi Vedic Approach to
HealthSM (MVAH). The MVAH includes interventions such as individualized
diet, exercise, herbs, and detoxification modalities, and the general
practice of the Transcendental Meditation® program with advanced
meditation techniques. We retrospectively compared 11 years of medical
utilization and payment data collected by Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BC/BS)
of Iowa for 3 groups in Iowa: MVAH (n = 693), statewide norms for BC/BS
(n = 600,000), and a control group matched according to geography, age,
and profession (n = 4,148). The MVAH group had lower utilization than
norms and controls for all 17 BC/BS disease categories (P = 0.001). When
compared with norms, the MVAH group’s hospital admissions were 92%
lower for cardiovascular diseases, 94% lower for bone/muscle/ligament
disorders, 93% lower for virus/bacterial infections, and 92% lower for
mental health and substance abuse problems. The greatest savings were
for MVAH subjects over 45 years who had 91% fewer total hospital patient
days than norms and 88% less than controls. MVAH total medical
expenditures per person were 59% lower than the norm and 57% lower than
the control groups.
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| An Innovative Approach to Reducing Medical Care Utilization and Costs > | | Orme-Johnson, D. W., Herron, R. E. (1997). An Innovative Approach to Reducing Medical Care Utilization and Costs. American Journal of Managed Care, 3(1), 135-144.
Abstract
This eleven-year study assessed medical utilization and expenditures of a
group participating in a multi-component prevention program, the
Maharishi Vedic Approach to HealthSM (MVAH). Archival data from Blue
Cross/Blue Shield (BC/BS) of Iowa for MVAH (n = 693) were compared with
statewide norms for 1985 through 1995 (norm, n = 600,000) and with a
demographically matched control group (control, n = 4,148) for 1990,
1991, 1994, and 1995. MVAH four-year total medical expenditures per
person were 59% lower than the norm and 57% lower than the control. MVAH
had lower utilization and expenditures for all age groups, and for all
disease categories. Control’s hospital admission rates were 11.4 times
higher than MVAH for cardiovascular disease, 3.3 times higher for
cancer, 6.7 times higher for mental health and substance abuse. The
greatest savings were for MVAH subjects over 45 years; they had 88%
fewer total patient days than controls.
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| Cost-Effective Hypertension Management: Comparison of Drug Therapies with an Alternative Program > | | Herron, R. E., Schneider, R. H., Mandarino, J. V., Alexander, C. N., Walton, K. G. (1996). Cost-Effective Hypertension Management: Comparison of Drug Therapies with an Alternative Program. American Journal of Managed Care, II(4), 427-437.
Abstract
The competitive nature of managed care organizations demands that
providers seek cost-effective ways to maintain the health of their
clients. As an approach to reducing cardiovascular morbidity,
anti-hypertensive medication is costly, has adverse side effects, and
has questionable value in reducing coronary heart disease. This report
evaluates a behavioral stress-reduction method as an option to
pharmaceutical treatment. Randomized studies indicate that the
Transcendental Meditation® (TM) technique reduces mild hypertension (the
predominant form of hypertension) as effectively as drug therapies. A
cost-effectiveness comparison in 1996 dollars was made between five
standard antihypertensive medications and the TM technique over a
simulated twenty-year treatment period. The present value analysis of
treatment payments found that the TM technique had the lowest present
value cost, and thus appeared to be the most attractive alternative. The
estimated average costs of anti-hypertensive drug treatment ranged from
$375 per year for hydrochlorothiazide to $1051 per year for propranolol
hydrochloride, whereas the estimated average cost of treatment with the
TM technique was $286 per year. When combined with results of
controlled trials documenting the effectiveness of the TM technique in
reducing high blood pressure and improving the quality of life, the
present comparison suggests this non-pharmacologic procedure may be
safely used as a cost-effective treatment of hypertension in the managed
care setting.
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| Reducing Medical Costs: The Impact of Transcendental Meditation on Government Payments to Physicians in Quebec > | | Herron, R. E., Hillis, S. L., Mandarino, J. V., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Walton, K. G. (1996). Reducing Medical Costs: The Impact of Transcendental Meditation on Government Payments to Physicians in Quebec. American Journal of Health Promotion, 10, (3), 208-216.
Abstract
This retrospective study evaluated whether government medical payments
in Quebec were affected by the Transcendental Meditation® technique.
