Patient safety indicators from a spine surgery perspective: the importance of a specialty specific clinician working with the documentation team and the impact to your hospital.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: The Hospital Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program supports the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) effort to prevent harm to patients by providing a financial incentive to reduce HACs. HAC scores are impacted by Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs), potentially preventable hospital-related events associated with harmful patient outcomes. PSIs are identified using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding; however, ICD coding does not always reflect the patient's true medical course. PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of and costs savings associated with a clinical documentation review process in tandem with clinician collaboration in identifying incorrectly generated PSIs. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. PATIENT SAMPLE: All patients undergoing spine surgery at a single multi-surgeon tertiary spine center. OUTCOME MEASURES: Occurrence of PSI. METHODS: Over two 11-month periods, all PSIs attributable to spine surgery were determined. The number and type of spine related PSIs were compared before (Control) and after the implementation of a specialty specific clinical review (Intervention) to identify incorrectly generated PSIs. The financial impact of this intervention was calculated in the form of an annual cost savings to our hospital system. RESULTS: During the Control phase, 61 PSIs were reported in 3368 spine cases, representing a total of 3.6 PSIs/month. During Intervention phase, 26 PSIs in 4,482 spine cases, resulting in a statistically significant decrease of 1.5 PSIs per month. The percentage of PSIs across all surgical cases attributable to spine surgery had a statistically significant decrease during the Intervention period compared to the Control period (16% vs. 10%, p=.034), resulting in the avoidance of a 1% CMS cost reduction, an annual cost saving of approximately $3-4 million dollars per year. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a clinical documentation review process with clinician collaboration to ensure ICD-10 coding accurately reflects the patient's medical course leads to more accurate PSI reporting, with the potential for substantial cost-savings for hospitals from CMS reimbursement.

Copper deficiency myelopathy in the setting of advanced degenerative cervical spondylosis.

When presenting conjointly, degenerative cervical spondylosis and copper deficiency myelopathy may be difficult to differentiate providing the potential for mismanagement and unnecessary surgery. We present a case of a 69-year-old female with copper deficiency myelopathy secondary to previous bowel resection in the setting of advanced degenerative cervical spondylotic disease.

Atlanto-occipital dislocation.

Atlanto-occipital dislocation (AOD) is being increasingly recognized as a potentially survivable injury as a result of improved prehospital management of polytrauma patients and increased awareness of this entity, leading to earlier diagnosis and more aggressive treatment. However, despite overall improved outcomes, AOD is still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this paper is to review the biomechanical aspects, clinical features, radiologic criteria, and treatment strategies of AOD. Given that the diagnosis of AOD can be very challenging, a high degree of clinical suspicion is essential to ensure timely recognition and treatment, thus preventing neurological decline or death.