Hospital-Based Back Surgery: Geospatial-Temporal, Explanatory, and Predictive Models

Background Hospital-based back surgery in the United States increased by 60% from January 2012 to December 2017, yet the supply of neurosurgeons remained relatively constant. During this time, adult obesity grew by 5%. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the demand and associated costs for hospital-based back surgery by geolocation over time to evaluate provider practice variation. The study then leveraged hierarchical time series to generate...