Government payments for physicians? services were reviewed for the three
years before and up to seven years after subjects started the
technique. Payment data were adjusted for aging and year-specific
variation (including inflation) using normative data. A volunteer group
of 677 provincial health insurance enrollees from the Province of
Quebec, Canada was evaluated. The subjects had chosen to practice TM
before they selected to enter the study. The subjects (348 males, 329
females) had diverse occupations. Their ages averaging 38 years ranged
from 18 to 71 at the start of TM. During the three years before starting
TM, the adjusted payments to physicians for treating the subjects did
not change significantly. After commencing TM practice, subjects'
adjusted expenses declined significantly. The several methods used to
assess the rate of decline gave estimates ranging from 5% to 7%
annually. Because there was no separate control group; thus it is
impossible to determine whether the changes were caused by TM practice
or some other factor. The results suggest that Transcendental Meditation
reduces government payments to physicians. However, because of the
sampling method used, the generalizability of these results to wider
populations could not be evaluated.
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| The Health Care Cost Crisis and the Role of Prevention: New Approaches Utilizing the Transcendental Meditation Program > | | Herron, R. E. (1995). The Health Care Cost Crisis and the Role of Prevention: New Approaches Utilizing the Transcendental Meditation Program. Modern Science & Vedic Science, 6, (1), 33-59
Abstract
During the past two decades, the United States has become increasingly
concerned with reducing medical care expenditures while continuing to
improve the health of Americans. However, medical costs have continued
to rise rapidly, despite efforts to contain them. Unlike the
treatment-based strategies for health care that are currently in wide
use, prevention-oriented approaches offer great unrealized potential to
directly improve the health of U.S. citizens and thereby to reduce
medical utilization and its attendant costs. At present, however, there
is little research to validate the cost effectiveness of such prevention
programs. This paper reviews the cost effectiveness of the current U.S.
health care system as compared with those of other nations, especially
Canada, and examines the potential of effective prevention programs for
alleviating the health care cost crisis. A strategy is suggested to
lower medical care utilization and expenditures by directing effective
health-promotion and disease-preventive interventions toward the
highest-cost patients-that fraction of the population that consistently
incurs the majority of all medical expenses. The scientifically
validated Transcendental Meditation program is proposed as an effective
preventive intervention to accomplish this strategy, and pertinent
health-related research on the Transcendental Meditation program is
reviewed. Future research possibilities are also suggested in order to
enhance and expand national preventive care and thereby to further
reduce high medical expenditures in the U.S.
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| Medical care utilization and the Transcendental Meditation program > | | Orme-Johnson, D. W. (1987). Medical care utilization and the Transcendental Meditation program. Psychosomatic Medicine, 49(1), 493507.
Abstract
This field study compared 5 years of medical insurance utilization
statistics of approximately 2000 regular participants in the
Transcendental Meditation® (TM) program with a normative data base of
approximately 600,000 members of the same insurance carrier. The
benefits, deductible, co-insurance terms, and distribution by gender of
the TM group were very similar to the norm, yet the TM group had lower
medical utilization rates in all categories. Inpatient days per 1000 by
age category were 50.2% fewer than the norm for children (018), 50.1%
fewer for young adults (1939), and 69.4% fewer for older adults (40+).
Outpatient visits per 1000 for the same age categories were,
respectively, 46.8%, 54.7%, and 73.7% fewer. When compared with five
other health insurance groups of similar size and professional
membership, the TM group had 53.3% fewer inpatient admissions per 1000
and 44.4% fewer outpatient visits per 1000. Admissions per 1000 were
lower for the TM group than the norm for all of 17 major medical
treatment categories, including 55.4% for benign and malignant tumors,
87.3% for heart disease, 30.4% for all infectious diseases, 30.6% for
all mental disorders, and 87.3% for disease of the nervous system.
However, the TM group’s admissions rates for childbirth were similar to
the norm. The issue of self-selection is addressed in terms of previous
medical research in this area.
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| Toward better health: Transcendental Meditation can cut expenses without decreasing quality > | | Schneider, R., Cavanaugh, W., Boncheff, S., and Cavanaugh, K. (1986). Toward better health: Transcendental Meditation can cut expenses without decreasing quality. Business and Health, 4, 39-42. Also in Strategies for Maintaining a Vital Work Force, (Greenvale, NY: Panel Publishers), 1989, pp. 129-139. | |
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