From the advent of new innovations to shifting care models, healthcare leaders reflect on what words and trends will define the spine surgery field in 2026.
The 23 leaders featured in this article are speaking at Becker’s 23rd Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC + The Future of Spine Conference, set for June 11-13, 2026, at the Swissotel Chicago.
If you would like to join the event as a speaker, please contact Carly Behm at cbehm@beckershealthcare.com.
As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is connecting with healthcare leaders who will speak at the event to get their insight on thought-provoking questions within the industry. The following are answers from event speakers, lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What word will define the spine field in 2026? Why?
Jared Ament, MD. Neurosurgery & Spine Group (Santa Monica, Calif.): 2026 for me is a year of paradigm shifts! With the trial we’re running and the new collaborations/institutional involvement, I truly feel that novel and better motion preserving options will become available for our patients.
Wael Barsoum, MD. President and Chief Transformation Officer at Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company (Phoenix): 2026 will bring lots of exciting opportunities to the field of spine care. The one that stands out most prominently to me is the elimination of the inpatient only list,which will allow surgeons to play a greater role, along with their patients, in determining the ideal setting for surgery. We have seen improved outcomes, higher patient experience scores and significantly lower costs across the board during the shift to outpatient sites of care and I expect that spine will follow in that same trend.
Tan Chen, MD. Inova Health (Springfield, Va.): “Restraint” may be the most honest and defining word for the spine field in 2026. Progress in spine surgery is not always driven by what we can do, but also by knowing when we shouldn’t. This means careful attention to a patient’s chief complaints and lived experience, not simply treating radiographic findings, operating on true pathology rather than MRI abnormalities alone. It means preserving motion instead of defaulting to fusion, choosing smaller and less disruptive approaches, adopting technologies like robotics and AI only when they add real value, and at times having honest but difficult conversations with patients. In this evolving landscape, mastery in spine surgery is increasingly measured by judgment over bravado, making restraint the field’s quiet but essential virtue.
Jennifer Danner, BSN, RN. Senior director of ASCs at Orlando (Fla.) Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute: The word that will define the spine field in 2026 is “Outpatient.” Advances in minimally invasive techniques, anesthesia, and ERAS protocols are enabling even complex spine cases to safely migrate to ambulatory surgery centers. This shift is driven by improved technology, payer incentives, and patient preference for lower cost and faster recovery. ASCs are becoming equipped to handle these cases with strict selection criteria and robust safety pathways.
Harel Deutsch, MD. Rush University Medical Center (Chicago): Surgi-center.
Bruce Feldman. Administrator at Eastern Orange Ambulatory Surgery Center (Cornwall, N.Y.): Innovation. We are going to see significant innovations in spine surgery as further use of technology and instrumentation allows more and more higher acuity spine cases to be performed in the ASC setting. This includes the use of AI which will allow for more accurate diagnosis and treatment plans allowing for more minimally invasive procedures to be performed.
Alejandro Fernandez. CEO at Synergy Orthopedic Specialists (San Diego): 2026 marks the inflection point where AI-driven spine care moves from concept to clinical reality. The convergence of data analytics, robotics, navigation, and value-based economics is shifting spine surgery from standardized protocols to individualized strategies. The emerging “Intelligence-Based Spine Care Model” leverages algorithms to integrate imaging, comorbidities, functional scores, and historical outcomes, guiding decisions on surgical necessity, treatment levels, and alignment goals. This approach reframes the question from “Which procedure fits this diagnosis?” to “What is the optimal path for this specific patient’s long-term health?”
Synergy Orthopedic Specialists is at the forefront of a transformative era in spine care — one defined by personalization and intelligence-driven decision-making. As San Diego’s largest private orthopedic practice, Synergy integrates fellowship-trained spine surgeons, advanced imaging, and comprehensive therapy services — the essential foundation for implementing data-driven, longitudinal care pathways. With experts such as Dr. Matthew Follett, MD, specializing in minimally invasive and complex spinal procedures, Synergy is ready to align AI-powered planning and navigation technologies with coordinated prehabilitation, postoperative rehabilitation and outcomes tracking.
The practice is also advancing personalization through its interventional pain management program, led by specialists such as Gavin Kolodge, DO, and Enoch Chang, MD. By offering image-guided procedures — including epidural steroid injections, facet and medial branch blocks, and radiofrequency ablation — Synergy helps determine which patients can achieve relief without surgery and which require operative intervention, perfectly complementing an intelligence-based spine model.
