Becker's ASC Review

66 ORTHOPEDICS 12 insights on orthopedic surgeon net worth, debt & compensation By Alan Condon M edscape has published its "Physician Debt and Net Worth Report 2020" and "Physician Compensation Report 2020," shedding light on the economic situation for physicians in more than 20 specialties. Between October 2019 and February 2020, 17,461 physicians responded to the surveys. Twelve insights on orthopedic surgeon debt, net worth and compensation: 1. Nineteen percent of orthopedic surgeons reported having a net worth of more than $5 million, the highest of any specialty. 2. In terms of compensation, orthopedic sur- geons topped the list with an average annual income of $511,000. 3. Orthopedic surgeons earned the highest incentive bonuses, taking home $96,000 on average each year. 4. Compensation rose 6 percent from 2019 to 2020 for orthopedic surgeons. 5. Only 11 percent of women physicians specialize in orthopedics, up just 2 percent from 2015. 6. Orthopedic surgeons reported spending 13.7 hours per week on administrative work, the eighth lowest of any specialty. 7. Sixty percent of orthopedic surgeons re- ported being fairly compensated for their work. 8. Orthopedic surgeons reported having about 18 percent of their claims denied. 9. Twenty-eight percent of orthopedic surgeons are still paying medical school debt. 10. Plastic surgeons and orthopedic surgeons topped the list for specialists with homes of more than 5,000 square feet. ey tied at 22 percent. 11. Twenty-two percent of orthopedic sur- geons had a mortgage of over $500,000. 12. When asked if they would choose the same specialty again, 97 percent of orthope- dic surgeons said yes. n Dr. Raymond Gardocki performs 1st fully endoscopic spine surgery with new expandable cage By Alan Condon S pine surgeon Raymond Gardocki, MD, on June 22 performed the first fully endo- scopic interbody fusion with Integrity Implants' Flarehawk 7 expandable cage. Dr. Gardocki, of Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tenn., operated on the patient to correct leg pain, numbness and weakness due to degen- erative spondylolisthesis and L5 radiculopathy. Performed as an awake spine surgery, an epidural injection was provided as well as supplemental monitored anesthesia care. "It's a conscious sedation," Dr. Gardocki said. "The patient breathes on their own, they're not intubated. Basically, as we're putting in the last stitches, the patient is waking up." The Flarehawk 7 expandable cage is designed for anatomic restoration of disc height and lordosis without the need for excessive neural retraction. "The implant goes in small, deploys big and allows you to recreate lordosis, which is a big issue with posterior interbody approaches," Dr. Gardocki said. n Augmented reality in spine — Where we stand and what's to come By Alan Condon A ugmented reality-assisted spine surgery became a reality in June when two neurosurgeons from Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore performed a pair of spine procedures with a new FDA-approved device. Six things to know about AR in spine: 1. Neurosurgeons Daniel Sciubba, MD, and Timothy Witham, MD, performed the first AR-assisted spine surgeries with the Augmedics Xvision Spine System, which allows for real-time 3D visualization of the spinal anatomy during surgery. 2. Augmedics, a Chicago-based startup, received FDA clearance for its Xvision Spine System in December, and plans to research addi- tional surgical applications for the system. 3. The system features a headset designed to function as if the surgeon has X-ray vision into the patient's anatomy to accurately navigate instru- ments and implants while looking at the patient instead of a screen. 4. Nevada spinal neurosurgeon James Lynch, MD, was reportedly the first physician in private practice to use the Xvision Spine System. "It has all the advantages of a neuronavigation platform, yet it's more cost-effective for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, espe- cially in this current climate." 5. Interest in AR has grown significantly in spine over the past de- cade, coming from a desire to limit complications associated with instrumented spine surgery and improve procedural efficiency. 6. The accuracy and reproducibility of the technology will become more evident over time, according to Mark Mikhael, MD, of NorthShore Or- thopaedic Institute and Illinois Bone & Joint Institute in Chicago. Future applications may seek to further improve its navigational capabilities and facilitate the placement of pedicle screws with robotic systems. n

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