Renew Spine Care and SpineMark Corp. entered into a strategic alliance agreement in October to establish a mutually aligned mission of improving patient diagnosing, integrating minimally invasive spine surgery protocol and merging medical technology.
Renew is composed of spine surgeons specializing in MIS, treating multiple spine levels, bilaterally, in the lumbar, cervical and thoracic regions. SpineMark Destination Centers promote a multispecialty holistic care approach for diagnosis, operative, non-operative and conservative treatment, striving to create a universal standard for early intervention of spinal pain.
The agreement came out of a collaborative friendship dating back to 2004 between Renew CEO Sam Bailey and SpineMark President/CEO Marcy Rogers.
"We've talked to one another and shared collective visions," says Ms. Rogers. "Recently Sam was talking about growth with Renew and he wanted to see if I might be able to help them."
Mr. Bailey says it is a privilege to align with SpineMark's centers of excellence, noting Ms. Rogers' work is "profoundly recognized throughout the industry for seeking to unify and correlate the advances of minimally invasive spine surgery."
The two executives, who boast a combined 45-plus years of spine industry experience, see a void in the spine space.
"I started in this industry in 1996 when MIS was not necessarily looked upon with favor," says Mr. Bailey. "I've witnessed over the last 20 years this paradigm shift, where everyone is looking for a way to turn their procedure minimally invasive."
This shift is due to the various benefits MIS spine yields: less pain; lower infection and complication rates; less blood loss; shorter hospital stays; and quicker recovery. Patients undergoing minimally invasive fusions experienced lower blood loss (88.7 percent lower) than the open procedure group, according to an April 2016 study published in Spine. In addition, hospital stays among the minimally invasive group were 64 percent shorter than hospital stays in the open procedure group.
"Rather than take the shotgun approach with the open procedure, we now have the sniper approach with minimally invasive," says Adam Lewis, MD, SpineMark's national medical director. He notes medical device companies are developing standalone cages, which may replace rods and screws. "We're going to see more innovation in MIS surgery, whether posterior, anterior or extreme lateral; all of these are going to be refined and the implants will follow suit."
Ms. Rogers and Mr. Bailey believe MIS spine isn't quite mainstream yet despite its benefits, and they want to change that.
"We believe, collectively, we can do that with the help of physicians and industry. We are recruiting a national medical advisory board," Mr. Rogers says. SpineMark and Renew hope to clarify what does and does not qualify as MIS as well as establish standards for spine centers of excellence and training for physicians. They are committed to collecting data on patient outcomes.
"We plan to launch a prospective registry in the spirit of transparency to share outcomes data with third-party payers and employers," she adds.
Dr. Lewis says data sharing will prove paramount to moving MIS spine forward. "We all have a general idea that the minimally invasive approach leads to a better outcome and you are going to see more people harnessing that data so that we can share that with folks."
Mr. Bailey believes their work will accelerate the development and authentication of MIS spine.
"Many doctors are pioneering men and women who are willing to move into this realm. The collaboration of sharing their information, with the same criteria and parameters, is going to be beneficial," he says.