Here are 12 things for spinal surgeons to know for September 17, 2015.
Has orthopedic surgeon salary diminished in the last 5 years?
According to Merritt Hawkins' 2014 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, the average base salary (not including production bonus or benefits) for orthopedic surgeons has decreased slightly over the last five years. The average salary in 2009 to 2010, checked in at $519,000, while the average salary in 2013 to 2014 was $488,000.
Physician futures: What are physicians' plans in the coming 3 years?
Nearly 17 percent of physicians plan on retiring in the next three years, according to Physicians Practice's 2015 Great American Physician Survey. Based on responses from 1,001 physicians, 59.7 percent plan to continue practicing while 16.9 percent plan to retire within the next three years. Some 7.5 percent plan to move to a different practice and 1.7 percent plan to sell their practices and move to hospitals.
Cleveland Clinic standardizes to 2 implant vendors, at least one orthopedic surgeon out
Orthopedic surgeon Raymond L. Horwood, MD, moved his long-running practice from Cleveland Clinic to St. John Medical Center, a University Hospitals facility, in order to continue using DePuy implants for joint replacements. Cleveland Clinic standardized implants to just two vendors — Stryker and Zimmer — for joint replacements in a broad cost-cutting effort. However, Dr. Horwood felt Johnson & Johnson's DePuy implants were better for his patients and he chose to move his practice rather than switch implant vendors.
Adult spinal deformity complications
A new study examining the complications associated with adult spinal deformity surgery was published in Spine. Researchers examined radiographic and implant-related complications in adult spinal deformity surgery. They found complications in 31.7 percent of patients. The risk factors for complication included weight, ASA score, revision procedures, stopping the fusion in the lower thoracic spine, worse SRS-Schwab classification modifiers, higher T1 spinopelvic inclination and higher T1 slope.
Spine surgery adverse events — complication rate of 13.6%
Adverse events after spinal surgery were analyzed in a study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. Researchers found the overall complication rate for all spine surgeries was 13.6 percent. Complication rates for chronic pain, delirium and dysrhythmia increased gradually over the 30 days after surgery, and the 30-day complication rate for single-level anterior cervical fusions was 8.6 percent.
Institute of Applied Neurosciences licenses spine surgery implant exclusively to Amendia
The Institute for Applied Neurosciences licensed a minimally invasive spine surgery implant to Amendia. Amendia now has the exclusive right to manufacture and distribute Sinu-Lok, a replacement for standard rod implants used in thoracolumbar spine surgery. Sinu-Lok offers an extended range of axial connection between the screw-rod interface when the construct is tightened down, creating divergence of the screw towers.
Implanet's spine inventory up in 1st half of 2015
Implanet reported a jump in spine sales for the first half of 2015. Spine sales were up 66 percent in the first half of 2015 over the first half of 2014. International revenue was 55.1 percent of total sales and driven by the buoyant momentum in the United States. The spine sales accounted for 44 percent of total sales in the product mix and were up 88 percent in the United States. The United States accounted for 37 percent of spine sales, compared with 26 percent in the rest of the world. France also accounted for 37 percent of spine sales.
Globus Medical names James Tobin to board of directors
Globus Medical, a musculoskeletal implant company based in Audubon, Pa., appointed James R. Tobin to its board of directors. He previously served as president and CEO of Boston Scientific, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
North America dominates cervical total disc replacement surgery global market
North America holds the largest share of the global market for cervical total disc replacement, due to a growing aging population. Asia will experience growth in the cervical total disc replacement market within the next five years. Cervical total disc replacement surgery has gained popularity as pseudo-arthritis results in anterior cervical disc fusion surgery. Radiolucent material devices would aid the market growth.
A towel, a sponge, a needle, oh my! — What did you leave behind during surgery?
The Joint Commission defines the unintended retention of foreign objects as a sentinel event. The most commonly left-behind foreign objects following procedures are soft goods, small miscellaneous items and needles. Researchers from John Hopkins estimate a surgeon in the United States leaves a foreign object such as a sponge or a towel inside a patient's body after an operation 39 times each week, and the most common sites for URFOs in the body are in the abdominal cavity and thorax.
Northwest Health adds spine center
Northwest Health System will open a new spine center in Bentonville, Ark., in September. The new center will be called Orthopedic and Spine Center at Northwest Medical Center and will be 6,200 square feet. Patients needing spine surgery or hip or knee replacement can receive treatment at this family-focused center.
Spine Care and Pain Management in Georgia adds 4 new locations
Spine Care and Pain Management, based in Atlanta, is accepting patients at four new locations: Augusta, Milledgeville, Suwanee and Warner Robins. The network now includes 14 pain clinics, offering more than 25 treatments.