Citation

Alosh H, Li D, Riley LH, Skolasky RL. J. Spinal Disord. Tech. 2013; 28(1): 5-11.

Affiliation

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/BSD.0000000000000001

PMID

24136049

Abstract

STUDY DESIGN:: Retrospective review. OBJECTIVE:: Our goals were to (1) document national trends in total hospital charges and length of stay (LOS) associated with anterior cervical spine procedures from 2000 through 2009, and (2) evaluate how those trends relate to demographic factors. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:: Since 2000, the number of anterior cervical spine procedures has increased dramatically in the United States. METHODS:: We reviewed 86,622,872 hospital discharge records (2000 through 2009) from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample and used ICD-9-CM codes to identify anterior cervical spine procedures (927,103). We assessed those records for outcomes (total hospital charges, LOS) and covariates (age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance status, geographic location, comorbidities, presence of traumatic cervical spine injury on admission) of interest and determined (with multivariable linear regression models) the independent effects of covariates on outcomes (significance, P<0.05). RESULTS:: From 2000 to 2009, yearly charges significantly increased ($1.62 billion to $5.63 billion, respectively) and LOS significantly decreased (2.23±0.043 days to 2.20±0.045 days, respectively). Average hospital charges increased yearly after adjustment for covariates. All covariates but age were significant, independent predictors of hospital charges and LOS. CONCLUSIONS:: To our knowledge, this investigation is the first to identify significant demographic predictors of hospital charges and LOS associated with anterior cervical spine surgery.

Language: en