Sean Gipson. CEO and Division president of ASCs at Remedy Surgery Center (Hurst, Texas): In 2026, the surgical spine field can be summed up in one word: augmented. Today’s spine surgeons are no longer working alone; they’re supported by a growing suite of advanced technologies, from AI-powered surgical planning and robotic assistance to real-time navigation and augmented reality. Rather than replacing the surgeon, these innovations enhance precision, improve safety, and allow for highly personalized procedures. The result is a new era of spine surgery where human expertise is amplified, outcomes are improved, and patients recover faster than ever before.
Tracy Hoeft-Hoffman, MSN, RN. Administrator at Heartland Surgery Center (Kearney, Neb.): One word that will define the spine field in 2026 is Transformational. Spine care in ASCs is rapidly evolving with expanding procedure complexity, advances in minimally invasive techniques, increased payer acceptance (especially with the additional codes added from CMS), and a fundamental shift in where and how spine surgery is delivered. Meanwhile, technology and implant costs continue to shift quickly.
Vamsi Kancherla, MD. Specialty Orthopaedics (Gainesville, Ga.): The word that will define the spine field in 2026 is “evolution.”
Spine surgery continues to evolve from traditional open procedures through minimally invasive tubular approaches to the current frontier of endoscopic techniques. This progression mirrors the historical shift toward arthroscopy in joints such as the knee, shoulder and hip, where smaller portals achieved the same or better outcomes with reduced tissue disruption.
Endoscopic approaches offer tangible benefits supported by emerging clinical data: smaller incisions, less blood loss, shorter operative times comparable to or faster than traditional decompressions, lower infection rates, and accelerated patient recovery that often enables same-day discharge. Long-term efficiencies — through reduced 90-day readmissions and complications — offset initial equipment costs, while advancements in high-definition imaging, navigation, and neuromonitoring address technical challenges, particularly in complex decompressions and fusions.
As patient awareness grows and market projections estimate rapid expansion of the endoscopic spine segment in the coming years, this evolutionary step feels inevitable rather than optional. It represents not just technological refinement, but a deliberate progression toward more precise, patient-centered care that preserves efficacy while minimizing morbidity.
Ira Kornbluth, MD. President at Clearway Pain Solutions (Annapolis, Md.): Collaborative.
Multi-disciplinary care that is enacted with a coordinated, collaborative, patient-centered care that prioritizes function, patient engagement and outcomes. Conservative measures typically precede interventional measures with greater emphasis on minimally invasive and motion-preserving procedures. Outcomes in a collaborative model are measured in terms of pain reduction, functional improvement, mobility gains and patient satisfaction.
Andrew Lovewell. CEO at Columbia (Mo.) Orthopaedic Group: Adaptability. In 2026, adaptability will define the spine field because the pace of change across technology, reimbursement, and workforce dynamics is no longer incremental — it’s continuous. Orthopaedic spine practices will be forced to integrate innovation while simultaneously managing margin pressure (no easy feat). It’s not about who adopts the most technology or AI, but who can operationalize change quickly and make it lead to a meaningful patient outcome. Leaders will need to make faster decisions and align teams around constant evolution and improvement. In the spine market, adaptability won’t be a competitive advantage — it will become the cost of entry.
Samer Narouze, MD, PhD. University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center: Value-based care pressure is forcing surgeons and pain specialists to match the right intervention to the right patient at the right time. Shift from “volume” to “outcome” Historically, spine rewarded case volume, high-complexity procedures and implant utilization. Value-based models (bundles, shared savings, downside risk) now reward; durable functional improvements (pain, mobility and return to work), low complications and reoperation rates, and predictable total cost of care.
Yeshvant A. Navalgund, MD. Pain management physician in North Huntingdon, Pa.: The future of spine care will be defined by simplification. As devices become smaller, smarter, and more intuitive, we will see procedures once reserved for hospitals safely migrate into the ASC setting. This shift is not just technological but culturally driven by tighter surgeon and spine interventionist collaboration, standardized training pathways, and shared accountability for outcomes. When innovation reduces complexity and teams align around execution, we expand access, lower costs and raise the bar for patient-centered spine care.
