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Background Context: Lumbar fusion is a common and costly procedure in the United States. Reimbursement for surgical procedures is increasingly tied to care quality and patient safety as part of value-based reimbursement programs. The incidence of adverse quality events among lumbar fusion patients is unknown using the definition of care quality (patient safety indicators [PSI]) used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The association between insurance status and the incidence of PSI is similarly unknown in lumbar fusion patients.Purpose: This study sought to determine the incidence of PSI in patients undergoing inpatient lumbar fusion and to quantify the association between primary payer status and PSI in this population.Study Design: A retrospective cohort study was carried out.Patient Sample: The sample comprised all adult patients aged 18 years and older who were included in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) that underwent lumbar fusion from 1998 to 2011.Outcome Measure: The incidence of one or more PSI, a validated and widely used metric of inpatient health-care quality and patient safety, was the primary outcome variable.Methods: The NIS data were examined for all cases of inpatient lumbar fusion from 1998 to 2011. The incidence of adverse patient safety events (PSI) was determined using publicly available lists of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association between primary payer status (Medicaid and self-pay relative to private insurance) and the incidence of PSI.Results: A total of 539,172 adult lumbar fusion procedures were recorded in the NIS from 1998 to 2011. Patients were excluded from the secondary analysis if "other" or "missing" was listed for primary insurance status. The national incidence of PSI was calculated to be 2,445 per 100,000 patient years of observation, or approximately 2.5%. In a secondary analysis, after adjusting for patient demographics and hospital characteristics, Medicaid and self-pay patients had significantly greater odds of experiencing one or more PSI during the inpatient episode relative to privately insured patients (odds ratio 1.16, 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.27).Conclusions: Among patients undergoing inpatient lumbar fusion, insurance status is associated with the adverse health-care quality events used to determine hospital reimbursement by the CMS. The source of this disparity must be studied to improve the quality of care delivered to vulnerable patient populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Context: Multiple studies have determined minimum clinically important difference (MCID) thresholds for EuroQOL-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) scores in lumbar fusion patients. However, a comprehensive understanding of predictors for a clinically significant improvement (CSI) postoperatively does not exist.Purpose: To determine medical, radiographic, and surgical predictors for obtaining a CSI following lumbar fusion surgery.Study Design: This is a retrospective review of patients who underwent instrumented lumbar fusion.Patient Sample: We included patients who underwent lumbar fusion for any indication between 2008 and 2013.Outcome Measures: Outcome measures included preoperative and postoperative EQ-5D Index scores.Materials and Methods: The medical records of patients who received a lumbar fusion for any indication were retrospectively reviewed to identify patient medical and surgical characteristics. A blinded reviewer assessed radiographs for each patient to examine sagittal alignment following fusion. Multivariable logistic regression was used to model the achievement of a CSI based on two commonly cited MCID values.Results: A total of 231 patients fit the inclusion criteria; 58% exceeded an MCID value for an EQ-5D score of 0.100, and 16% exceeded an MCID value of 0.390. Statistically significant independent predictors of not obtaining a CSI for an MCID threshold of 0.100 included a higher preoperative EQ-5D score (odds ratio [OR]=44.8) and L5-S1 fusion (OR=3.3). For an MCID value of 0.390, a higher preoperative EQ-5D score (OR=2,080.8) and a diagnosis of depression (OR=7.1) were predictive of not achieving a CSI, whereas spondylolisthesis (OR=4.1) was predictive of obtaining a CSI postoperatively. For both MCID values, patients who achieved a CSI had better postoperative quality of life (QOL) scores for all metrics measured, despite worse QOL scores preoperatively.Conclusions: This study is the first to use a combination of medical, surgical, and postoperative sagittal balance variables as determinants for the achievement of a CSI after lumbar fusion. The awareness of these predictors may allow for better patient selection and surgical approach to decrease the probability of acquiring a poor outcome postoperatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: Retrospective Review.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine medical, radiographic, and surgical risk factors for the development of adjacent segment disease (ASD) after lumbar fusion.Summary Of Background Data: ASD is a recognized outcome of spinal fusion that leads to increased costs and debilitating symptoms for patients. However, a comprehensive understanding of risk factors for the development of this surgical outcome does not exist.Methods: The medical records of patients who received their first lumbar fusion for any indication were retrospectively examined for preoperative medical comorbidities and medications, as well as surgical approach and perioperative complications. A blinded reviewer assessed radiographs for each patient to examine sagittal alignment after fusion. Multivariable logistic regression was used to model the risk of developing ASD on the basis of one or more predictors.Results: A total of 137 patients fit the inclusion criteria; 9% required a follow-up operation for degeneration at segments adjacent to the fusion. The ASD group had a mean follow-up of 21.1 months prior to revision surgery and an overall follow-up of 41.0 months. The average follow-up in the control group was 14.0 months. Statistically significant independent predictors of developing ASD included antidepressant use [odds ratio (OR) = 5.4], diagnosis of degenerative scoliosis (OR = 34.2), fusion of L4-S1 (OR = 56.5), having no decompressions adjacent to the fusion, and low sacral slope (OR = 0.9). No patient who developed ASD received a decompression adjacent to the fusion such that an OR could not be generated for this independent predictor.Conclusion: This study is the first to use a combination of medical, surgical, and postoperative sagittal balance as risk factors for the development of adjacent segment disease after lumbar fusion. The awareness of these risk factors may allow for better patient selection and surgical technique to decrease the probability of acquiring this adverse outcome.Level Of Evidence: 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Context: The incidence of adverse care quality events among patients undergoing cervical fusion surgery is unknown using the definition of care quality employed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The effect of insurance status on the incidence of these adverse quality events is also unknown.Purpose: This study determined the incidence of hospital-acquired conditions (HAC) and patient safety indicators (PSI) in patients with cervical spine fusion and analyzed the association between primary payer status and these adverse events.Study Design: This is a retrospective cohort design.Patient Sample: All patients in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) aged 18 and older who underwent cervical spine fusion from 1998 to 2011 were included.Outcome Measures: Incidence of HAC and PSI from 1998 to 2011 served as outcome variables.Methods: We queried the NIS for all hospitalizations that included a cervical fusion during the inpatient episode from 1998 to 2011. All comparisons were made between privately insured patients and Medicaid or self-pay patients because Medicare enrollment is confounded with age. Incidence of nontraumatic HAC and PSI was determined using publicly available lists of International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis codes. We built logistic regression models to determine the effect of primary payer status on PSI and nontraumatic HAC.Results: We identified 419,424 hospitalizations with cervical fusion performed during an inpatient episode. The estimated national incidences of nontraumatic HAC and PSI were 0.35% and 1.6%, respectively. After adjusting for patient demographics and hospital characteristics, Medicaid or self-pay patients had significantly greater odds of experiencing one or more HAC (odds ratio [OR] 1.51 95% conflict of interest [CI] 1.23-1.84) or PSI (OR 1.52 95% CI 1.37-1.70) than the privately insured cohort.Conclusions: Among patients undergoing inpatient cervical fusion, primary payer status predicts PSI and HAC (both indicators of adverse health-care quality used to determine hospital reimbursement by CMS). As the US health-care system transitions to a value-based payment model, the cause of these disparities must be studied to improve the quality of care delivered to vulnerable patient populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]