Getting familiar with enabling technologies and other innovations should be a top priority for spine surgeons who want to have a strong 2025.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What advice do you have for spine surgeons to thrive in 2025?
Rachel Bratescu, MD. George Washington University Hospital (Washington, D.C.): No. 1 is don't be afraid to try new technologies, think outside the box and think about ways that you can constantly be improving from a surgical standpoint or offering less invasive options when that's appropriate.
No.2 is to take a patient-centered approach. It's very easy to get caught up in what surgeries you could do for a patient and the whole thought process of everything. But you really have to consider what the patient wants, what's best for them and what's going to help them reach their recovery goals.
Jason Lowenstein, MD. Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center: Enabling technology really is something that is here to stay. It's not a flash in the pan idea, and I think it really offers value. Whether you're using advanced imaging to confirm hardware is well placed or whether you're using it to actually navigate with or without robotics, I think it's really helpful. If you have those technologies at hand, there's a real opportunity for surgeons to get familiar with them, get to use them, and then incorporate them into their practices. It's like a pilot's checklist. It's just an additional step that you can utilize to make sure that everything's going according to plan.