At the 21st Annual Becker's ASC Conference in Chicago on Oct. 24, Kinglsey R. Chin, MD, orthopedic and spine surgeon, president and CEO, chief technology officer of SpineFrontier, located in Beverly, Mass., and Lane Spero, MD, orthopedic surgeon of Litchfield Hills Orthopedic Associates, located in Bristol, Conn., discussed the future of spine in ASCs in a panel moderated by Timothy Fry, an attorney at McGuireWoods LLP.
Dr. Chin and Dr. Spero explored three key trends in ASC spine care, which are listed below.
1. Continuing growth of minimally invasive outpatient procedures. Dr. Chin and Dr. Spero agreed that more spine surgeries will continue to be done with less invasive techniques. The market for spine has evolved to lean toward minimally invasive procedures whenever possible, because this is what is in the best interest of patients.
2. Use outcomes to demonstrate value of ASCs compared to hospitals. According to both physicians, the vast majority of spine surgeries can be done in an outpatient spine surgery center. Furthermore, the cost of spine surgeries in an ASC are significantly lower than in hospitals.
Dr. Spero used his experience at Litchfield Hills Orthopedic Associates to illustrate the benefits of ASCs for delivering spine care. "Having started our surgery center from the ground up and being in the northeast where the uptake to innovation is slow, it's in the mindset of the patient that spine surgery has to be done in the hospital. But we've been able to show surgery in an outpatient setting is as safe as doing it in the hospital. Patients have been buying into that. When outpatient surgery has momentum, safety is the most important thing to show."
3. Use of marketing tactics to "sell recovery." Using Laser Spine Institute as an example, Dr. Chin and Dr. Spero discussed how marketing tactics can vastly increase patients' familiarity with certain spine surgery techniques as a brand, and also establish trust and credibility.
"The genius behind the marketing of Laser Spine Institute is the message of same-day, outpatient surgery that is minimally invasive, not the actual laser," Dr. Chin explained.
"They are marketing a product that patients want to hear. They don't even always use a laser on every case, but it's the concept that patients can have their spine fixed and go home in the same day — and be pain free — that wins over patients," said Dr. Spero.