Spine Surgeries Continue to Migrate to Outpatient

The next big growth area for outpatient facilities looking to expand their service lines is in spine surgery as the migration from the hospital environment continues to evolve the ambulatory market as well as the hospital outpatient environment.

Same-day spine procedures are part of the trend that is seeing more minimally invasive options as practitioners also eye the more complex procedures to migrate in the future.

A decade-long study published in March 2024 in the North American Spine Society Journal underscored the significant growth of spine procedures moving to outpatient locations. It revealed that from 2020 to 2021, the rate of spine procedures grew by approximately 193% overall, with the ASC growth placed at a 15.7% each year and hospital outpatient growth placed at a 9.9% each year.

The study noted the complexity of this transition.

According to the study, “There is growing interest in transitioning various surgical procedures to the outpatient care setting. However, for Medicare patients, the site of service for surgical procedures is influenced by regulations within the Inpatient and Outpatient Prospective Payment Systems.”

A wide variety of procedures contributed to this growth, as the study revealed “Within this period, the ASC list grew from 12 procedures to 58 procedures.”

The study concluded, “This study demonstrates a trend of increasing utilization of HOPDs and ASCs for spine procedures among Medicare beneficiaries from 2010 to 2021. Though HOPDs are currently more widely utilized, the ongoing additions of spine procedures to the ASC covered procedures list may shift this balance.” OSM