Healthcare reform is pushing the industry into uncharted territory. Healthcare providers must make decisions without precedent, and consumers are savvier than ever. Change this monumental cannot be achieved in a vacuum or with an insular approach. As a result, healthcare is borrowing lessons and business models conceived and implemented within other industries: hotels, automakers, media, retailers, service providers and financial institutions. As disparate as these fields may be from healthcare, they share the oldest and most basic economic concept: supply and demand.

Six spine surgeons discuss how the economic downturn has impacted their practices over the past few years.

A recent presentation linked unemployment rates in Tampa, Fla., to the decreasing patient volume at a level 1 trauma center, which is an example of a broader trend of patients waiting longer to seek medical attention, according to an American Medical News report.

While the economy finally appears to be stabilizing, there's no indication that it's on a strong trajectory upward. But even just the feeling of stability is providing courage to those wishing to once again start developing new ambulatory surgery centers, says Paul Skowron, senior vice president, operations, for Regent Surgical Health.

Seventy percent of physicians plan to work longer until retirement due to the economic downturn and depleted personal savings, according to the Jackson & Coker Retirement Survey.

Share prices for orthopedic and spine device companies have been on the downturn since last weekend, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a new pre-reimbursement review project, according to a Mass Device report.

Over 26 percent of physicians responding to a post on Sermo, the world's largest online community of physicians, said they have either been forced to close or are considering closing their solo practices, according to a Sermo news release.