Vikas V. Patel, MD, is the chief of orthopedic spine surgery at Denver-based University of Colorado Hospital. He also serves as an associate professor in the department of orthopedic surgery and director of the spine fellowship. He is a member a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, Scoliosis Research Society and North American Spine Society, where he currently serves on the Public Relations Committee, Research Committee and Biologics Committee. He also serves as a consultant for numerous medical device companies, including Biomet Spine, Cerapedics, Allosource and Asculap.
Dr. Patel has a wide array of clinical and research interests, such as spinal non-fusion technologies, cervical and lumbar disc replacement, alternative bone graft materials for fusion, minimally invasive surgical techniques and computer-assisted surgery. He also has a professional interest in spinal biologics, perioperative nutrition and spinal biomechanics. He has won numerous awards, including the Scoliosis Research Society Travelling Fellowship in 2013. He is an associate editor of Orthopedics and a reviewer for Spine.
"In our changing environment, with regulatory burdens and declining reimbursements, we hear plenty of negativity, but the smart physicians are the ones who are going to take advantage of the new opportunities to excel," says Dr. Patel. "There are a lot of grumbling physicians, who are unhappy with new regulations and policies, but the ones who are going to be successful are those who use the changes to improve the quality of care and improve outcomes. The better the outcomes, the better accepted our treatments and procedures will be. So we need to show what we can do to improve patients' lives, instead of grumbling about what we are not allowed to do."
Dr. Patel earned his medical degree at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and completed his residency at University of California, San Francisco. He has also completed a spine surgery fellowship at The Spine Institute at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif.
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