Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1164972
16 SPINE SURGEONS 14 recent spine, neurosurgeons on the move By Laura Dyrda F ourteen spine and neurosurgeons joined new practices or accepted promotions last month. Spine surgeon Mats Agren, MD, joined St. Mary's Health System in Lewiston, Maine, through a partnership between St. Mary's and Portland-based Maine Medical Partners. Frank Holladay, MD, joined Kansas City, Mo.-based St. Joseph Medical Center. He has a special interest in minimally invasive spine surgery, spinal fusion and trauma. Former chairman of Laser Spine Institute Michael Weiss, MD, PhD, joined SpineOne, a practice based in Lone Tree, Colo. He will serve as chief of surgical operations. Indianapolis-based IU Health appointed Shelly Tim- mons, MD, PhD, head of the neurosurgery depart- ment. Adam Conley, MD, a neurosurgeon, reported he would leave his post at Children's Hospital and Med- ical Center in Omaha, Neb. Phoenix Spine & Joint welcomed Bruce Moffatt, MD, to its staff. Dr. Moffatt previously practiced at Hudson, Fla.-based Bonati Spine Institute. e University of Utah named Howard Colman, MD, PhD, one of the 2019 Jon M. Huntsman Pres- idential Chairs. Christine Hammer, MD, announced plans to join Tacoma, Wash.-based CHI Franciscan Health. St. Louis Children's Hospital named David Limbrick Jr., MD, PhD, the T.S. Park, MD, Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery. Huy Trinh, MD, retired from his practice at Council Bluffs, Iowa-based Miller Orthopedic Specialists. Ryan Gocke, MD, joined OrthoVirginia, with loca- tions in Lynchburg, Richmond and Virginia Beach. Southfield, Mich.-based Michigan Health & Spine Institute welcomed Ratnesh Mehra, DO, to the neu- rosurgical team. Penn Highlands in Dubois, Pa., named Ghassan Bejjani, MD, its first chief of neurosurgery. Michael Wolak, MD, PhD, joined Lumberton, N.C.- based Southeastern Neurological Center. n Dr. Jason Huang: What big data could do for spine + the most interesting new technology By Laura Dyrda J ason Huang, MD, is chair of the department of neurosurgery at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple, Texas. He discussed how the spine field is changing and why surgeons losing focus is the biggest danger in spine care today. Question: What emerging technology are you most interested in today and why? Dr. Jason Huang: I am personally most interested in new and emerg- ing technology to analyze big data in the field of spine – such as mas- sive quantities of data from electronic medical records of spine patients within our aging and more diverse populations and the advanced an- alytics that could give it meaning. Such technology holds the prospect of becoming an engine for the medical knowledge generation that is necessary to address the significant unmet information needs of our patients, spine surgeons and other providers, hospital administrators, as well as health policy legislators. In our growing field of spine, such big data analytical methods would improve classification of spine diseases, reveal ways to evaluate the influence of particular spine technology or surgeons on practice pat- terns, or predict a spine patient's clinical outcomes. Q: How do you think your practice will change in the next three years? What are you doing today to prepare? JH: I am chair of an academic neurosurgery department in a ma- jor healthcare system. We have 12 faculty members as well as an ACGME-accredited neurosurgery residency training program. I ex- pect that my department will continue to grow to serve the growing medical needs of our aging and diverse population in central Texas. For us in the next three years, there are two main growth areas in neurosurgery: spine and stroke/cerebrovascular. As a result, we are recruiting faculty members to meet this growing demand. We are also putting in a lot of efforts to train our next generation of young neurosurgeons, our neurosurgery residents. We want to train them to become compassionate and highly skilled clinicians. They are the future of medicine. Q: What is the most dangerous trend in healthcare, spine or ortho- pedics today and why? JH: There are so many things going on in healthcare — the opioid crisis, increasing economic pressures on clinicians, hospital closures, countless new emerging technologies, acquisition and merger of major medical device companies, health policy reforms, etc. It is easy to get lost in this environment or lose our focus entirely. As clinicians, the most dangerous trend is to lose focus on our single most import- ant goal: making our patients healthier and better and serving our patients. The lack of focus on patients, but too much emphasis on technology or profits, in my opinion, is the most dangerous trend in medicine. n