Spine Quality Measures

The Cedars-Sinai Spine Center is a comprehensive and advanced spine center dedicated to the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of all neck, back pain and spinal conditions, with a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, surgical fellows, specialized spine nurses, and conservative care and diagnostic specialists.

Our goal is to ensure that all patients are cared for with respect and efficiency through the course of treatment for their spinal disorders.

Research and teaching are emphasized to help us to provide the most state-of-the-art clinical care available. Numerous clinical trials are being developed and conducted to pursue the latest techniques available to create the most effective treatments to alleviate back and neck pain.

Studies suggest that for many surgical procedures, hospitals performing a higher volume of procedures:

• Have lower short-term and long-term mortality and morbidity
• Indicate greater experience, which influences outcomes in multiple ways
• May institute specific care processes that improve outcomes
• Have infrastructure dedicated to particular clinical specialties, including related technology and intensive care personnel

Commitment to quality standards throughout the institution is also an important factor for better outcomes.^1,2 In addition, outcomes for high-risk procedures have been shown to be better when performed by highly trained surgeons than by general surgeons.³

Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groups (MS-DRGs) are patient groupings defined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, based on patient diagnoses, procedures, gender, age and discharge status. Information for the three highest-volume MS-DRGs are listed in the table below.

As part of our effort to provide the highest quality of care, Cedars-Sinai routinely monitors indicators reflecting quality of care. Patient outcomes are also compared to the outcomes expected for a clinically similar patient population, when this comparative data is available from the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), an alliance of more than 300 of the nation’s nonprofit academic medical centers and their affiliated hospitals. The majority of these facilities participate in UHC's Clinical DataBase/Resource Manager.