Five spine surgeons share some of their professional goals for the upcoming year.
Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses.
Next week's question: What are some of the biggest opportunities for spine surgeons on 2018?
Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 5 p.m. CST.
Question: What is a professional goal you would like to accomplish this year?
Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Spine Surgeon at New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center (Nashua): My goal is to continue providing excellent care for my patients while maintaining independent practice, despite all the challenges spine surgeons face in today's environment. This is not always easy but the satisfaction I get from this job and seeing my patients get better and get back to their lives with less pain and more function is worth it. I will also continue improving my minimally invasive surgery skills and will learn endoscopic spine surgery techniques. I am looking forward to using the newest robotics and navigation technology to perform minimally invasive fusion procedures.
Payam Farjoodi, MD. Orthopedic Spine Surgeon at Spine Health Center at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center (Fountain Valley, Calif.): I would like to maximize minimally invasive techniques and computer-assisted navigation in my surgical practice. I currently use these tools, but would like to expand their application.
J. Brian Gill, MD. Spine Surgeon at Nebraska Spine Hospital (Omaha): I would like to take on more leadership roles within my medical and hospital practice. I think physicians who are in the "trenches" on a daily basis need to provide their input to administrators who may not see things from a certain perspective.
Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: This year, my goal is to educate my patients about the insurance industry. A particular carrier has been errantly sending our payments for service to another provider, seemingly out of the blue. They attached our information to a different group, after being contracted for almost seven years, and they are continuing to send the payments even after being contacted multiple times by our biller.
As part of a larger goal, we intend on making these insurance agencies accountable and to encourage my local legislators to enact rules to allow for the recoupment of such payments, with interest, as they do to us, and to educate the public as to what these companies do. We as a practice have made the decision to drop this carrier and we have been notifying all of our patients and explaining the reasons when they ask. Patients have a right to know.
Richard Kube, MD. Founder and CEO of Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): This year we are hoping to expand our Southern Illinois satellite office to a more comprehensive center. It will have physical therapy and interventional pain services onsite with imaging, like our Peoria flagship office. We will not be adding a surgical facility there. As healthcare trends towards disease management, I believe it is important to be able to handle all aspects of the spine care under one roof whenever possible.