The need for increased access to the U.S. health-care system

Predictors of cost for posterior spinal fusion in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

STUDY DESIGN

Single-center retrospective review of pediatric patients who underwent posterior spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

OBJECTIVE

To determine what clinical and operative factors influence inflation-adjusted hospital costs of posterior spine fusion surgery for AIS. With rising healthcare costs and the advent of bundled payments, it is essential understand the predictors of costs for surgical procedures. We sought to determine the components of hospital costs for AIS posterior spine fusion surgery using standardized, inflation-adjusted, line-item costs for services and procedures.

METHODS

The study population comprised 148 AIS patients who underwent spinal fusion surgery at a large tertiary care center between 2009 and 2016. Data on medical characteristics, curve type, curve magnitude, number of screws and the number of levels was collected through manual chart review of X-rays and medical records. Hospital costs from admission until discharge were retrieved from an institutional database that contained line-item details of all procedures and services billed during the hospital episode. Bottom-up microcosting valuation techniques were used to generate standardized inflation-adjusted estimates of costs and standard deviations in 2016 dollars.

RESULTS

Mean cost of AIS surgery was $48,058 ± 9379. Physician fees averaged 15% of the total cost ($7045 ± 1732). Implant costs and surgical/anesthesia/surgeon's fees accounted for over 70% of the hospital costs. Mean number of screws was 16 ± 4.5, mean number of levels fused was 11.2 ± 2.2, and the mean implant density (screws per level fused) was 1.45 ± 0.35. On multivariate analysis, the number of screws per level fused, number of levels fused, curve magnitude and length of stay were all significantly associated with hospital costs (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Bundled payments for AIS surgery should include adjustments for number of levels fused and curve size. Areas for cost savings include further reduction in implant costs, shortening length of stay, and reducing intraoperative costs.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

III.

Impact of Living With Scoliosis: A utility Outcome Score Assessment

STUDY DESIGN

Survey.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to objectify the burden of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) to better advocate for scoliosis care in the future.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

AIS is a common spinal deformity that can affect individuals on many levels. Patients with big curves usually seek medical advice for surgical correction of their deformity.

METHODS

Participants completed an online questionnaire to help measure the health burden of AIS. Three utility outcome measures were then calculated. These included the visual analog scale, time trade off, and standard gamble. Student t test and linear regression were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

One hundred and ten participants were included in the analysis. The mean visual analog scale, time trade off, and standard gamble scores for AIS were 0.77 ± 0.16, 0.90 ± 0.11, and 0.91 ± 0.13, respectively. Factors such as age, sex, income, and level of education were dependent predictors of utility scores for AIS.

CONCLUSION

Our participants demonstrated a significant perceived burden of AIS. If faced with AIS, participants were willing to sacrifice 3.6 years of their lives and undergo a procedure with 9% mortality rate to gain perfect health. Such findings can guide future allocation of resources for better scoliosis care and management.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

4.

Intensive care unit versus hospital floor: a comparative study of postoperative management of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

BACKGROUND

Patients undergoing posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were admitted to the intensive care unit until two years ago, at which time we changed our protocol to admit these patients to the general hospital floor following a brief stay in a postanesthesia care unit. This study compared postoperative management on a hospital floor with that in the intensive care unit for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis undergoing posterior spinal fusion.

METHODS

A retrospective review of 124 consecutive patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis treated with spinal fusion from August 2007 to August 2010 was performed. Inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion surgery.

RESULTS

Of 124 patients, sixty-six were managed postoperatively in the intensive care unit and fifty-eight, on the hospital floor. The mean age at the time of surgery was fourteen years. A mean of eleven vertebral levels (range, six to fifteen levels) were fused. No significant difference between the groups was found with respect to the mean age at the time of surgery, mean weight, mean preoperative and postoperative Cobb angles, and mean number of levels fused (p ≥ 0.12). However, the use of analgesic and antianxiety medication, number of postoperative blood tests, days of hospital stay, and number of physical therapy sessions were significantly decreased in the floor group compared with the intensive care unit group (p ≤ 0.05). No patient from the floor group had to be admitted to the intensive care unit. The mean charge was $33,121 for the floor group and $39,252 for the intensive care unit group (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Initial postoperative management of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis following a posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion surgery on a general hospital floor, rather than in an intensive care unit, was associated with a shorter hospital stay, fewer blood tests, less analgesic and antianxiety medication usage, and fewer physical therapy sessions at this high-volume, academic, tertiary-care children's hospital. In addition to improved patient outcomes, there was a significant decrease of 16% in hospital charges for the group that did not go to the intensive care unit.

Socioeconomic status, self-rated health, and mortality in a multiethnic sample of US adults

Objective

To examine the association between socioeconomic status (SES), self-rated health (SRH), and mortality separately by race-ethnicity in a nationally representative sample of US adults.

