Measurement of Resource Utilization in Spine Healthcare for Elective Spine Surgery Patients: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize the metrics used to report Resource Utilization in Spine Healthcare (RUSH) for spine surgery patients in the United States. METHODS: A systematic literature search identified studies related to resource utilization in spine surgery. Studies were excluded if the population was pediatric, outside the United States, or if patients received surgery for trauma, infection, or malignancy. RESULTS: There were 65 studies included in this analysis with a total of 941,231 patients. A total of 24 RUSH metrics were reported across all studies. The top 5 metrics were: length of stay (37/65), medical costs (33/65), medications (28/65), outpatient visits (26/65), and emergency department visits (26/65). Unique RUSH metrics used in