Becker's Spine Review

10 SPINE SURGEONS Rothman Orthopaedics aims to expand nationally with new joint venture: 5 things to know By Laura Dyrda P hiladelphia-based Rothman Ortho- paedics partnered with ASC platform company NueHealth and MUVE Health, a developer and operator of total joint and spine centers, to integrate their models and platforms. Five things to know: 1. e three companies are forming a joint ven- ture designed to expand, replicate and scale the success the partners have already seen in the greater Philadelphia market. Rothman currently has more than 200 physicians and 40 locations, and operates 45 surgical sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. 2. e partnership will expand and integrate their platforms beyond their current markets; they are currently assessing opportunities with orthopedic practices and health systems in Flor- ida, Texas and the Midwest. 3. In addition to expanding west, the partner- ship will increase capability and technology plat- forms in the greater Philadelphia and tri-state region, adding five-to-seven MUVE Health total joint and spine centers over the next two years. e partnering centers will focus on high qual- ity, value-based care and work with payers and employers in the region. 4. Rothman estimates its physicians will per- form more than 85,000 surgical and pain man- agement procedures in 2019, and most will be performed in high-quality surgical facilities. "e vision of Rothman Orthopaedics has al- ways been to deliver a national platform to take orthopedic care to new levels of value and clin- ical excellence for our patients," said Alexander Vaccaro, MD, PhD, president of Rothman Or- thopaedics. "With the expansion of NueHealth and MUVE Health relationships, we can share the innovation, clinical performance and eco- nomic value we have created together over the past eight years with orthopedic physicians and health systems in key markets across the U.S. Combining our best-in-class clinical practice and ambulatory surgical platforms will acceler- ate the transformation into value-based care and continue our commitment to developing new treatments, testing new devices and setting sur- gical standards in orthopedic care." 5. In 2017, Rothman Orthopaedic Institute signed an affiliation agreement with New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health to establish centers of excellence for orthopedic care and opened a practice in Manhattan last year. n Orthopedic surgeons more likely than neurosurgeons to encounter complication during spinal fusion procedure, study finds By Shayna Korol O rthopedic surgeons are more likely to encoun- ter perioperative bleeding, requiring transfu- sion, during posterior cervical decompression and fusion than neurosurgeons, according to a study in Spine. The study featured 1,221 patients at a single institution and 11,116 patients within the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project database who underwent PCDF. Patients who were treated by an orthopedic surgeon had a greater proportion of bleeding in both the in- stitutional sample — 14.5 percent versus 9.8 percent receiving neurosurgery service — and national sample — 11.16 percent compared to 6.8 percent. In the national sample, orthopedic surgeons were 1.66 times more likely to encounter an in-hospital complica- tion than neurosurgeons. n Colorado surgeons complete nation's 1st spinal disc implant via belly button: 5 highlights By Angie Stewart E rnest Braxton, MD, and Jonathan Schoeff, MD, of Frisco, Colo.-based Vail-Summit Orthopaedics completed the country's first trans-umbilical implantation of a lumbar artificial disc, according to the Summit Daily. Here's what you should know: 1. They performed the procedure at Summit Medical Center in Frisco. 2. The belly-button approach corrects a degenerated disc in the spine that causes debilitating pain and allows the patient to heal without scarring on the belly. 3. Raymond Clout, the method patent holder, confirmed the Vail-Summit Orthopaedics surgeons were the first in the U.S. to perform the procedure. 4. Dr. Schoeff provided access while Dr. Braxton did the im- plant. 5. Spinal fusion operations can create more stress on the body and cause adjacent segment disease, according to Dr. Braxton. n

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