James Chappuis, MD, is the founder, owner and senior orthopedic surgeon at SpineCenter Atlanta, a comprehensive spine practice.
He has spent his career innovating in the business and clinical spine arenas, inventing new surgical products and serving academic appointments. He also opened the SpineCenterSavannah and has published research on a variety of topics.
Here, Dr. Chappuis examines three key trends to watch next year and where the best opportunities are for future growth.
Question: What are the three biggest business and/or healthcare trends you expect to affect your practice in 2019?
Dr. James Chappuis: One of the biggest trends in spine surgery, in my opinion, will be a continued movement of surgery from hospitals to outpatient facilities.
Secondly, I think there will be more chaos and unrest in the traditional insurance arena making it more difficult for patients who need elective spine surgery to get the care they deserve.
Finally, reimbursement for insurance payments for spine surgery are going to continue to decrease making it much more difficult for solo and smaller practices to survive, hence pushing those patients to the larger more vertically integrated non-physician owned practices; many of whom will have more rigid guidelines on indications for surgery, thus leaving complex cases and less than ideal patients without the chance for surgery, since many times reimbursement may be tied to outcomes.
Q: Where do you see the best opportunities to grow?
JC: Concerning areas of growth, we are looking at different, more creative ways to fund spine surgery and spine care outside traditional reimbursement. The need is there and the money is in the system, we just need to explore different methods of payment which cut out or minimize 'the middleman.'
To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.
For a deeper dive into the future of spine, attend the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC in Chicago, June 13-5, 2019. Click here to learn more and register.