At the 11th Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference on June 14, a panel of spine leaders discussed trends and challenges for spine surgery going forward in a keynote session titled “The Changing Role of Spine Surgery.”

At the 11th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference on June 14, Richard Wohns, MD, JD, MBA, of NeoSpine in the Puget Sound Region of Washington, shared the results of a study comparing the safety and cost of spine procedures in an ambulatory surgery center to the same procedures in a hospital inpatient environment.

The majority of physicians and hospitals say bundled payments have the most potential to improve healthcare affordability rather than patient-centered medical homes or accountable care organizations, according to survey results from Booz & Company.

Here are seven statistics on the average hours per week that orthopedic physicians spend seeing patients in the hospital, based on the Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report: 2013 Results.

While hospitals may be highly advanced when it comes to saving lives, many of them are not quite as astute when it comes to securing patient and protected health information. Nine out of 10 hospitals in the U.S. have suffered a data breach or intrusion in their networks over the past two years, according to the "Third Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy and Data"  by the Ponemon Institute. That is far from acceptable in any industry, but especially horrendous in a field where highly sensitive medical and personal information is at risk.

Spinal fusions are a major procedure for patients and hospitals, and the amount charged for the procedure varies between $19,000 and more than $470,000.

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Last week, CMS released a trove of hospital inpatient billing data in an effort to increase price transparency. The data, which come from fiscal year 2011, detail charges and payments for the top 100 most frequently billed inpatient discharges for the 3,000-plus hospitals that are paid under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system.

Here are the 10 hospitals that recorded the highest charges for spinal fusions in FY 2011. Note: Data come directly from CMS' database of hospital charges and reflects only hospitals paid under Medicare's IPPS. Data specifically reflects MS-DRG 460, spinal fusion except cervical, without major complications and comorbidities.

1.    Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County (Willingboro, N.J.): $471,121
2.    Pottstown (Pa.) Memorial Medical Center: $323,318
3.    North Hills Hospital (North Richland Hills, Texas): $306,773
4.    Northridge (Calif.) Hospital Medical Center: $304,564
5.    Washington Hospital (Fremont, Calif.): $296,766
6.    Vista Medical Center East (Waukegan, Ill.): $284,148
7.    Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (Whittier, Ga.): $282,889
8.    Santa Rosa (Calif.) Memorial Hospital: $280,517
9.    CJW Medical Center (Richmond, Va.): $279,767
10.    University of California Davis Medical Center (Sacramento): $269,846

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Indiana device companies are looking for ways to absorb revenue reductions resulting from the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax since they will not be able to pass the costs on to hospital customers, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.

At the 11th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference, in Chicago, Richard N.W. Wohns, MD, JD, MBA, will give a presentation titled "Comparing the Reimbursement of Spine Procedures in ASCs vs. Hospitals."

Here are 12 statistics on orthopedic physician patient visits based on Medscape's Orthopedist Compensation Report: 2013.

Here are 10 statistics on orthopedic surgeon compensation in 2012 by practice setting from Medscape's Orthopedist Compensation Report: 2013.

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1. Orthopedists who were partners in their practice reported the highest compensation, at $480,000.

2. Single-specialty, office-based group practices were the highest compensating setting, at $469,000 on average for orthopedists.

3. Office-based multispecialty group practices followed with $422,000 on average last year for orthopedists.

4. Orthopedists in healthcare organizations also reported annual compensation at $422,000 on average for 2012.

5. Orthopedists who were solo practice owners reported $405,000 last year on average.

6.  Orthopedists who were employees reported average compensation at $347,000 in 2012.

7. Orthopedists in a solo office-based practice reported receiving on average $365,000 last year.

8. Orthopedists in an outpatient clinic setting reported $200,000 on average last year.

9. Academic orthopedists reported $304,000 in average compensation.

10. Orthopedists in a hospital setting reported average compensation at $396,000.

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