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7 SPINE Orthopedics, neurosurgery among specialties with highest pay: Doximity By Carly Behm O rthopedics and neurosurgery are among the spe- cialties with the hightest annual pay, according to Doximity's 2023 Physician Compensation Report. Neurosurgery ranked highest with an average $788,313 annual compensation. Orthopedics came in thrid with an average $624,023 average pay. Other high-paying specialties include thoracic surgery ($706,775), plastic surgery ($571,373) and vascular sur- gery ($557,632). Doximity drew its findings from more than 31,000 self-re- ported physician compensation surveys between January and December 2022. n Dr. Michael Verdon partners to offer spine surgery warranty By Carly Behm N eurosurgeon Michael Verdon, DO, partnered with Marvel Group to provide a spine surgery warranty at his practice in Dayton, Ohio. The Patient Promise is a surgical outcomes warranty covering spinal fusion patients, according to an April 4 news release. The warranty aims to enhance patient satisfaction and improve outcomes. Dr. Verdon has more than 20 years of experience as a spine surgeon. Marvel Group is a value-added medtech company that works with spine surgeons and device manufacturers. Geisinger Health Plan and Medacta Group have a similar program that offers lumbar spina fusions with a "lifetime guarantee." n Neurosurgeons back legislation to improve Medicare physician pay system By Carly Behm T he American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons praised lawmakers for in- troducing HR 2474, a bill aiming to improve Medicare's physi- cian pay system. e bill would implement an annual physician payment update be- ginning in 2024 that would be based on Medicare's economic index, according to an April 6 news release. e pay updates would reflect physician practice cost inflation. Currently, Medicare's payments to physicians declined 26 percent from 2001 to 2023 when adjusted for inflation. "Medicare physician payments have failed to keep pace with inflation, jeopardizing the viability of physician practices and patients' timely access to care," Russell Lonser, MD, chair of the AANS/CNS Washing- ton Committee, said in the release. "While we are grateful that Con- gress has stepped in to mitigate steep Medicare cuts over the past few years, comprehensive reform of the physician payment system must be a priority for Congress in 2023." Reps. Raul Ruiz, MD, (D-Calif.); Larry Bucshon, MD, (R-Ind.); Ami Bera, MD, (D-Calif.); and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD, (R-Iowa) introduced the bill. n Neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons see similar outcomes: study By Carly Behm A lthough orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons have differ- ent training backgrounds, their outcomes for spine surgery were largely the same, according to a study published in Spine. Researchers looked at 16 studies that compared outcomes between orthopedic spine surgeons and neurosurgeons, according to the study published Feb. 28. Evaluations didn't find differences in readmission rates, complication rates, reoperation rates or length of hospital stay between orthopedic spine surgeons and neurosurgeons. However, orthopedic surgeons tended to have shorter operative times for spine cases, and neurosur- geons had a significantly lower rate of postoperative blood transfu- sions. e study concluded, "Although there is significant data heteroge- neity, our meta-analysis found that neurosurgeons and orthopaedic spine surgeons have similar readmission, complication, and reopera- tion rates regardless of the type of spine surgery performed." n