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Updated: Apr 21, 2026
An Anesthesia, Surgery, and Harvest Method for the Evaluation of Transpedicular Screws Using an In Vivo Porcine Lumbar Spine Model
Published on: May 31, 2017
Governmental designation of spine specialty hospitals, their characteristics, performance and designation effects: a
Sun Jung Kim1, Ji Won Yoo2, Sang Gyu Lee3
1Department of Public Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Objectives:
This study compares the characteristics and performance of spine specialty hospitals versus other types of hospitals for inpatients with spinal diseases in South Korea. We also assessed the effect of the government's specialty hospital designation on hospital operating efficiency.
Setting:
We used data of 823 hospitals including 17 spine specialty hospitals in Korea.
Participants:
All spine disease-related inpatient claims nationwide (N=645 449) during 2010-2012.
Interventions:
No interventions were made.
Outcome Measures:
Using a multilevel generalised estimating equation and multilevel modelling, this study compared inpatient charges, length of stay (LOS), readmission within 30 days of discharge and in-hospital death within 30 days of admission in spine specialty versus other types of hospitals.
Results:
Spine specialty hospitals had higher inpatient charges per day (27.4%) and a shorter LOS (23.5%), but per case charges were similar after adjusting for patient-level and hospital-level confounders. After government designation, spine specialty hospitals had 8.8% lower per case charges, which was derived by reduced per day charge (7.6%) and shorter LOS (1.0%). Rates of readmission also were lower in spine specialty hospitals (OR=0.796). Patient-level and hospital-level factors both played important roles in determining outcome measures.
Conclusions:
Spine specialty hospitals had higher per day inpatient charges but a much shorter LOS than other types of hospitals due to their specialty volume and experience. In addition, their readmission rate was lower. Spine specialty hospitals also endeavoured to be more efficient after governmental 'specialty' designation.
