Spine

From an increasingly demanding spine patient population to payers too often dictating care and a potential overreliance on enabling technologies, five spine leaders outline some of the biggest challenges facing the specialty.

A new Johns Hopkins Medicine study published in the July issue of Spine Deformity found that patients who undergo adult spinal deformity operations and use opioids for four or more years before surgery have higher odds of relying on post-surgery…

From risk-sharing payment models to increased scrutiny placed on hospital surgeons and expanded data collection and integration, six surgeons predict how the specialty will change as healthcare shifts from a fee-for-service model toward value-based care.

Alaska is the most expensive state to undergo spinal fusion surgery and Iowa is the least expensive, according to Sidecar Health's care calculator, which outlines the average cash price for every procedure, test and drug in the U.S. healthcare system. 

Zachary Plummer, MD, joined Cincinnati-based Mayfield Brain & Spine on July 5.

Here are five places hiring spine surgeons, using LinkedIn's job search tool:

Biohaven has begun enrolling patients for a phase 3 trial of recombinant protein taldefgrobep alfa on individuals with spinal muscular atrophy. 

A category 3 CPT code for sacroiliac joint fusion was created and will be released in July, according to the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery.

Spine surgeon Corey Walker, MD, is collaborating with the Cedars-Sinai Department of Computational Biomedicine to use AI and machine learning for predicting postoperative pain management in patients. 

Here are the top four neurosurgery residency programs, from Doximity's 2022-2023 Residency Navigator.