“The sky is not falling,” said Bill Munley, vice president of Orthopedics and Professional Services, at a session during Becker’s Hospital Review 4th Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 9.

Throughout a session,  panelists including Mr. Munley, Jeff Leland, CEO of Blue Chip Surgical Center Partners and Allen Marsh, ortho/neuroscience/surgery service line director at CaroMont Health in Gastonia, N.C., reiterated that many of the perceived threats facing the industry can be seen as opportunities.

 

How bundled payment programs are opportunities. “Bundled payment programs represent opportunities for surgeons and hospitals that recognize fee for service is gone,” said Mr. Leland. As operating rooms increasingly become cost centers for hospitals, hospitals have a chance to use value-based purchasing and subcontracting to keep quality of care high while keeping costs down, said Mr. Munley.

 

How patients paying out-of-pocket are an opportunity. All panelists agreed that patient volume in the orthopedic and spine industry will increase in the coming years. Mr. Marsh noted that more orthopedic and spine patients is a “huge expense for insurers,” and many procedures are not covered.

 

This will lead to an increase of patients paying out-of-pocket for procedures. “Are you prepared to take cash payments?” asked Mr. Leland. He said most hospitals are currently unable to compute estimates for spine and orthopedic procedures or put together packages for patients paying for procedures themselves.

 

“This represents a definite opportunity” for hospitals to cater to patients who want to finance their own procedures, he said.

 

How physicians’ relationships with vendors is an opportunity. All the panelists remarked that strong ties between physicians and vendors can be challenging, but can also be a chance to reduce costs with vendors when physicians are engaged with the hospital’s cost-cutting efforts.

 

“When we meet with a vendor, we sit down with the physicians beforehand and have them sign a letter, saying this is the price the hospital is looking for; we as a physician group back it,” said Mr. Marsh. He said this practice has been successful in negotiating for better prices with vendors.

 

Negotiation with vendors can decrease prices and improve a hospital’s margin, but “You need physician support,” said Mr. Marsh.

Here are six things for spine surgeons to know for Thursday, April 18, 2013.

The Advisory Board has been tracking which hospitals, health systems and payors have adopted commercial bundled payment strategies, and currently, there are more than 30 different agreements.

Here are five points on orthopedic surgeon preferences for new payment models.

Bundled payments are part of new reimbursement models under healthcare reform that pay a lump sum to healthcare providers who share the risks and benefits of care delivery for a particular procedure or condition. Much of the discussion on bundled payments has focused on benefits from improving quality and lowering costs. However, there are other opportunities that bundled payments present, particularly for hospital orthopedic programs, according to Djamel Bayliche, vice president at Corazon, a national consulting firm for healthcare service lines.

Here are five steps spine surgeons can take to prepare for accountable care organizations, bundled payments and other new payment models in the future.

Out of seven major payors, providers ranked UnitedHealthcare last when it came to overall satisfaction but second for willingness to engage in innovative payment models, according to a Medical Group Management Association survey.

The Medical Group Management Association recently asked 800 group practice professionals to rank seven of the largest health insurers on willingness to participate in payment innovation and professionals' perceptions of the payors.

Best practices and evidence-based care are becoming increasingly important for hospitals as they work to improve quality and reduce costs. Basing clinical care and financial decisions on data will be crucial for hospitals to ensure they meet goals in every patient care area, from the emergency room to the operating room to various service lines. Data collection and analysis can help hospitals improve the value of their orthopedic service line, for example. Ryan Wells, CEO of InVivoLink, a clinically integrated business intelligence company, shares tips for leveraging data to increase efficiency and quality.

Four spine surgeons discuss the potential for bundled payments at their practice in the future.