Florida is one of the states with the highest volume of unnecessary spine surgeries in older adults, according to a report from the Lown Institute.
The Lown Institute evaluated Medicare fee-for-service claims from 2021 to 2023 and Medicare Advantage claims data from 2020 to 2022, according to an Oct. 8 news release. Unnecessary spine surgeries have cost Medicare an estimated $1.9 billion during that time.
Overuse in spinal fusion/laminectomy patients was deemed for patients with low-back pain who did not have radicular symptoms, trauma, herniated disc, discitis, spondylosis, myelopathy, radiculopathy, radicular pain or scoliosis, according to the Lown Institute. Overuse for vertebroplasty was defined in patients with spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis, excluding patients with bone cancer, myeloma or hemangioma.
Here are the top 10 states with the highest volume of unnecessary spinal fusions:
1. California (6,823 cases)
2. Florida (6,495 cases)
3. Texas (5,815 cases)
4. Pennsylvania (5,041 cases)
5. Ohio (4,882 cases)
6. Michigan (3,731 cases)
7. New York (3,711 cases)
8. Illinois (3,484 cases)
9. Tennessee (3,360 cases)
10. North Carolina (3,211 cases)
Here are the top 10 states with the highest volume of unnecessary vertebroplasty:
1. Texas (9,927 cases)
2. Florida (8,302 cases)
3. Ohio (6,803 cases)
4. California (5,714 cases)
5. Illinois (5,129 cases)
6. Pennsylvania (4,389 cases)
7. Michigan (4,168 cases)
8. Missouri (3,882 cases)
9. Massachusetts (3,446 cases)
10. Indiana (3,298 cases)
