While the field of orthopedics continues to face major hurdles, including provider shortages, payer battles and inflationary pressures, providers are still optimistic about the specialty’s future.
Ask Orthopedic Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to orthopedic surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. Becker’s invites all orthopedic surgeon and specialist responses.
Next question: Where do you see the industry in 10 years?
Please send responses to Claire Wallace at cwallace@beckershealthcare.com by 5 p.m. Central time Friday, April 18.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Would you consider yourself more optimistic or pessimistic about the future of orthopedics? Why?
Philip Lim, MD. Orthopedic Surgeon at UCI Health (Orange, Calif.): In general, I am optimistic about healthcare and even more optimistic about orthopaedics for the following reasons:
1. Not enough providers, plenty of patients. Population growth continues to outpace the increase in the number of orthopedic residency positions, annually. This imbalance should translate into providers remaining busy going into the future even if new orthopedic residency programs/positions are created. Orthopedic issues still account for a substantial percentage of emergency/urgent room visits, and I do not foresee issues related to trauma or degenerative diseases diminishing any time soon.
2. Intellectual capital. Orthopedics continues to be one of the more competitive medical specialties and historically has been sought after by academically inclined medical students. This competitiveness continues to draw intellectual capital into orthopaedics, and thus should help spur innovation and growth in the field.
3. Robots and artificial intelligence. Robots are already being utilized in the operating room to aid with surgical technique (e.g. robot assisted joint arthroplasty, pedicle screw insertion). Similar to most technologies, humanoid robots and AI are advancing at an exponential rate, and I strongly believe that humanoid robot scrub techs and AI assisted image interpretation will become reality sooner than we expect.
4. Research. Perusal through major orthopedic journals will demonstrate that thought leaders in the field continue to ask questions and seek answers for today’s orthopedic problems. Millions of dollars in grants have been awarded to study a variety of orthopedic topics that include alternative pain management modalities, stem cell/cartilage/nerve regenerative treatment, and a multitude of biomechanical studies. It is evident that orthopedics continues to evolve over time with every subsequent novel, field-advancing research study.
In summary, I think that the future of orthopedics is bright for providers given the continued and growing demand for orthopaedic services and treatment. Furthermore, I am optimistic that patients will receive higher quality of care and improved outcomes as further advancements are made in orthopaedic technologies and research.
Brett Shore, MD. Orthopedic Surgeon at DISC Sports & Spine Center (Marina del Rey, Calif.): I would consider myself more optimistic about the future of orthopedics for two main reasons.
First, the aging population expects higher levels of activity than previous generations (pickleball, anyone?); furthermore, we continue to learn about the health benefits of physical activity into old age. Intense cardiovascular and strength training have been shown to improve both physical and cognitive function in older individuals, and these activities require a level of physical ability beyond what is required to simply “survive.” The role of orthopedics in helping our patients to thrive will only increase in the foreseeable future.
Second, although we are living at the cusp of a revolution in the way that AI impacts all aspects of society (including medicine), orthopedics is more insulated from the immediate disruptive effects than many specialties. The continual improvements in large language models like ChatGPT and Claude likely mean that specialties that are primarily knowledge-based (such as radiology, pathology, primary care) will see much of their work done by AI soon, but this is unlikely for surgical specialties in the near future. Orthopedics in particular is well-suited to survive the AI revolution, as reconstruction and replacement is skilled work, and even when robots are able to perform large portions of routine surgical procedures, they will still require human surgeon oversight for a while. How long until the robots performing surgery are truly autonomous is unknown, and it would be foolish to believe that it will never happen, but the field of orthopedics likely has more time than most to figure out what to do when it does.
