Here four spine surgeons discuss their goals for the year ahead.
Ask a Spine Surgeon 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: In your opinion, which presidential candidate has the best healthcare plan?
Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. CST.
Question: What are your goals in the coming year?
William Taylor, MD, Director, Spine Surgery, Vice Chairman, Division of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Diego: With many false starts, spinal endoscopy remains underutilized. I plan to add endoscopy to my surgical skill set. The coming years will see an increase in the standard use of better MIS procedures, of which [spinal endoscopy] is a natural progression.
Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: My goals for the year are to adopt robotic and endoscopic spine surgery techniques in my practice and to partner up with like-minded neurosurgeons who value independence and quality. I think insurance companies will paradoxically start valuing independent surgeons again, as those who joined hospital-based groups are actually costing them [payers] more.
Richard Kube, MD, Founder, CEO, Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): We have added another surgeon to our practice, so we are striving to help his practice grow and thrive. Additionally, we are also moving forward with an adult stem cell program for pain management. Last major category is finalizing some contracting with our bundled payment model. We hope that some early traction translates into another practice vertical.
Christian G. Zimmerman, MD, MBA, Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, SAHS Neuroscience Institute, Boise, Idaho: When asked this question, the immediate response is to keep the status quo at its earnest. As a nearly decade-long, employed specialist of a large hospital system, the undulating crawl towards a concentric single-party payer system seems both unsettling and predictably realistic. The latest reporting on physician burnout also follows a concerning reactionary pattern to the uncertainty of healthcare delivery and its future. The overarching premise of patient care continues to be reinvented as the regulatory anchors continue to tether the diagnosis, treatment and our specialty mechanisms of implementation. Yet, embarking on this reinvented journey will test all our collective will and fortitude as going forward becomes more uncertain.
In closing, my professional goals will be attaining a satisfactory employment contract signing, completing our institutes' research study on metal artifact reduction using CT scans and eliminating any irrelevant conflict in whichever form it may arise.