Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for Jan. 25, 2018.
J&J’s 2017 full-year orthopedics sales fall flat, spine business line sales drop
Johnson & Johnson released its fourth quarter and full-year financial results for 2017. Within the orthopedics segment, J&J reported $2.34 billion in fourth quarter sales, a 2 percent drop compared to fourth quarter sales in 2016. Concerning the company's orthopedic medical devices, J&J's hip and trauma lines were
the only two segments to experience year-over-year growth. The hip line grew 2.4 percent to $1.39 billion while the trauma line grew 1.8 percent to $2.61 billion. In the fourth quarter, J&J reported major declines to its spine business line. For the year-end, the company reported a 4 percent drop in sales to $3.72
billion.
DJO Global pays $7.62M settlement for subsidiary's Tricare billing fraud
Vista, Calif.-based medical device company DJO Global agreed to pay $7.62 million following allegations that a subsidiary billed Tricare for excessive and unnecessary supplies. The settlement resolves all allegations. Now-defunct Shoreview, Minn.-based device company Empi, DJO Global's subsidiary, allegedly
submitted false claims to Tricare for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation electrodes that Tricare beneficiaries did not need or use. TENS is a pain relief therapy that uses low-voltage electrical current. The settlement resolves allegations that Empi used "assumptive selling" to persuade Tricare beneficiaries to
seek and accept unjustifiably large quantities of TENS electrodes between 2010 and 2015, with a particularly sharp increase in the number of beneficiaries receiving unnecessary quantities in 2014 and 2015. Empi sales representatives contacted Tricare beneficiaries and allegedly convinced them to order excessive
TENS electrodes by acting as though the beneficiaries had indicated a need for them, even when that was not the case.
9 policy issues for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in 2018
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons set its 2018 legislative and regulatory agenda. The agenda includes: An improved healthcare delivery system, which would expand affordable health insurance coverage and allow individuals to choose their healthcare provider; The organization also would like to
see Congress reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program; Ensure quality opportunities for resident education and training, which would include providing additional funded residency positions and eliminating the current graduate medical education funding caps; Advocate for comprehensive medical liability
reform; Keep medical innovation possible in the spine field and eliminate the medical device excise tax; Support the Medicare quality improvement program restructuring and Congressional efforts to revisit the Medicare AUC Program for advanced diagnostic imaging; Champion fair reimbursement, especially as
bundled payments become more popular to ensure global fees are appropriate for neurosurgical procedures; Move the Medicare program to a defined contribution model.
Preoperative opioid use can cause worse spine surgery outcomes, study shows
A study, published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, examined whether long-term opioid use is associated with negative long-term clinical outcomes following transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion surgeries. The 60 patients who took opioids preoperative showed significantly higher scores for lower back pain (0.016) ,
greater disability (0.013) and lower physical component summary scores (0.03) at the follow-up visit. Postoperative mental component summary scores were lower in the group that did not take opioids before surgery. There was no detection of opioid dose-related effects on leg and back pain, disability and component
summary score, suggesting worse outcomes are not correlated with higher doses of opioid doses.
Mass.-based Milford Regional Medical Center grew its neurosurgery department in 2017 despite facing a $7 million loss. Heading into 2017, the hospital faced the operating budget loss and over $2 million reimbursement setbacks but brought on more physicians to its neurosurgery and gastrointestinal departments.
The hospital closed the gap on its budget loss last year and entered 2018 ahead with a total operations profit of $177,950, according to the hospital's annual report. The medical center is renovating its fourth floor to become surgical rooms and expanding its pharmacy.
Mount Sinai Health System to affiliate with South Nassau hospital
Long Island, N.Y.-based South Nassau Communities Hospital will be under the umbrella of New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System, based on an affiliation agreement. Dependent on a final state regulatory review, South Nassau will serve as the health system's flagship hospital on Long Island. The
partnership will boost South Nassau's offerings, so patients don't have to go to Manhattan for advanced neurological, orthopedic, cardiovascular or cancer care. Under the agreement, Mount Sinai will offer $120 million in capital contributions to the hospital's five-year master facility plan. With the addition of South
Nassau, Mount Sinai Health System will encompass eight hospitals, 300 ambulatory practices and 6,500-plus physicians.
The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics’ revenue increases 75% in less than 5 years
Since its inception in 2014, Bethesda, Md.-based The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics has seen rapid growth. CAO first started with 128 physicians. The group has since grown 40 percent to nearly 200 physicians working at 65 locations and 39 physical therapy centers under the leadership of Nick Grosso, MD,
Louis Levitt, MD, and Subir Jossan, MD. Along with a boost in physicians, CAO has experienced a 75 increase in revenue, becoming the largest orthopedic group in the nation. CAO physicians have access to patient data from the almost 200 physicians involved. This allows CAO to improve clinical outcomes and
streamline processes.
Floyd Medical Center unveils spine center with MIS procedures
Rome, Ga.-based Floyd Medical Center's Floyd Center for Advanced Spine Care opened its doors. The new spine center offers minimally invasive surgical care to provide patients with quick recoveries, emphasizing wellness instead of sickness. The center's surgeons, nurses, therapists and technicians deliver pre-
and post-surgery education for patients as well as rehabilitation services. The surgeons perform fusion, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, anterior lumbar interbody fusion, oblique lateral interbody fusion, transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, laminectomy, posterior cervical laminectomy, disc replacement,
microdiscectomy, decompression, kyphoplasty, scoliosis surgery and spinal tumor surgery.