In November, the Lown Institute released a report breaking down key statistics on unnecessary spine and back procedures nationwide.
The nonprofit organization considers procedures to be unnecessary when they are performed without sufficient justification based on a patient's condition or when a less invasive procedure could be as effective. Procedures and overuse criteria were based on the Lown Institute's measurement of low-value care at hospitals. Read more about the methodology here.
Here are eight notes on unnecessary spine procedures:
1. Florida ranks highest in the country for low-value and unnecessary back and spine surgeries performed on older adults.
2. The five hospitals with the highest overuse rates for unnecessary spinal fusion were:
Mount Nittany Medical Center (State College, Pa.): 62.8%
The Medical Center of Aurora (Colo.): 42.1%
Jefferson Abington (Pa.) Hospital: 40.6%
Concord (N.H.) Hospital: 40.6%
Heritage Valley Sewickley (Pa.): 40.1%
3. The five hospitals with the highest overuse rates for unnecessary vertebroplasty were:
Shannon Medical Center (San Angelo, Texas): 55.5%
CHI St. Vincent Infirmary (Little Rock, Ark.): 50.5%
St. Elizabeth Florence (Ky.) Hospital: 48.7%
Lutheran Hospital (Fort Wayne, Ind.): 44.6%
Ascension Providence Hospital-Southfield (Mich.) Campus: 42.3%
4. New Hampshire and Arkansas were found to have the highest rates of unnecessary spinal fusions and/or laminectomies and vertebroplasties, respectively.
5. A total of 3,454 physicians performed "a measurable number" of low-value spine surgeries, and in that time they received $64 million from device and drug companies.
6. On average, 14% of spinal fusions and/or laminectomies were considered "overuse." An average 11% of patient visits for osteoporotic fractures led to an unnecessary vertebroplasty, according to the Lown Institute report.
7. Between 2019 and 2021, more than 200,000 unnecessary spine surgeries cost Medicare an estimated $2 billion.
8. Hospitals performed more than 100,000 "unnecessary" procedures on older Americans in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, including 30,094 spine surgeries.