U.S. hospitals have performed more than 200,000 unnecessary vertebroplasty, spinal fusion and laminectomy operations since 2020, costing Medicare nearly $2 billion, according to research from the Lown Institute.
Using Medicare fee-for-service claims data from 2021 to 2023 and Medicare Advantage data from 2020 to 2022, researchers examined the number of unnecessary back procedures performed on beneficiaries, who are ages 60 or older.
They found that one unnecessary back procedure occurs every eight minutes in U.S. hospitals.
The Lown Institute’s analysis defined unnecessary spinal fusion/laminectomy procedures — which are often performed together — as those performed on patients with low back pain not related to select disorders, including scoliosis. There is insufficient evidence on the benefit of these surgeries for patients with lower back pain caused by aging, according to the report.
For vertebroplasties, unnecessary procedures were defined as those performed on patients with spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis.
“Like everyone in America, older people with back pain deserve safe, evidence-based care that doesn’t waste taxpayer dollars,” Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, said in an Oct. 7 news release. “Reducing unnecessary procedures, particularly invasive ones that carry grave risks, is a moral imperative. Physicians, policymakers and hospitals must act to protect their constituents and patients.”
Read more about which hospitals have the highest and lowest overuse rates for these procedures here.
