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Chart 1
Lumbar Fusion Procedures
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This chart demonstrates that over a 5 year period lumbar fusion procedures were performed 124% more often than expected on residents of the Lewiston Hospital Service Area. This is one of the highest variations found over all procedures and activities in our study. This level of variation is very concerning to MQF and should be of concern to referring physicians and citizens. This information tells us that a very different surgical philosophy is at work here.
For an overview of how to read our Medical Variation Charts, click here.

(Orange bars are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level or higher.)
| AREA NAME | Significance | Ratio: OBS/EXP | % Difference | AREA NAME |
| LEWISTON | P<0.001 | 2.24 | 124% | |
| NORWAY | P<0.01 | 1.74 | 74% | |
| FARMINGTON | P<0.05 | 1.51 | 51% | |
| BRUNSWICK | 1.26 | 26% | ||
| BOOTHBAY HARBOR | 1.24 | 24% | ||
| MAINE TOTALS | 1.00 | 0% | ||
| P<0.05 | 0.57 | -43% | ROCKLAND | |
| P<0.001 | 0.50 | -50% | BANGOR | |
| P<0.05 | 0.38 | -62% | DOVER-DEXTER | |
| 0.37 | -63% | MACHIAS | ||
| P<0.05 | 0.20 | -80% | LINCOLN |
You can also review the full table for the underlying data that supports this chart.