Interactive Application Provides Detailed Data on Spinal Fusion Claims.

Last month, CWCI Senior Research Associate Stacy Jones’ study on spinal fusions in California workers’ comp generated a number of important findings: in 60% of spinal fusion claims the initial report of injury were for a sprain or strain; a majority of the fusions occurred within two years of the injury; and as the claims aged, more than 20% involved at least one subsequent fusion surgery. Using IRIS data from 18,266 claims from accident years (AY) 2000 through 2014 in which one or more spinal fusions were performed, the study also identified spinal fusion claim characteristics; patient demographics; the presence of comorbidities; and the average amounts paid in indemnity and medical benefits. In addition the study measured the timing of the initial fusion and the presence and timing of subsequent fusions; IMR outcomes for spinal fusion requests; utilization trends for MRIs, pre- and post-surgery PT, and the level of pre- and post-surgical opioid use.

While those results are detailed in our Report to the Industry, “Spinal Fusion Claims in California Workers’ Compensation, the study also used California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) data on inpatient hospital use broken out by payor type. As a complement to the recent report, the Institute has developed an interactive application that allows our members to take a deeper dive into the OSHPD data. Using your user name and password, you can log into the Research section of our website (www.cwci.org), scroll down to the listing for the report, then hit the Interactive Data button to open the application, which focuses on three areas. Screenshots and descriptions of the three areas are shown below.

Comparative data on back surgery rates, average lengths of stay, and hospital charges for California workers’ comp, Medicare, Medi-Cal and private coverage. Filters allow you to break out specific results by DRG, county where the surgery took place, discharge year, and payor category.  

Heat maps that compare back surgery rates, average hospital charges, total volume of inpatient discharges, and average length of stay by county. Filters allow you to break out the results by payor type, discharge year, DRG, and spinal surgery DRG

Hospital-specific data on the number of workers’ compensation discharges, spine surgery rates, average lengths of stay, and average hospital charges by accident year. Filters are available to generate detailed data by payor type, for back surgeries vs. non-back surgeries, by DRG, by county where the hospitals are located, and by discharge year and facility name.   

The Spinal Fusion Discharge application is part of our ongoing effort to provide members with distributed analytics to enable a more comprehensive, interactive experience based on CWCI research. If you or your staff have questions or would like assistance in using this tool, please call the Institute at 510-251-9470.

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