Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/627546
17 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SPINE DEVICE & INNOVATION Google and Johnson & Johnson to Form New Surgical Company — 4 Highlights By Allison Sobczak V erily Life Sciences, formerly Google Life Sciences, and Johnson & John- son are teaming up to form an independent surgical solutions company. Here are four highlights: 1. The new company, titled Verb Surgical, was formed in connection with the strategic collaboration between Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson medical devic- es company, and Google Life Sciences. 2. Scott Huennekens has been appointed Verb Surgical's president and CEO. 3. In the coming year, Verb Surgical aims to develop a comprehensive surgical solutions platform that will incorporate leading-edge robotic capabilities and best-in-class medical device technology for operating room professionals. The goal of Verb Surgical is to develop these new technologies in partnership with surgeons and hospitals to enable better patient outcomes, improve access to minimally invasive surgery and achieve greater hospital efficiency. 4. Verb Surgical will be headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and, under Mr. Huenneken's leadership, will be overseen by a board of directors with members from Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Verily and Google. n "It's a bit of a circular argument," says Ms. Norton. "We are encouraging physi- cians to obtain preauthorization and then submit the claim. e procedure may need an appeal and the surgeon can share data with the payer about why disc replacements are a strong procedure. e payer may not have seen the newer data and the more phy- sicians who put the information in front of the payer and demand coverage, the faster it will be covered. at's what it took for the single-level procedure." Ms. Norton has seen an uptick in surgeons using cervical disc replacement as coverage improves. "We want the surgeons to understand that the coverage landscape has improved even from two years ago," she says. "When the payment between spinal fusion and disc replacement becomes more standardized I think we'll see disc replacements become fully accepted as the gold standard. Surgeons are making their decisions based partially on payments right now, and that shouldn't have to be part of their decision." n