Payors

A Unique Solution for Payors and Patients Alike

Alpha-Stim® is a medical device that has been licensed by Health Canada to treat pain and insomnia. The Alpha-Stim® CES device utilizes a unique, patented, microcurrent waveform that interacts with an individual’s bioelectricity, allowing the body to return towards homeostasis, a balance that causes normal functioning of both the brain and peripheral nervous system. Alpha-Stim® is so easy to use as a pain or mental health solution that patients can administer it themselves at home while relaxing, reading, using a computer or watching TV. Many people treat their brain while doing light chores at home such as cooking using the included belt clip or lanyard.

The precise specifications of a therapeutic medical device waveform is analogous to the chemical composition of a pharmaceutical. The Alpha-Stim® CES device generates a unique patented waveform that no other device can emulate. The highly refined and rigorously tested waveform transmits microcurrents via patented earclip electrodes for the AID device (which treats insomnia), and via either handheld or self-adhesive electrodes placed on the body at the pain site for the M device.

Well-constructed scientific surveys, by both doctors and patients, consistently find that 9 out of 10 people who use Alpha-Stim® as a solution for their insomnia or pain get significant relief. More often than not, results are experienced from the very first treatment. These large effect sizes are supported by over 100 completed, independent research studies and published reports, many of which were double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trials (RCTs) to ensure rigorous testing and clinically validated results.

That’s why over 200 US Department of Defense (DOD) practitioners and over 92 Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals use Alpha-Stim® with military personnel. In fact, both the US military and VA have published RCTs on Alpha-Stim® and are continuing to use and research it. Side effects are mild and self-limiting, primarily consisting of headaches (0.20%) and skin irritation (0.11%) at the electrode site. In over 35 years of use, there has never been a significant lasting side effect.

What is CES?

Cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) is a generic term denoting low level electrical stimulation to the brain. CES involves devices that deliver electrical currents transcranially through electrodes. The brain functions electrochemically and can readily be modulated by transmitting an electrical waveform. Pain and insomnia are all controlled by the body’s central nervous system. The billions of individual cells that comprise the nervous system communicate every sensation by conducting electrochemical signals between the cells in your body and brain.

Alpha-Stim’s® waveform is delivered using our unique, patented ear clips. The ears are an efficient and easy way to apply electrodes to direct the current across the brain stem. LORETA (computerized EEG) studies prove that Alpha-Stim® CES device technology affects the whole brain from the ear clip application.

What is MET?

Microcurrent electrical therapy (MET) is a generic term used to describe a low level current form of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) used for pain control typically applied for 2 – 5 minutes through probes, or self-adhesive electrodes for longer applications. MET differs from traditional TENS in that MET uses lower current levels and longer pulse widths. The Alpha-Stim® MET/TENS technology produces residual and cumulative results not generally seen with higher current TENS devices. In a traditional TENS device based on 1970s technology, the current is often over a thousand times stronger than with Alpha-Stim® so the mechanisms and effects differ. MET is used for acute, chronic and post-traumatic pain using such a low current it is a subsensory experience for the patient.

You need a cost-effective option. Alpha-Stim Delivers.

Over a five-year period, Alpha-Stim users can save thousands of dollars compared with drugs and other treatments typically used to treat insomnia and pain. When you consider the results that are possible with the Alpha-Stim CES device as a pain and mental health solution, as well as the safety of the therapy, it’s clear why we believe there’s no better value available.

Research Studies

Alpha-Stim® has been on the market as a pain and insomnia solution for over 35 years and has more research than any other therapeutic MET or CES device. There are over 100 studies published to date and over 20 currently underway. Our research is so good even our competitors use it! FDA accepts a broad range of waveform parameters for the CES category, which is not unusual. For example, both aspirin and morphine are categorized as analgesics but we all understand the considerable differences between the two. Only Alpha-Stim® is proven to get the results shown in Alpha-Stim® research.

Click here to see the Alpha-Stim® Clinical Examination Report prepared in accordance with the European Medical Device Directives. This report contains a description of Alpha-Stim technology, the history of cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES), mechanisms of Alpha-Stim based on fMRI, LORETA and qEEG studies, along with graphic summaries and annotated abstracts of all our research including many double-blind, placebo (sham) controlled studies including some with crossovers, open clinical trials and well-constructed scientific surveys. These studies, all conducted by independent investigators, mainly at universities or government hospitals, almost always on drug resistant patients, has consistently revealed significant p values to p<.001, and medium to large effect sizes.

Cost Containment

Over a five-year period, Alpha-Stim® users can save thousands of dollars compared with drugs and other treatments typically used to treat insomnia and pain. When you consider the results that are possible with the Alpha-Stim® CES device as a pain and insomnia solution, as well as the safety of the therapy, it’s clear why we believe there’s no better value available.

