In the realm of spinal surgery, data analysis from Medicare program audits showed that around 10 percent of Medicare-funded spinal fusions in 2011 did not have documentation so support their necessity. According to the article, those surgeries lacked a medical basis or had not been first addressed through appropriate non-surgical means.
These medically unnecessary spinal surgeries cost Medicare $157 million in improper payments in 2011.
The article cites another 2011 study in Surgical Neurology International that indicates 17 percent of neck and back complaints ended in surgery lacking a medical basis.
