Outpatient spine surgery is growing, and some ASCs have a particular supply advantage when it comes to adding endoscopic procedures.
Spine surgery overall has grown in the outpatient setting. Outpatient spine cases increased among Medicare patients between 2010 and 2021, with significant yearly growth at ASCs, according to a study in the March 2024 issue of the North American Spine Society Journal.
But endoscopic spine surgery is still in the earlier stages of adoption in the U.S. Reasons for this include the learning curve that comes with mastering the technique and the financial aspect.
For New York City-based NYU Langone, adding outpatient endoscopic spine cases has been an easier transition, spine surgeon Charla Fischer, MD, told Becker's. A key factor is that their outpatient centers already have most of the equipment that is needed.
"If you have an ASC up and running and they're doing knee arthroscopes and shoulder arthroscopes, it's one extra tray to do a unilateral biportal endoscopy," Dr. Fischer, co-director of NYU Langone's endoscopic spine program, said. "[You don't have] to bring in another set of spine instruments and retractors. It's one small tray, and then I use all the same stuff that's already there."
ASCs with a strong orthopedic foundation also might not have the same cost hurdles.
"You don't have to buy a whole bunch of expensive equipment, which is so nice and an easy sell for administrators," Dr. Fischer said. "Oftentimes [we wonder if] we have a million dollars for this capital purchase for new technology. It's not a really new technology. It's just what the other guys are using, just applying it to the spine."