The Alpha-Stim® AID and M treat insomnia. The Alpha-Stim® M also treats pain. The Alpha-Stim AID device is $1,099 CAD, and the Alpha-Stim M device is $1,699 CAD.

The cost comparison charts below show all Alpha-Stim costs needed for treatment, including accessories purchased over time. To make this a more accurate product-to-product comparison, the drug costs do not include ongoing physician visits to change drug prescriptions, adjust dosages, treat side effects, or the likelihood of increasing drug costs over the period of the device’s 5-year limited warranty.

Alpha-Stim® AID Accessory Costs: $69 CAD/year
• $20 for one box of 256 felt electrode pads for earclips
• $21 for 250ml Conducting Solution Refill size bottle
• $28 for an 8-pack of AAA lithium batteries

Alpha-Stim® M Accessory Costs: $94 CAD/year
• $20 for one box of 256 felt electrode pads for earclips
• $21 for 250ml Conducting Solution Refill bottle
• $28 for an 8-pack of AA lithium batteries
• $25 for one box of 100 probe electrode pads

Offer the best care to retain and attract new members.

Customer satisfaction bears more weight than ever before; if your members aren’t happy with their benefits and service, your quality rating takes a direct hit. With the demand for effective mental healthcare growing, it is of vital important to offer the services your members want and need.

With Alpha-Stim, patients do not have to discontinue their other medications or therapy; but many people find that Alpha-Stim is effective enough that they no longer need other treatment modalities in order to maintain the improvements to their physical and mental health.

The bottom line with customer satisfaction is this: your members want optimal health with minimal hassle and expense. Alpha-Stim is a fast, safe, and effective treatment for multiple diagnoses and indications. And since its effects are cumulative over time, patients will feel better the more they use it. Unlike with medications, the dosage does not need to be increased over time; prescription renewals, refills, and reauthorizations are not required; and there is no risk of addiction, overuse and abuse, or withdrawal.

Patients use Alpha-Stim in the comfort of their own home, making it an appealing option for those with hectic schedules. It is a portable, safe, and easy way for people to attain the results they desire. Offering Alpha-Stim as a covered service gives your members what they want – as well as a powerful incentive to renew their policy with you, year after year.

Policies are changing. Keep in step with Alpha-Stim.

Policies are constantly being updated, and it’s up to you to stay in compliance. With more stringent controls over pain management, and increased pressure to screen for depression, it may seem like an uphill battle to keep pace with ever-changing requirements.

The financial incentive for receiving high scores on hospital consumer assessments has been correlated with the over-prescribing of opioids. Pain medications have historically been the first line method of treatment for pain – despite the toll they take on patients after leaving the hospital or doctor’s office. But Alpha-Stim offers pain relief so effective that there is no need to worry about lowered scores on patient satisfaction of pain management. In fact, you will find quite the opposite, as new Alpha-Stim devotees become satisfied with their symptom management, often for the first time ever. If therapy and drugs offered adequate management of symptoms for everyone, there would be no demand for Alpha-Stim. But the reality is that few people are satisfied with their current treatments.

The time is right to set a higher standard for patient care. By offering coverage of Alpha-Stim, patients will feel better faster – leading to more satisfied customers and more cost-effective coverage policies for all.

Moving to value-based care: Alpha-Stim is the gold standard for mental and physical health.

The demands on you as an insurer are steep, and may feel impossible at times. Patients insist on better care while new policies pressure you to push costs ever lower – is this even sustainable for a payor? With Alpha-Stim, the answer is a resounding yes.

The portability and ease of use of Alpha-Stim allows it to be seamlessly integrated into an individual’s daily activities. Whether used for mental health, pain management, or both, Alpha-Stim rapidly improves the quality of life of patients. This, in turn, reduces costs for all parties: Patients spend less time and money by reducing reliance on medication and behavioral and physical therapies; providers can more effectively address their patients’ diagnoses, improving productivity; and payors reap the benefits of one of the most cost-effective treatment modalities in existence.

The integration of behavioral and primary care is one of the most pressing challenges that today’s payors and providers face. Alpha-Stim bridges the gap between physical and mental/behavioral healthcare, providing the perfect solution for ACOs that may otherwise struggle to provide quality versions of both.

If you are reading about Alpha-Stim for the first time you are probably trying to compare it with a treatment you are already familiar with. Don’t: Alpha-Stim is completely different from everything else on the market. In fact, we urge you to try it yourself. You will be amazed at how good you feel after just one treatment. After trying just a single treatment with Alpha-Stim, the device’s biggest skeptics become its strongest proponents.

Get Started

Give us a call today at 1-800-FOR-PAIN or email info@epii.com.


Educational Opportunities

If you are a licensed healthcare practitioner and would like to attend a CES and MET education webinar with Steve Haltiwanger, MD, Chief Medical Officer, please email steve@epii.com. Alpha-Stim also offers a free, bi-monthly webinar approved for nurses, nurse case managers and LCSWs.