Health

 Axios - U.S. hospitals performed more than 200,000 unnecessary back surgeries on older adults that cost taxpayers $1.9 billion, according to a new analysis of Medicare and Medicare Advantage claims data.

The findings from the Lown Institute track with earlier studies but come as Medicare administrators step up scrutiny of low-value services that often have limited effectiveness, by using clinical reviews and AI.

• Back surgeries often are needed for patients with herniated discs, stenosis and injuries from accidents but aren't necessarily better than nonsurgical alternatives for patients suffering from pain caused by aging.
• Lown said that's particularly the case for vertebroplasty, which involves injecting bone cement into cracked vertebra to relieve pain.

An average of 13% of spinal fusions and laminectomies — a procedure to relieve pressure on the spinal cord — met criteria for overuse, meaning the patients weren't diagnosed for conditions such as trauma, scoliosis or a herniated disc.

• The average vertebroplasty overuse rate was 10%. The analysis deemed the procedure unnecessary for patients with spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis.

An American Hospital Association spokesperson said the analysis and previous Lown findings on unnecessary back surgeries were flawed and didn't take into account factors like physicians' judgment.More here