Chair of the Coding and Reimbursement Task Force for the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery Morgan Lorio, MD, released a letter urging ISASS members to support action regarding reimbursement for lumbar fusions.

A study published in Spine found that amongst the population having surgery for lumbar stenosis, there has been an uptake in the use of bone morphogenetic proteins but BMP has not related to reduced likelihood of reoperation.

Six spine surgeons discuss the reimbursement environment for spine surgery.

Frank Cammisa, MD, Chief of the Spine Service at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, discusses the biggest challenges for spine surgery heading into 2012.

A study published in Spine found that spinal fusions for scoliosis in patients with Rett Syndrome  can have satisfactory technical results but involve high rates of early postoperative medical problems.

Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is a surgical procedure performed to remove a herniated or degenerative disc in the cervical spine. While this procedure has been present in hospitals for some time, surgery centers are just starting to adopt it into their list of services. Neal Maerki, administrator of Bend (Ore.) Surgery Center, discusses issues to consider when adding anterior cervical disc fusion to an ASC.

Bloomington, Minn.-based health insurer HealthPartners is changing the way it covers patients considering spine surgery, in an effort to decrease costs and increase efficacy, according to a Star Tribune report.

RSB Spine, a Cleveland-based spine device company, recently reported 46 percent sales increase for 2011 over 2010, according to an RSB Spine news release.

Spinal fusions have increased 137 percent from 1998-2008, which is more quickly than other notable inpatient procedures, according to a report published in Spine.

Here are 10 spine and neurosurgeon leaders of hospital spine programs that have received disease-specific certification from The Joint Commission.