Spine

From surgeons sounding off on payer issues to a surgeon who moved his practice, here are six spine surgeons making headlines over the past week:

Neurosurgeon Michael McDermott, MD, was appointed chief of neuroscience at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami, where he will lead all clinical and curricular activities.

A study published in The Spine Journal found that Orthofix's M6-C artificial cervical disc was safe, effective and noninferior to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for the treatment of cervical disc degeneration.

Commercial payers continue to expand coverage for minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion after CMS increased reimbursement for the procedure last year. More device companies are also focusing innovation efforts in the SI joint space.

Augmented reality-assisted spine surgery has continued to be implemented at hospitals in the first month of the year:

Four spine surgeons discuss how they expect negotiations with commercial payers to go this year:

Kern Singh, MD, lauded the benefits of endoscopic spine surgery, which he typically performs as an awake outpatient procedure at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago.

Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion is more cost effective than the open procedure, according to a study published in The Spine Journal on Jan. 22.

Former President Donald Trump provided a full pardon to Faustino Bernadett, MD, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in an illegal kickback scheme that steered spine surgeries to a hospital he had owned, NBC News…

Fourteen insights on bundled payments in spine, including CMS changes in 2021 and thoughts from five prominent surgeons: