Five spine and neurosurgeons discuss one initiative or program that they are most proud of in their practice.
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 inspires you to make your spine practice better every day?
Please send responses to Alan Condon at acondon@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, September 25, 5 p.m. CST.
Note: The following responses were edited for length and clarity.
Question: What is one initiative your practice has undertaken that you're most proud of?
Mark M. Mikhael, MD. Spine Surgeon at NorthShore Orthopaedic & Spine Institute and Illinois Bone & Joint Institute (Chicago & Glenview, Ill.): I am most proud that we created standardized pathways and protocols to get patients out of the hospital quicker and out of their 'sick' mode sooner at home. Surgery has not changed, but the way we prepare patients for it and set them up to recover successfully has improved. This initiative is the result of examining superior spine patient care from three main sources: 1) pooled data on spine protocols from health systems across the country; 2) North American Spine Society evidence-based guidelines from literature on best practices; and 3) enhanced recovery after surgery national protocols, which minimize interoperative medications and opioid use as well as maximize early mobilization. This combination enabled us to launch this initiative over the past year, and already we are seeing improved patient outcomes.
Plas James, MD. Atlanta Spine Institute: In 2016, my office did the Mercy Care Foundation Ball and we raised $500,000 to provide healthcare for the homeless. The foundation supports 14 clinics around Georgia providing healthcare to uninsured and underinsured patients.
Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: Two things stemming from one decision has been really fantastic for us. That has been changing our EMR. It cut back significantly on our overhead and increased our billing, and it also streamlined our document processing abilities — streamlining my workflow. We were reticent to change — our billing company had us convinced that having an enormous augmented reality and low collections were part of the new normal.
My practice manager (and also wife) pushed for change. She researched many different programs — most of which were dead end programs, we were offered EPIC in the office from my main hospital — all of which we passed on. We found a software that was cloud-based and could allow us to submit and follow up on our own claims. I took the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons billing course — something I had been meaning to do but finally got pushed into doing. Change is ridiculously hard, but inertia is costly.
Issada Thongtrangan, MD. Microspine (Phoenix): I started the patient network group so patients can share their experiences. Many patients were scared and confused when they were told that they needed surgery. The majority of spine surgery in public eyes are invasive and the complications can be devastating. They and their love ones are fearful. The patient network has a great success as patients can glean better understanding when they listen from the patients who have already gone through the process. This reduces their anxiety significantly.
Andrew Cordover, MD. Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center (Birmingham, Ala.): With our practice being cofounded by world-renowned surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, our practice has always strived to be in a class by itself by offering an unparalleled treatment of our patients, both clinically and personally. Dr. Andrews emphasizes key values and behaviors on how we work as a team and how we take care of our patients that are always necessary to be successful. These values and behaviors have evolved through the years into 27 fundamentals that are the foundation of our practice's unique culture. We call it: The Andrews Sports Medicine Way. We all commit to these and do not want to let our patients or fellow partners down. We all feel a profound commitment to our practice.