Zimmer Holdings has reported a slight decrease in net sales, which reached $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2013, and attributed the loss to having two fewer billing days in key markets, such as the United States, when compared with last year.

Here are five recent healthcare-related policy trends potentially impacting spine surgeons.

Holland (Mich.) Hospital has announced its $10 million spine, neurosurgery and orthopedic unit expansion is nearly completed, according to a WHTC report.

Tucson (Ariz.) Medical Center will soon open a four-story orthopedic and surgical tower, according to an Arizona Daily Star report.

Phoenix-based Banner Health announced that it is expanding its partnership with The CORE Institute in Phoenix, according to an Arizona Newszap report.

Pluristem Therapeutics, placenta-based cell therapies company, has announced the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial of PLX-PAD cells as a treatment for patients with tendon injures.

St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland and the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (Ohio) announced an innovation partnership that will initially focus on orthopedics.

Robert Hughes, MD, fellowship trained in sports medicine, and William Dunbar, MD, board-certified orthopedic surgeon, have joined the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, Calif., according to a Noozhawk report.

Bryan Oh, MD, a neurosurgeon with a special interest in spine surgery at BASIC Spine in Orange, Calif., talks about how spine surgeons can build a healthy relationship with hospitals and where these relationships may be heading in the future.

Here are 17 statistics on orthopedic surgeon and physician compensation based on annual salary information collected in 2011, according to the Medscape Orthopedist and Orthopedic Surgeon Compensation Report: 2012 Results.