November/December 2016 Issue of Becker's Spine Review

November/December 2016 Issue of Becker's Spine Review

ON THE COVER

	Dr. Christopher Bono on the Spine Industry & Where It’s Headed — MACRA, Big Data & More Christopher Bono, MD, is the past president of the North American Spine Society and chief of spine service at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Click to Continue >>
	21 Statistics and Facts for Orthopedic Surgeons — Compensation, Net Worth & More This article includes compensation statistic for orthopedic surgeons, outlining average compensation by state, practice setting and gender. Click to Continue >>
	The Role of Biologics in the Next 5 to 10 Years Six spine surgeons discuss where biologics is headed; interest is high, but growth is slow. Click to Continue >>

PUBLISHER'S LETTER

This issue of Becker’s Spine Review includes physician compensation statistics for key specialists, news from around the healthcare industry and interviews with key spine surgeon thought leaders about where technology and the field is headed. Click here to Continue >> 

SPINE LEADERSHIP

Wal-Mart adds Mayo Clinic to Spine Centers of Excellence, 50% Copay for Out-of-Network Care
In an effort to ensure employees with back pain received correct and timely treatment, Wal-mart developed the spine centers of excellence program in 2012. Click to Continue >>

Medicaid Expansion Linked With $2.8M Decrease in Uncompensated Care per Hospital
Hospitals benefited financially from the 2014 Medicaid expansion under the ACA, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found. Click to Continue >>

Healthcare’s Focus on Truncating Costs May Detract From Quality — Dr. John Finkenberg on a New Kind of Healthcare Reform
Providers are managing a balancing act where they try to deliver optimal care to patients while fulfilling a wealth of reporting requirements. Click to Continue >>

Physicians in These 14 Specialties More Likely to Vote Republican
While physicians are generally split 50/50 between the Democrat and Republican parties, partisanship is less evenly divided when looking at individual specialties. Click to Continue >>

US News & World Report: Top 20 Hospitals for Adult Neurology & Neurosurgery
Here are the top 20 hospitals for adult neurology and neurosurgery from the U.S News & World Report rankings. Click to Continue >>

Dr. Richard Wohns on the Impact of the New 10 ASC Payable Spine Codes
Payers have posed as obstacles for spine in ambulatory surgery centers, but the recent additions and proposals of ASC payable codes for spine procedures should ease up some of the difficulties surgery centers face. Click to Continue >>

SpineNevada Offers Advanced Imaging With InMotion Diagnostics — 6 Highlights
SpineNevada’s InMotion Diagnostics provides an imaging platform to measure instability through spinal motion. Click to Continue >>

The Trials of 2016 & What is to Come for the Spine Industry
Although lacking any big surprises, 2016 saw many “fears realized” in the spine industry. Click to Continue >>

DEVICES AND INNOVATION

Disc Replacement vs. Spinal Fusion: 5 Key Notes on Adjacent Segment Disease
A new study published in Spine examines cervical disc arthroplasty and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for adjacent segment disease. Click here to Continue >>

Global Market for Cervical Total Disc Replacement Devices to Reach $1.75B by 2021: 5 Notes
The global market for cervical total disc replacement devices will surpass $1 billion by 2021, according to a Persistence Market Research report. Click here to Continue >> 

6 Market Leaders Drive Anterior Cervical Fixation Devices Market — Globus Medical, J&J, Medtronic & More
Technavio revealed the top six vendors in the global anterior cervical fixation devices space. Click here to continue >>

What This Year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Means for ACOs, Physician Compensation
Two economists were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences recently for their work in contract theory — work that could inform physician-hospital, compensation and value-based care agreements. Click here to Continue >>

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

10 Things to Know About CMS’ Final MACRA Rule
On Oct. 14, CMS released its final Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 implementation final rule, according to Healthcare Dive. Click here to Continue >> 

Healthcare M&A Volume Up 16%, Value Drops 39% in Q2
The number of health services mergers and acquisitions increased in the second quarter of 2016, but the value of the deals were down, according to a report from PwC. Click here to Continue >>

