Spine

A federal judge has dismissed antitrust claims brought by Neurological Surgery Practice of Long Island against Empire Healthchoice HMO and Empire Healthchoice Assurance. The Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based neurosurgery practice alleged the insurers violated the Sherman Act and New York’s Donnelly…

Neurosurgeons have described the move toward outpatient care in cautious terms for years — less as a sudden turn and more as a gradual reassessment of which cases may be appropriate outside the hospital. A new study from the University…

Spine surgery can take a significant physical and emotional toll, but sustaining a long career requires more than just pushing through it. Spine surgeons discuss how they navigate burnout, physical strain and the pressures of the profession. Question: Many spine…

From rising orthopedic compensation to the continued migration of spine procedures to outpatient settings, several figures illustrate how musculoskeletal and neurological surgery are evolving in 2026. $611,000: The average annual compensation for orthopedic surgeons was $611,000, making orthopedics the first…

Two generations of neurosurgery chairs ago — in the late 1980s — the top job in New York City-based NYU Langone Health’s neurosurgery department paid about the same as the No. 2 job at Goldman Sachs, said John Golfinos, MD,…

Spine surgeons have more tools than ever. Robotics, navigation, wearables, motion-preserving implants, biologics and increasingly sophisticated outcome measures are reshaping nearly every stage of care, from deciding who should have surgery to tracking how well patients recover. For Ilyas Aleem,…

Spine and orthopedic consolidation is moving on several fronts as reimbursement pressure, outpatient migration and rising practice costs push groups to seek more scale. Health systems are acquiring established regional practices, pain and spine platforms are expanding across state lines,…

As reimbursement tightens and practice costs rise, spine groups are looking beyond professional surgical fees for growth. Recent strategies include capturing more of the outpatient episode, expanding ancillary services, improving clinic throughput and experimenting with payment models that move practices…

As the economic atmosphere rapidly changes in healthcare, a major challenge facing leaders is how to preserve an academic mission while maintaining financial stability. Becker’s previously reported that leaders at other top-ranked neurosurgery programs are watching reimbursement and affordability pressures…

Sanjay Konakondla, MD, a neurosurgeon, trained for almost the opposite kind of spine surgery. During fellowship at Providence, R.I.-based Brown University, he expected to spend his career performing tumor resections, major reconstructions and other complex operations. Across the hall, neurosurgeon…