Spine

On Sept. 1, UnitedHealthcare is set to begin a two-phased approach to eliminate prior authorization requirements for several procedure codes, including four spine-related codes. The code removals will account for almost 20 percent of its overall prior authorization volume. 

Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley in Wilmington, named Suken Shah, MD, as The Shands/MacEwen Endowed chair of orthopedics and chair of the orthopedic surgery department.

Four spine surgeons discuss the competition between private practices and hospitals in their markets.

Here are two MLB pitchers who had spine surgery in August:

Robert Watkins, MD, operated on Oakland Athletics pitcher Drew Rucinski, the MLB said Aug. 8.

Cost-Saving Robotic Tech Bringing World-Class Care to >90% of Cancer Patients Who Currently Lack Access

Deepak Reddy, MD, of South Bend (Ind.) Orthopedics completed the first solo SynerFuse procedure.

Two spine surgeons were cleared of malpractice allegations in the last month.

A jury sided with Anil Kesani, MD, in a civil case accusing the spine surgeon of botching a woman's surgery in 2017, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Aug. 6.

Spine surgeons Glenn Russo, MD; Girard Girasole, MD; John Awad, MD, and Gary Zimmerman, MD, performed the first cases using the PathKeeper System at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, Conn.