Author: Alan Condon

Robots are still considered to be in their infancy in spine surgery, but most surgeons agree they will have a critical role to play in the future of the specialty. However, certain challenges remain.

From improving patient outcomes, reducing complications and decreasing healthcare spending, the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning in spine surgery is vast.

CMS, commercial payers and providers continue to push surgical procedures to outpatient settings, but many spine surgeons agree that hospitals will remain critical for the specialty.

The next generation of spine surgeons graduating residency and fellowship programs will soon be making many important decisions, including choosing their career path, the surgical skills and techniques they wish to hone, and where and with whom they wish to…

From medically unnecessary spine surgeries to non-surgeons performing endoscopic spine procedures to the duration and rigor of residency and fellowship programs, 10 spine leaders share what they believe are the most controversial trends in their specialty today.

Big players expanding into new territories, the expansion of telemedicine and patients increasingly demanding more convenient access to care are some of the major trends affecting competition among spine practices.

After 15 years at Pittsburgh-based UPMC, Adam Kanter, MD, left the 40-hospital academic health system, where he was chief of spine surgery and a tenured professor, to become associate executive medical director of the Hoag Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute in Orange, Calif. 

Medtronic plans to separate its combined patient monitoring and respiratory interventions businesses, which are part of the company's medical surgical portfolio.

Burke Health, a Waynesboro, Ga.-based community hospital specializing in orthopedics, has installed the ExcelsiusGPS robot to assist surgeons performing spine procedures, NBC affiliate WRDW reported Oct. 20.

Retail giants such as Walgreens and CVS Health and the Big Four tech companies — Alphabet (rebranded from Google), Amazon, Apple and Microsoft — are ramping up their healthcare pursuits as patients increasingly demand lower costs and convenient access to…