Methods

We analyzed data from 16 716 adult women and men who were followed up for mortality for up to 12 years as part of the third National Health and Nutrition Examination survey (NHANES III). Poverty-income ratio (PIR) and education were assessed as measures of SES. All-cause mortality (n = 2850) was recorded from the NHANES III linked mortality file.

Results

Lower PIR was associated with mortality after adjustment for lifestyle, clinical risk factors, and SRH in all racial-ethnic groups (P-trend <0.005). In contrast, after adjusting for lifestyle and clinical risk factors, lower education was not associated with all-cause mortality in non-Hispanic whites (P-trend = 0.16), whereas the association remained significant after adjustment for SRH and lifestyle and clinical risk factors in other race-ethnicities (P-trend = 0.005; P-interaction between education categories and race-ethnicity was 0.02).

Conclusions

Our results suggest that lower PIR was associated with mortality in all racial-ethnic groups. In contrast, lower education was significantly associated with mortality only in racial-ethnic groups other than non-Hispanic whites. Our results indicate that, beyond lifestyle and clinical risk factors, adjusting for SRH resulted in only a modest change in the association of SES and mortality.

Effect of insurance status on the rate of surgery following a meniscal tear

BACKGROUND

Uninsured and underinsured Americans face barriers to access to medical care. The objective of this study was to characterize the effect of insurance status on whether patients with a torn meniscus proceed to elective arthroscopic knee surgery.

METHODS

The records from January 2003 through April 2006 at a single academic orthopaedic surgery institution in Massachusetts were retrospectively reviewed to identify patients diagnosed with a meniscal tear and to determine whether surgery had been performed within six months after the diagnosis. Six categories of insurance were identified: private insurance, Workers' Compensation, Medicare, Medicaid, Uncompensated Care Pool, and self pay. A comparison of the proportions of insured and uninsured patients who underwent surgery was the primary outcome measure.

RESULTS

A total of 1127 patients were identified, and 446 (40%) of them underwent surgery within six months after an office visit. The patients with and without surgery had similar age and sex distributions. When patients were divided, according to their insurance status, into insured and uninsured groups, no significant difference was found in the rate of surgery (p = 0.23). However, subgroup analysis revealed significant differences among the six insurance categories. Logistic regression analysis showed that patients in the self-pay group had a lower rate of surgery than those with private insurance (odds ratio, 0.33; 95% confidence interval, 0.14 to 0.75; p = 0.008), whereas patients receiving Workers' Compensation (odds ratio, 1.93; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 3.55; p = 0.034) and those receiving Medicaid (odds ratio, 1.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.09 to 2.42; p = 0.016) had higher surgical rates than those with private insurance.

CONCLUSIONS

The rate of elective arthroscopic knee surgery for meniscal tears varied significantly for some insurance categories at this single academic institution in Massachusetts. Further work is necessary to clarify the patient and surgeon factors influencing these disparities in clinical decision-making.

Hospital cost analysis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis correction surgery in 125 consecutive cases

BACKGROUND

Although achieving clinical success is the main goal in the surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, it is becoming increasingly important to do so in a cost-effective manner. The goal of the present study was to determine the surgical and hospitalization costs, charges, and reimbursements for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis correction surgery at one institution.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of 16,536 individual costs and charges, including overall reimbursements, for 125 consecutive patients who were managed surgically for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis by three different surgeons between 2006 and 2007. Demographic, surgical, and radiographic data were recorded for each patient. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was employed to assess independent correlation with total cost and charge. Nonparametric descriptive statistics were calculated for total cost with use of the Lenke curve-classification system.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 15.2 years. The mean main thoracic curve measured 50 degrees, and the thoracolumbar curve measured 41 degrees. The cost varied with Lenke curve type: $29,955 for type 1, $31,414 for type 2, $31,975 for type 3, $60,754 for type 4, $32,652 for type 5, and $33,416 for type 6. Independently significant increases for total cost were found in association with the number of pedicle screws placed, the total number of vertebral levels fused, and the type of surgical approach (R(2) = 0.35, p <or= 0.03). Independently significant increases for reimbursement were found in association with the number of pedicle screws placed and the type of surgical approach (R(2) = 0.12, p <or= 0.02). The hospital was reimbursed 53% of total charges and 120% of total costs. Reimbursement was highly correlated with charge (r = 0.45, p < 0.001). For rehospitalizations, the hospital was reimbursed 65% of charges and 93% of costs.

CONCLUSIONS

The largest contributors to overall cost were implants (29%), intensive care unit and inpatient room costs (22%), operating room time (9.9%), and bone grafts (6%). There were three significant independent predictors of increased total cost: the surgical approach used, the number of pedicle screws placed, and the number of vertebral levels fused. This study characterizes the relative contributions of factors that contribute to total costs, charges, and reimbursements that can, in time, identify potential areas for cost reduction or redistribution of resources in the surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.