How does insurance status impact scoliosis surgery outcomes and cost? READ FULL ARTICLE
A group of researchers examined the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids’ Inpatient Database for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 for patients under 18 years old who underwent surgery for idiopathic scoliosis. They included patients who had no underlying neurological disorders and underwent fusion procedures. Their results were published in Spine.
There were 19,439 surgical procedures estimated in the United States from 2000 to 2009 with 4,766 of those patients having Medicaid. The remaining 14,673 patients had private insurance. Here are 10 key notes from the study:
1. The number of spinal fusions for pediatric idiopathic scoliosis increased steadily from 2000 to 2009. In those nine years, spinal fusions for pediatric idiopathic scoliosis increased 18 percent.
2. The patients with private insurance were more likely to undergo surgery than Medicaid patient. There were 7.7 per 100,000 capita patients with private insurance, compared with 5.9 per 100,000 capita of Medicaid patients.
3. The patients with private insurance were slightly older on average than Medicaid patients — 13.9 years old versus 13.4 years old — at the time of surgery. READ MORE