A south Alabama hospital was highlighted in a recent report as performing one of the highest rates of unnecessary back surgeries in the country.
Over 37% of the spinal fusions performed at Mobile Infirmary were considered to be ‘unnecessary’ by the Lown Institute, a non-partisan think-tank in Massachusetts that releases an annual hospital ranking focused on patient safety and the value of care.
The national rate of spinal fusion overuse is 14%, according to the analysis.
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Hospitals performed more than 200,000 unnecessary back surgeries over a three-year period, according to an analysis by the Lown Institute, a health care watchdog group. The useless treatments put patients at risk for complications and cost Medicare about $2 billion, the analysis found. Furthermore, there was a large variation in rates of overuse among individual hospitals, ranging from zero to more than half of procedures.
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A report last week from the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, found hospitals and physicians performed over 200,000 unnecessary back surgeries on Medicare beneficiaries over three years, based on three years’ worth of Medicare and Medicare Advantage claims data. Those procedures cost Medicare about $2 billion between 2019 and 2022, the report said.
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A new analysis revealed that Medicare spent roughly $2 billion over three years on unnecessary back surgeries for older adults. This alarming figure comes from research conducted by the nonpartisan Lown Institute think tank.
The study examined common procedures including spinal fusion, laminectomy, and vertebroplasty, finding that an unnecessary back surgery is performed on a Medicare beneficiary every eight minutes. More than 200,000 procedures were identified as potentially unnecessary during the study period.
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Over 200,000 back surgeries were performed unnecessarily in the United States over the course of three years, according to a new Lown Institute report. In sum, these low-value back procedures cost Medicare about $2 billion after three years, roughly $600 million annually.
“We trust that our doctors make decisions based on the best available evidence, but that’s not always the case,” Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, said in an organizational release. “In spinal surgery, as with other fields of medicine, physicians routinely overlook evidence to make exceptions, sometimes at shockingly high rates. This type of waste in Medicare is costly, both in terms of spending, and in risk to patients.”
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Hospitals performed more than 200,000 unnecessary back surgeries on Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. over three years, according to a new analysis.
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In the last three years, U.S. hospitals performed more than 200,000 unnecessary back surgeries on Medicare beneficiaries, according to a Nov. 14 report by the Lown Institute Hospital Index.
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While Harris and Walz have challenged corporate power, politicians do so only because voters are pushing for it, cautioned Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, a health-care think tank.
“The health-care corporations now are mega-regional players. They have huge clout. It would really take much more than a single politician,” Saini said. “It’s going to take a broader movement in the country. … Maybe we’ll get there as there is a lot of pain.”
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Fixing American healthcare will require more than mere tweaks around the edges. Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Boston-based Lown Institute, believes that it will require a return to medicine’s humanist roots. In this interview he describes some of the ways in which many healthcare organizations prioritize revenue and profit over patients and communities. He also explains why he remains optimistic that Hippocratic principles will ultimately prevail.
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Every day, 750 older Americans end up in the hospital because of serious side effects from one or more medications, according to the Lown Institute, a health care think tank. And the chance you will experience a serious side effect from a prescribed medication goes up around 10% with each additional medication you take.
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St. Luke’s University Health Network has been recognized by the Lown Institute as one of the most socially responsible hospitals in America, receiving ‘A’ grades in equity, value and outcomes on the 2024-25 Lown Institute Hospitals Index.
Out of more than 3,500 hospitals measured by Lown, only 5% achieved honor roll status, with St. Luke’s ranking among this select group of high performers.
“Great care is only great if everyone can access it,” said Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute. “We need hospitals that are not only leaders in clinical care, but also strong community partners-and the hospitals at the top of our list are showing the way.”
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Peconic Bay Medical Center has received accolades statewide: PBMC has been recognized as the most socially responsible hospital in New York State by the
Lown Institute Hospital Index. According to the report, PBMC was ranked first out of 128 statewide for social responsibility, and 79 out of 2,758 nationally.
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) has been cited as Vermont’s most socially responsible acute care hospital by the Lown Institute, a Massachusetts-based non-partisan healthcare think tank.
The distinction is based on an evaluation of more than 3,500 U.S. hospitals using more than 50 metrics in categories such as health equity, value of care, and patient outcomes. Results are based on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Internal Revenue Service, and other sources.
“We are thrilled that our efforts to promote social responsibility are making a difference in our community, and that they are being quantified and recognized on a national level. Being recognized as a leader in Vermont is especially rewarding, knowing how incredibly socially responsible all hospitals in Vermont are!” said Christopher Dougherty, BMH’s President and CEO, in a statement.
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UCHealth is proud to be named one of the nation’s most socially responsible health care systems by the Lown Institute. The 2024-25 Lown Institute Hospitals Index released earlier this week ranks UCHealth No. 2 nationwide according to the institute’s analysis of health equity, value of care and patient outcomes.
“UCHealth is committed to improving the lives of our patients and building healthier communities across the state,” said Elizabeth Concordia, UCHealth president and CEO. “We are pleased to be recognized by the Lown Institute as one of the nation’s most socially responsible health care systems. This recognition is a compliment for our staff and providers who work hard every day to provide the very best care to our patients.”
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"One of our biggest takeaways of the past five years that we've been publishing this index has been, if you want to measure what matters, then you really have to include equity,” Saini said during a news conference.
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Roughly one-quarter of acute care hospitals in New York earned the top grade for social responsibility, down slightly from the proportion of hospitals that earned the mark last year, a new report shows.
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The Lown Institute published its 2024 list of America's most socially responsible hospitals June 25, highlighting the top hospitals for social responsibility in every state.
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"Great care is only great if everyone can access it," Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, said in a statement. "Socially responsible hospitals are trusted to provide high-quality care to all, and their success directly improves the health and economic stability of their communities."
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Others remain skeptical that PE has a positive effect on the industry. Vikas Saini, president of the nonpartisan think tank Lown Institute, told Healthcare Brew that the deterioration of quality care is his “biggest and first concern.”
“The kinds of returns that private equity expects and the kinds of methods they’re used to using outside of healthcare—which are the ones they’re importing into healthcare—are unlikely to give us that kind of an innovative, extraordinary startup that we all want to send our family to,” Saini said.
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