Here are seven things for spine surgeons to know for Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013.
Dr. Lawrence Lenke to receive the NASS Leon Wiltse Award.
The North American Spine Society announced it will honor Lawrence G. Lenke, MD, with the Leon Wiltse Award for leadership and/or clinical research excellence in spine. Dr. Lenke is the chief of orthopedic spine surgery and co-director of adult/pediatric scoliosis and reconstructive spine surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Physicians leaving Medicare in droves: opt-out numbers triple in three years.
The Wall Street Journal recently covered a report showing the number of physicians opting out of Medicare in 2012 tripled from the previous three years. There were 9,539 physicians who opted out of Medicare in 2012, however there were still 685,000 physicians enrolled to participate in Medicare last year.
WSJ reports on physician-owned distributorships and investigations.
The Wall Street Journal reported about federal and state investigations into an extensive network of physician-owned distributors. There the POD was started by two medical device businessmen who began manufacturing devices that were similar to ones on the market. This incident further fuels scrutiny into POD arrangements.
Motion preservation gaining steam in spine market.
A new report analyzing spinal surgery devices has found several types of advancing technology will increase over the next five years, joining spinal fusion devices as key market players. The global spine surgery device market is anticipated to grow at an annual rate of 4 percent from 6.5 billion in 2011 to $8.7 billion in 2018.
Spine surgeon Dr. Jason Savage joins Glenview Outpatient Center in Illinois.
Northwestern Medicine added four specialists to its Glenview (Ill.) Outpatient Center, including orthopedic spine surgeon Jason Savage, MD. Dr. Savage currently practices at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He focuses on spine pathologies such as tumors, trauma, spinal cord injury, spinal deformity and scoliosis.
Dr. Fadi Taher receives 2013 Young Investigator Award from Spine.
Fadi Taher, MD, a surgical resident who trained at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, has received the 2013 Young Investigator Award from Spine for his research into radiation exposure during minimally invasive spine surgery.
Aurora Spine receives CE Mark for ZIP MIS interspinous fusion system.
Carlsbad, Calif.-based Aurora Spine received European CE Mark for its ZIP MIS Interspinous Fusion System. The newly-approved device can now be sold in the European Union and other countries that recognize the CE Mark.