Predictive modeling in spine surgery.

As the cost of healthcare in the United States increases at an unsustainable rate, health-policy leaders are looking towards innovative ways to maximize value in delivery of care. Incorporating technology, such as artificial intelligence/machine-learning, to assist physicians in decision-making and predicting outcomes, on a real-time basis, is a major topic of discussion. While machine learning is gradually pulling traction in the medical community, it still remains a nascent field in the realm of spine surgery. The current review aims to gather current literature discussing the validity and applicability of machine-learning models in spine surgery. 2019 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.