Karen Reiter, administrator at DISC Sports & Spine Center in Marina del Rey, Calif., discusses five initiatives her surgery center has taken on to improve the patient and physician experience at the ASC.

Westside Surgical Hospital in Houston, a multispecialty physican-owend hospital, has acquired the Mazor Robotics Renaissance system, one of seven systems being used in Texas, according to a Mazor Robotics news release.

Robert S. Bray, MD, neurosurgeon and founder of DISC Sports & Spine Center in Marina Del Rey, Calif., has been developing his medical marketing strategy since he first began private practice in the 1980s. After serving as Chief of Neurosurgery in the Air Force, Dr. Bray set out on a path of private practice, building up several notable spine programs and eventually founding his unique structure at DISC. Over time Dr. Bray developed and utilized evolving marketing strategies to connect directly with patients.

Artem Y. Vaynman, MD, a board-certified neurosurgeon with Neurological Surgery in Great Neck, N.Y., discusses research trends for spine surgery and where it will be most important to focus efforts in the future.

The following article is written by Jessica Nantz, president and founder of Outpatient Healthcare Strategies.

As patient-consumers have assumed more responsibility for the cost of healthcare, they are taking greater interest in where to receive surgical care. Employers have assumed more of the financial burden of the care their employees receive as well, and have also taken a greater interest in where their employees receive care.

Lytton A. Williams, MD, is the director and founder of the Los Angeles Spine Surgery Center at St. Vincent Medical Center. He is also an orthopedic spine surgeon at BASIC Spine in Orange, Calif. He serves as an associate professor of clinical orthopedics at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles.

Michael J. Yaszemski, MD, has received the William W. Tipton, Jr. MD Leadership Award at the 2013 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in Chicago, according to an AAOS press release.

Spine Institute Northwest in Seattle has announced that a recent study lead by Andrew Pugely, MD, of the University of Iowa has found that outpatient spinal surgery is a safer option for patients.

Marc Cohen, MD, a spine surgeon based in New Jersey, discusses four big coverage challenges for spine surgeons and how changes should be made to the system in the future.

Bryan Oh, MD, a neurosurgeon with a special interest in minimally invasive spine surgery at BASIC Spine in Orange, Calif., discusses seven steps for spine groups to add an ambulatory surgery center. BASIC Spine is currently in the process of constructing a new ASC, scheduled to open this year.