19 Things to Know About Orthopedic Bundled Payments
Here are 19 things to know about bundled payments for the second half of 2016. Click here to Continue >> 

Dr. Gregory Sherr Sues HealthEast, CentraCare & 6 Neurosurgeons for Allegedly Ruining His Reputation & Career
Neurosurgeon Gregory Sherr, MD, is suing HealthEast Care System, CentraCare Health and six affiliated physicians for an alleged “pattern of anti-competitive, tortious and otherwise illegal conduct.” Click here to Continue >> 

5 Trends for Orthopedic Surgeons to Watch in 2017
Orthopedic surgery is a continuously evolving field. Here are five of the major trends surgeons hypothesize will have an impact on the industry in the coming year: Click here to Continue >> 

3 Orthopedic Clinics to Pay $2.39M to Settle False Claims Act Allegations
Three orthopedic clinics will pay a total of $2.39 million to settle federal and state False Claims Act allegations, according to KRCRTV.com. Click here to Continue >>

5 Financial Thoughts for MidCareer Physicians
What should physicians hitting the mid-point in their careers focus on, financially? Click here to Continue >>

The Science of Healthcare Delivery: 10 Thoughts on the Future Structure of Healthcare Organizations
There is much focus on lowering the cost of healthcare today without lowering quality. Click here to Continue >>

The Tricky Nature of ICD-10 Coding for Spinal Fusions — 6 Things to Know
Coding spinal fusion procedures for ICD-10 involves many complexities, according to ICD 10 monitor. Click here to Continue >>

11 Highest-Paying States for Orthopedic Surgeons: New Jersey Tops the List at $494.5k
The average salary for an orthopedic surgeon totals $426,590. Click here to Continue >>

25% of Reimbursement Tied to Alternative Models in 2016
About one in four payments for healthcare services in private and public markets were tied to alternative payment models in 2016, according to a report from the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network. Click here to Continue >>

Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield Now Covers 2-Level Disc Replacement With Zimmer Biomet’s Mobi-C
Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield updated its coverage policy for cervical total disc replacement to include one- and two-level procedures performed with Zimmer Biomet’s Mobi-C Cervical Disc. Click here to Continue >>

5 Key Thoughts on Endoscopic Surgery and Spinal Pain
Anthony Yeung, MD, founder of Phoenix-based Desert Institute for Spine Care, comments on the use of outpatient spine surgery to alleviate back pain. Click here to Continue >>

JUNE 2017 CONFERENCE PREVIEW

How MIS has Transformed the Field — Dr. Andrew Kokkino on Hospital Employment & the Challenges That Remain
Andrew Kokkino, MD, of Springfield-based Oregon Neurosurgery Specialists, speaks to the challenges neurosurgeons continue to face in a complex healthcare system. Click here to Continue >> 

How Spinal Deformity Surgery is Becoming Less Invasive — And Lowering Costs as a Result: Q&A With Dr. Todd Lansford
Todd J. Lansford, MD, is a spine surgeon at South Carolina Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in N. Charleston, S.C., discusses minimally invasive spine surgery and the biggest opportunities for surgeons to lower the cost of care. Click here to Continue >> 

Personalized Medicine in Spinal Care: Q&A with Dr. Nitin Khanna of Orthopaedic Specialists of Northwest Indiana
Nitin Khanna, MD, a spine care specialist at Orthopaedic Specialists of Northwest Indiana in Munster, discusses the importance of personalized medicine in the spinal care field. Click here to Continue >>

‘Surgery is Like Comfort Food for My Soul’ — Dr. Thomas Scully on Being a Neurosurgeon in an Evolving Landscape
Neurosurgeon Thomas Scully, MD, of Northwest NeuroSpecialists in Tucson, Ariz., discusses the evolution of neurosurgery, how value-based care will affect the field and major challenges he faces as a neurosurgeon. Click here to Continue >> 

How Being a Patient Helped Virginia Spine Institute CEO Dr. Thomas Schuler Relate to His Patients
Thomas C. Schuler, MD, FACS, is the CEO and founder of Virginia Spine Institute in Reston, discusses how his approach to spine surgery and patients has changed over the years. Click here to Continue >>