Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/653721
34 HEALTHCARE REFORM 5 Spine Surgeons Discuss Key Trends Driving the Industry By Anuja Vaidya Question: What are some key trends we can ex- pect to see in the spine industry in 2016? William Taylor, MD, Director, Spine Surgery, Vice Chairman, Division of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Diego: Continued consolidation will play a larger role in care delivery. Centers of Excellence will become essential for high quality innovative care. Christian G. Zimmerman, MD, MBA, Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, SAHS Neuroscience Institute, Boise, Idaho: A not-so-unusual course of reminders continue to permeate the lives of uncertainty for physicians this election year. Cost containment and consolidation drive the spinal implant business as pharmaceuticals continue to come under the gun and the microscope for price augmentation. M&A fits the task for some larger companies to temporize small competitors, but the irregular scrutiny by insurers grows long in the tooth for all. Physician burnout is now front-and-center as the true balances in life become more meaningful and better realized. Specialty medicine is a priv- ilege and, at the same time, a commodity. For this surgeon, that balance provides job satisfaction in any profession. Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, e Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: is year, I think we will see more changes in our CPT codes in an effort to squeeze more dollars back into the system. I would ask my colleagues to push back against this as it goes back to the devaluation of what we do. Additionally, seeing the trend towards deformity correction and endoscopic spine surgery we can expect more inno- vations and widespread adoption and, of course, market demand for those skill sets. I would not, however, expect to get paid more for increasingly complex procedures and better patient outcomes. Andrew Casden, MD, Associate Professor of Ortho- pedics, Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York: I think spine surgery will continue to evolve rapidly in 2016. As navigation systems and intraoperative CT scans improve, the use of these modalities will certainly increase. Intraoperative scanning of instrumentation will increase as image clarity is improving and getting closer to regular CT scanners. Minimally invasive spine surgery will continue to expand as the indications and technology are expand- ing quickly. Young surgeons are pushing the envelope of minimally invasive surgery and its role in spine surgery KEEP REPLICAS ON THE VEGAS STRIP. NOT IN SPINAL SURGERY. TiTan Spine nanoLOCK Tm implanTS feaTure The only engineered and validaTed nanoTechnology for The Spine. oTher TiTanium implanTS juST can'T Say ThaT. If It's not tItan spIne, It's only tItanIum-Ish. See The difference aT iSaSS booTh 415. april 6-8 in laS vegaS, nv. ThiS image iS being uSed for illuSTraTive purpoSeS only.