As minimally invasive spine procedures increase in popularity, so too does their prevalence in the ASC setting.
Patients, physicians and payers are becoming more open to outpatient spine procedures as ASCs continue to grow in popularity, keeping costs down for patients in the majority of cases.
Raul Rincon Navarro, MD, founder and CEO at Panama City, Fla.-based Neuro Spine and Pain Clinic, told Becker's that he foresees many spine procedures making a migration to the outpatient setting.
Dr. Navarro: Being a neurosurgeon trained in minimally invasive spine surgery, including endoscopic and disc replacement, I perfectly see those procedures moving toward ASCs in the majority of cases. It just makes sense. Also, awake spinal surgery is a growing field. Ernest Braxton, MD, in Vail, Colo., and some other colleagues, are permitting more elaborate surgeries like MIS-TLIF, ALIF and OLIF and discharging the patient the same day, with very few exceptions when the patient's condition or comorbidities are not suitable.