New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery's spine program has helped the hospital remain a national leader, and leaders continue looking for ways to grow, Andrew Sama, MD, said.
This year, HSS earned its 15th consecutive No. 1 ranking for orthopedic hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Sama, co-chief of spine at HSS, spoke with Becker's about how the spine program is faring so far this year and the strategies that keep the group on top.
Note: This conversation was lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What are some of the accomplishments at HSS spine so far this year?
Dr. Andrew Sama: This year has been a good year. It's been a busy year. We are in the process of working on our strategies and plans and how to optimize the care of complex patients as well as ambulatory patients with the changing landscape and health care delivery. In terms of accomplishments we have been able to achieve as a hospital again for the 15th year in a row, number one status. A big part of that assessment is on the back of spine surgery, so we're very proud of that as well. The criteria that they look at involves a lot of analysis and scoring of spine fusion and patient outcomes in spine. We're happy to be part of that and glad to contribute to that.
We are in the process of building out our team going forward hiring some new young surgeons to join our group. We're also working on regional strategies to bring outreach into the regional communities here in the tri-state area, but also in our efforts in Florida.
Q: What kinds of improvements are you making year to year to maintain the ranking?
AS: It's like baseball or football. Just because you win one game doesn't guarantee you're going to win the next one. You really have to think meaningfully about how we operate, the patients we serve, how we deliver care to them and doing that in a financially and fiscally responsible way. We put our patients first, and we basically build our care delivery around what we believe to be best for the patients. We listen to their feedback via surveys and then try to respond appropriately. We've built out a new operations team, we've changed leadership with the new CEO and president and surgeon in chief. With that, we have a new operations officer. We've been able to do what we've done well for the last 15 years and think about how it dovetails into what's coming in the future, and then strategize to deliver the best possible care to as many patients as we can touch.
Q: How are you handling different financial headwinds?
AS: This has been coming for a long time and it's sort of coming to a head in the sense that we're feeling pressures from both ends. The cost of care delivery has gone up. The reimbursements are going down. But I think being smart and deliberate about how we think about what we do, being mindful about how we lay out capital and costs. It's not just about driving volume, which is important, but it's really about providing fiscally responsible care.