Trends in Sacroiliac Joint Fusion Costs and Utilization in the Privately Insured Population.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE

Despite innovations in minimally invasive (MI) techniques for sacroiliac joint fusion (SIJF), trends in utilization and associated costs remain unclear. In this study, we assessed these trends and costs in a database of privately insured patients.

METHODS

Records of open and MI SIJFs were queried from the 2007-2021 MarketScan Databases with CPT codes. Net payments made by insurance carriers were identified, as were out-of-pocket payments made by patients for each encounter. Regression was used to model utilization, payments, and costs.

RESULTS

4124 SIJFs were identified, 1626 (39.4%) of which were MI SIJF. SIJF utilization increased by 1176.2% throughout the study period ( < .001). However, open SIJF utilization peaked in 2012. Open SIJF utilization was not significantly associated with time ( = .18). By contrast, the peak utilization for MI procedures occurred in 2021. Spine surgeons' volume of MI SIJF increased by 258% over the study period ( < .001), while nonsurgeon volume of MI SIJF increased by 990.9% ( < .001).

CONCLUSION

Privately insured patients have increasingly utilized SIJF over the past several years. This is predominantly due to the adoption of MI techniques by spine surgeons and nonsurgeons.