Becker's ASC Review

31 ORTHOPEDICS Spine surgeon convicted for accepting $300K+ in kickbacks By Carly Behm A nother spine surgeon was convicted of accepting bribes for performing surgeries at the now-defunct Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, Calif. David Payne, MD, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud and one count of use of an interstate facility in aid of bribery aer trial, the U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California said March 6. He recieved kickbacks from Michael Drobot, who owned Pacific Hospital. Mr. Drobot had offered bribes in exchange for spine surgery referrals, and in the last five years of his scheme, more than $500 million in medical bills were submitted for cases involving kickbacks. Dr. Payne recieved up to $15,000 for each spine surgery he did at the hospital. In total, he recieved more than $315,000 from the scheme. Dr. Payne faces up to 50 years in prison. Twenty-four defendants have been convicted for taking kickbacks in Mr. Drobot's scheme. n Geisinger Medical Center performs 1st lumbar spinal fusion with 'lifetime guarantee' By Claire Wallace Edward DelSole, MD, has performed the first lumbar spinal fusion surgery with a lifetime guarantee at Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Community Medical Center. The lifetime guarantee for the procedure was launched by Geisinger Health Plan and devicemaker Medacta Group. Dr. DelSole performed the procedure using Medacta's M.U.S.T Pedicle Screw System and MIS MySpine MCpatient matched solution. "This new guarantee allows us to expand our ProvenCare commitment for patients who qualify for spinal fusion surgery while offering them a sense of security on the clinical outcome when making the decision to have the procedure," Michael Suk, MD, chair of the department of orthopedic surgery at Geisinger, said in a March 8 press release. "By standing behind our world-class joint replacement, spinal surgeries and other orthopedic care options, Geisinger is demonstrating its commitment to making better health easier and more accessible for our patients and communities." n 'Persistent decline' in spine surgery reimbursements remain, analysis finds By Carly Behm A s spine procedure volumes grew in the last 20 years, reimbursements have dipped, researchers found in an analysis. Researchers from the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston used the CMS physician fee schedule look-up tool to pull reimbursements for the five most common spinal procedures, including spinal fusion, disc surgery and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. After adjusting for inflation, analysts found reimbursement fees decreased across all evaluated CPT codes, including surgical instrumentation. Inflation-adjusted fees fell 11.05 percent for ACDF; cervical spinal fusion fees fell 38.72 percent, and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion saw a fee decrease of 7.85 percent. The study found a "persistent decline in reimbursement rates of the most common spine procedures and instrumentation since the year 2000." Researchers added, "If unaddressed, this trend can serve as a substantial disincentive for physicians to perform these procedures and can significantly limit access to spinal care at the population level." The findings were published in the Global Spine Journal May 24, 2022. n

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