Brett Braly, MD, director of orthopedic spine surgery at Oklahoma City-based Community Hospital, discusses where his practice will head in the future.
Dr. Braly operates out of The Spine Clinic of Oklahoma City and focuses his practice on minimally invasive spine surgery. He performs lateral surgical procedures and earned board certification from the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Dr. Braly was recently named to the inaugural "20 Under 40" list by the North American Spine Society's publication, SpineLine.
Question: What are the biggest concerns for your practice today? What keeps you up at night?
Dr. Brett Braly: Although individual patient complications tend to be the reason I'm staying up at night, I think the biggest concern my practice faces today stems largely from the economics of healthcare. Hospital and insurance administrators directing patient care puts our patients at risk. I'm very fortunate to have a facility that still values physician autonomy in case selection and instrumentation. I can't imagine what a patient would think to know that the screws placed in their back may not be the surgeon's preferred system.
Q: What are you most excited about in terms of technology advancement in the spine space? Where do you see the best opportunity for growth?
BB: We have been fortunate to get involved with lateral lumbar fusions early in practice. To achieve the benefits of an ALIF (large graft footprint, increased fusion rates, better sagittal correction) through a 3 to 4 cm incision is revolutionary. New advances in lateral L5-S1 ALIF have made a tremendous impact for our patients' early mobilization and recovery. This is also allowing for single position surgery, minimizing OR costs and anesthesia time all without sacrificing outcome.
Q: Where do you see your practice growing or evolving in the next five years? What is the next step or evolution in your career?
BB: I would hope that five years from now my practice is very similar to its current version, continuing to push for minimally invasive options in spine care and developing both professionally and personally as I learn to care better for patients. I'm honored now to be able to teach some surgical techniques and would love to continue to improve as a teacher and learner. We will continue to push for patient experience and outcomes as our chief goals, learning as we go!
Learn more about the big trends in spine at the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference in Chicago, June 13-15, 2019. Click here
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