So I am having a moral dilemma of sorts. I practice in an area with a very active ortho spine group and I typically see their patients after their surgery.
I obviously am not a surgeon but I have seen some completely bogus surgeries performed or patients being pushed for surgery by this group. For example, workers comp patient 45yo F with two mild bulges and no signifiant stenosis, obese diabetic and smoker. Her exam is all pointing I SI joint and the surgeon on was like "go get a shot so worker's comp will approve your fusion." This group will typically fuse one level at a time and separate the surgeries by 6 months to a year. They will also remove hardware for "continued pain". I have also noticed they do fusions without lami for spinal stenosis. Now my dilemma is that I have seriously almost reported their @sses for this stuff. Some of their care doesn't even follow their own literature. Anyone run into this?
I obviously am not a surgeon but I have seen some completely bogus surgeries performed or patients being pushed for surgery by this group. For example, workers comp patient 45yo F with two mild bulges and no signifiant stenosis, obese diabetic and smoker. Her exam is all pointing I SI joint and the surgeon on was like "go get a shot so worker's comp will approve your fusion." This group will typically fuse one level at a time and separate the surgeries by 6 months to a year. They will also remove hardware for "continued pain". I have also noticed they do fusions without lami for spinal stenosis. Now my dilemma is that I have seriously almost reported their @sses for this stuff. Some of their care doesn't even follow their own literature. Anyone run into this?