Mick Perez-Cruet, MD. Michigan Minimally Invasive Neurosurgical Institute (Waterford): Innovations. Innovations are advancing the field of spine surgery including minimally invasive spine surgery which reduces approach related morbidity and improves patient outcomes. Additionally, innovations in augmented reality allow surgeons to see the spine in three dimensions without having to remove the muscle for enhanced spinal implant placement, particularly percutaneous pedicle screws. It is also an outstanding teaching tool for residents and fellows that allows a better understanding of each patient’s spine anatomy and does even better than open approaches in seeing the spine more clearly.
Evan Peskin, MD. Insight Institute of Neurosurgery & Neuroscience (Flint, Mich.): Integration. In 2026, the spinal interventional field will be defined by integration across specialties, with orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, interventional pain, rehabilitation, and behavioral health unified into a singular pathway. Health economic considerations like cost-effectiveness, outcome durability, and value-based care will be integrated into clinical decision-making alongside anatomy and clinical presentation. Novel technologies, including AI-assisted procedural planning and advanced neuromodulation are increasingly embedded into routine spine care. Equally critical is the integration of patients into decision-making, shifting spine treatment toward personalized, transparent, and outcome-driven models.
John Prunskis, MD. DxTx Pain & Spine (Chicago): More data-driven spine care. More procedures in an ambulatory surgery center setting.
Michael Redler, MD. Connecticut Orthopaedics (Fairfield): The word that’s going to define orthopedics for 2026 is biology. Our ability to harness biology to enhance healing and outcome is going to increase in an exponential fashion. The challenge, of course, especially in the ASC setting will be to balance the benefit of biological augmentation for healing with the cost associated with it. It will require a great collaboration between surgeons, ASC administrators, our industry partners, and of course, the third-party payers and health insurance companies.
Michael Rivlin, MD. Rothman Orthopaedic Institute (Philadelphia): Spine surgery in 2026 will be defined by the emerging trend of “Convergence.” Innovation such as advanced image guidance, AI optimization and robotics will deliver improved outcomes with optimal patient recovery pathways. Paired with continued focus on value-based pathways will put an emphasis on proven outcomes and minimizing complications. The convergence of these two forces of innovative technology and data driven value-based delivery of care will be defining the near future in spine surgery.
David Russo, DO. Medical director and managing partner at Columbia Pain Management (Hood River, Ore.): By 2026, the spine field will be shaped by the merging of surgical and interventional disciplines, driven by minimally invasive, data-driven care pathways. We’re observing a clearer differentiation between patients who truly benefit from surgery and those who do not, with collaboration replacing competition.
As techniques become more refined and outcomes more measurable, spine surgeons and interventional proceduralists are increasingly working together toward shared goals: durable function, faster recovery, and lower overall care costs. This convergence is transforming how spine care is delivered across ASCs and aligned payment models.
Ben Schwartz, MD. Chief medical officer at Commons Clinic (Los Angeles): In 2026, adaptability will define the spine field because the pace of change across technology, reimbursement, and workforce dynamics is no longer incremental — it’s continuous. Orthopaedic spine practices will be forced to integrate innovation while simultaneously managing margin pressure (no easy feat). It’s not about who adopts the most technology or AI, but who can operationalize change quickly and make it lead to a meaningful patient outcome. Leaders will need to make faster decisions and align teams around constant evolution and improvement. In the spine market, adaptability won’t be a competitive advantage — it will become the cost of entry.
Nikhil Shetty, MD. COO at Midwest Interventional Spine Specialists (Munster, Ind.): The one word that will define the spine space in 2026 is “synergy.” AI has become an operational reality that enhances clinical decision-making, streamlines workflows, and drives measurable value clinically and financially. In 2026, organizations that have effectively integrated these tools will be better positioned to tailor them to the unique needs of independent practices and growing businesses. At the same time, those still exploring AI will naturally seek strategic collaboration and shared expertise with early adopters. The future of spine care isn’t just about new technology — it’s about how we work together to apply it in ways that improve patient outcomes and practice performance.
Michael Verdon, MD. President at Dayton (Ohio) Neurological Associates: Process- systematic means to evaluate and treat patients with spinal disorders. Processes for patient intake, evaluation and treatment will be developed, implemented and assessed for effectiveness, efficiency, and costs. This will provide organizational leaders with metrics specific to their business, which provide insights to what needs to grow, go or move.
