Jason Highsmith, MD, performed a Precision Spectra Spinal Cord Stimulator Implant at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, S.C., one of the first surgeons in the country to do so.

George Rappard, MD, has opened the Los Angeles Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, a center for treatment of neck and back pain.

John Carrino, MD, is the chief of musculoskeletal radiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He is also an associate professor of radiology and orthopedic surgery.

Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Hollywog, a medical device company, will add 22 jobs over the next 18 months in a $400,000 expansion, according to a Knox News report.

Purdue Pharma in Stamford, Conn., a pharmaceutical company, and EIMindA in Israel, a company that develops brain functional mapping technology, have entered into a multi-year research collaboration agreement.

Cigna HealthCare has partnered with Wyoming Neuroscience and Spine and Elkhorn Rehabilitation Hospital in Casper, Wyo., to create a program that increases quality and lowers cost for patients in the area: Pathway to Improved Health for Back Pain. The State of Wyoming is among the highest spenders when it comes to spine and back pain, and related claims which nearly doubled from 2007 to 2009. Here, David E. Mino, MD, MBA, Cigna HealthCare National Medical Director, Orthopedic Surgery and spinal disorders, discusses the program and where it's headed in the future.

Gopi Kasturi, MD, a fellowship-trained physiatrist, has joined Sierra Pacific Orthopedics in Fresno, Calif.

Prospira PainCare in Mountain View, Calif., has signed an agreement to deploy cloud-based practice management, cloud-based patient communication and electronic health record services of athenahealth in Watertown, Mass., according to an Equities report.

Nevada Pain Network announced that it is beginning operations by launching its new website.

Hope Clinic, a new pain management center, opened in Wytheville, Va., according to a SWVA Today report.