One of my most important goals as a spine surgeon is to help my spine surgery patients achieve the best possible outcomes. This means ensuring that the surgery successfully addresses their underlying medical condition and helping patients recover as quickly and fully as possible so they can get back to living the lives they love.
What Are Patient Outcomes?
In medicine and health care, patient outcomes are simply the results that patients experience after receiving medical treatment. In spine surgery, these can include pain relief, improved function, and quality of life.
Why Do Patient Outcomes Matter?
Patient outcomes matter in spine surgery for many reasons. First, they are one measure of the quality-of-care patients receive. If patients are not experiencing good outcomes, it could mean that there is room for improvement in the way care is being delivered.
Second, patient outcomes can help to inform future treatment decisions. By tracking patient outcomes, surgeons can learn which treatments are most effective for which patients. Spine surgeons can use this information to decide which treatments to recommend to future patients.
Additionally, patient outcomes can be influenced by the patient’s pre-existing health conditions and lifestyle factors. Depending on the diagnosis, not every spine surgery procedure is right for every patient. For example, spine surgery patient outcomes may not be as good for people who smoke. Multiple factors put smokers at risk for surgery complications, so patient outcomes for this specific population of people are an essential educational tool for surgeons when communicating with their patients.
Finally, patient outcomes are important to patients themselves. Patients want to know that they are receiving the best possible care and that their surgeons are committed to helping them achieve the best possible results.
How can we improve patient outcomes in spine surgery?
Several things can be and are being done to improve patient outcomes in spine surgery. One area of focus is diligence in providing comprehensive care. This means not only treating the patient’s spinal condition but also addressing their other potential needs, such as their emotional and social needs.
Another way to improve patient outcomes is to use data and technology. By tracking patient outcomes, surgeons can identify areas where they can improve their care, or patients can improve their lifestyle to help ensure surgical outcomes are as good as possible. Technology is also used in spine surgery to develop new and innovative treatments.
It is also imperative to involve patients in their care. This means providing them with information about their spine condition and treatment options and helping to empower them to make decisions about their own care.
What are the challenges of measuring patient outcomes?
There are many challenges associated with measuring patient outcomes in spine surgery. One challenge is that no single, overarching, universally accepted patient outcome measure exists. This can make comparing outcomes across different surgeons, treatments, and patient types difficult.
Another challenge is that patient outcomes can be subjective. For example, one patient may consider their pain well-controlled, while another patient with the same spinal condition, surgical spine procedure, and pain control approach may not. This subjectivity can make it difficult to accurately understand how well patients are doing with pain management.
How can we overcome patient outcome challenges?
One way to overcome patient outcome challenges is to use a variety of measures that help us round out a patient’s overall experience with spine surgery. These can include both objective measures, such as pain scores and functional assessments, and subjective measures, such as patient satisfaction surveys.
Another way to overcome these challenges is to continue using standardized measures of patient outcome. Standardized measures can help ensure that outcomes are being assessed consistently across different studies, patients, and surgeons.
In addition to the points mentioned above, I would also like to add that spine surgeons should help their patients establish reasonable expectations. Patients should be aware of the risks and benefits of surgery for their specific spine condition and health history, and they should understand that there is no guarantee of a perfect outcome for anyone who undergoes surgery of any type.
Patient outcomes are an important quality-of-care measure in spine surgery. By always striving to improve patient outcomes further, we can help ensure that patients receive the best possible care and achieve the best possible results now and in the future.
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37480984
https://www.thespinejournalonline.com/article/S1529-9430(20)30789-0/abstract
