Here four spine surgeons weigh in on what they find most exciting about providing spine care in the current healthcare landscape.
Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses.
Next week's question: What is the biggest change in the spine industry since you started practicing?
Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, May 4, at 5 p.m. CST.
Question: What excites you most about being a spine surgeon today?
Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: What is most exciting is the ability to perform more complex cases in the outpatient setting. I am enjoying the support we are getting in moving cases to the outpatient setting from surgery centers.
Kern Singh, MD, Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, Chicago: The influx of new technology. Constant innovation forces you to keep evolving as a spine surgeon. Lateral spine surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery and navigation have all changed how I practice over the past 11 years. I can honestly say my surgical techniques are completely different than when I finished my orthopedic residency and spinal surgery fellowship.
Christian G. Zimmerman, MD, MBA, Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, SAHS Neuroscience Institute, Boise, Idaho: Personally, the changing landscape of healthcare and the ceaseless pressures with regard to cost containment have resulted in a moment of shift in thought and practice. The PPACA ushered into the practicing medical populace, a perennial cascade of reimbursement tariffs of regulation and payer-based quality shifts. Newly branded bundling initiatives redefined DRG step-downs, as the ailing system of Medicare/Medicaid finance could not and will not sustain an already utilitarian system of delivery.
However, the value of a well-trained, industrious complex spine surgeon is acknowledged in community need and contractual negotiations. This fact rings true as I peruse the too-many-too-count Locums positions flashing my e-mail on a weekly basis.
Amir Vokshoor, Neurological Spine Surgeon, DISC Sports & Spine Center, Marina del Rey, Calif.: Spine surgery keeps evolving with innovative technology, utilizing less invasive modern surgical techniques. It is very exciting to explore these methods and perfect our surgical skills as surgeons. It is a privilege to observe the ability of the nervous system to heal by its extensive nanoscopic connections and improve a patient's quality of life.