A new study published in Spine examined the regionalization of lumbar spine procedures in New York.
The researchers examined the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System administrative data to identify 228,695 lumbar spine surgery patients. The patients underwent surgery form 2005 to 2014.
The researchers found:
1. The lumber spine surgery patients were widely distributed throughout the state.
2. The spinal surgery procedures were regionalized on a "select few" metropolitan centers.
3. The number of lumbar fusions grew 2.5 percent over the 10-year study period. At the same time, high-volume hospital caseload increased 50 percent from 7,253 procedures in 2005 to 10,915 procedures in 2014.
4. The medium volume procedure hospitals decreased 30 percent and the low volume hospital procedures decreased 13 percent over the 10-year study period.
5. There was a migration toward high-volume hospitals over the studied decade. "Public interest in quality outcomes and cost, as well as financial incentives among medical centers to increase market share, potentially influence the migration of patients to high-volume centers," concluded the study authors.