167 Association Between Safety-net Hospital Status and Postoperative Outcomes Following ACDF or PCDF for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy

INTRODUCTION: Few prior studies have addressed the impact of safety-net hospital (SNH) status on outcomes following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) or posterior cervical decompression and fusion (PCDF) for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed using the 2016–2019 National Inpatient Sample Database. All adult patients (>18 years old) undergoing elective ACDF or PCDF for CSM, identified using ICD-10-CM coding, were stratified into SNH and non-SNH (N-SNH) cohorts. Hospitals in the top quartile of Medicaid/uninsured patient admissions were defined as SNHs. Demographics, treating hospital characteristics, comorbidities, operative variables, adverse events (AEs), LOS, discharge disposition, and costs were assessed. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent predictors of prolonged LOS, non-routine discharge (NRD) disposition, and increased costs for ACDF and PCDF. RESULTS: Of the 49,945 study patients, 34,195 (68.5%) underwent ACDF and 15,750 (31.5%) underwent PCDF. Within the ACDF cohort, 8,025 patients (23.5%) were treated at SNHs. Among patients undergoing PCDF, 4,120 (26.2%) were treated at SNHs. Patients treated at SNHs were more likely to be Black- or Hispanic-identifying and have incomes in the bottom quartile in both cohorts. Mean LOS was significantly greater in the SNH cohorts for both procedures (ACDF:N-SNH: 2.43 ± 3.12 days vs SNH: 2.94 ± 4.13 days, p <0.001; PCDF:N-SNH: 4.36 ± 4.28 days vs SNH: 5.41 ± 8.67 days, p = 0.002), as were mean costs (ACDF:N-SNH: $20,991 ± $12,126 vs SNH: $22,412 ± $15,302, p = 0.010; PCDF:N-SNH: $25,835 ± $16,812 vs SNH: $28,945 ± $29,166, p = 0.010). A significantly greater proportion of patients in the ACDF cohort treated at SNHs experienced NRDs (N-SNH: 10.9% vs SNH: 13.9%, p = 0.006). On multivariate analysis, SNH status was not significantly associated with extended LOS [ACDF: p = 0.097; PCDF: p = 0.158], NRD [ACDF: p = 0.288; PCDF: p = 0.246], or increased costs [ACDF: p = 0.664; PCDF: p = 0.593]. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest SNH status may not significantly impact postoperative outcomes following ACDF and PCDF.