Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/704577
18 SPINE DEVICE & INNOVATION PODs Under Attack Again: 5 Key Notes From the Senate Finance Committee's Report By Laura Dyrda T he Senate Finance Committee released a new report on physician-owned distributorships, focusing on spine surgeons. Here are five key notes: 1. e report said PODs "present an in- herent conflict of interest that can put the physician's medical judgment at odds with the patient's best interests." 2. e POD surgeons saw 24 percent more patients than non-POD surgeons. In absolute numbers, POD surgeons performed fusion surgery on nearly twice as many patients — 91 percent more — than the non-POD surgeons, according to the report. POD sur- geons performed a much higher rate — 44 percent higher — than non-POD surgeons as a percentage of patients seen. 3. Recommendations outlined in the report include: • A federal law requiring physicians to dis- close ownership or family member owner- ship in private device companies to hospitals and patients • Federal agencies to boost enforcement actions • CMS and OIG examination of current guidance on PODs e recommendations were noted in a Wall Street Journal report. 4. HHS OIG reports and the Senate Finance Committee analyses suggest POD physicians overutilize spinal implants, according to the re- port, and overutilization could result in higher costs for the healthcare system and Medicare. e report states, "While surgeons may contend that they replace such hardware for purely medical reasons, they would receive payout from installing the POD hardware. Our concerns about medically unnecessary services are especially acute in the case of seniors who, due to their age, are less phys- ically capable of withstanding the rigors of complex, invasive spine surgery." 5. eir report notes a lack of transparency in the POD industry and questions wheth- er PODs comply with financial disclosure requirements. e report indicated anecdotal evidence shows some PODs are working to obfuscate financial relationships with phy- sicians to avoid CMS and hospital reporting requirements. n 18 New Device Launches & Releases By Anuja Vaidya Here are 18 devices that were recently launched or re- leased. 1. NuVaisve launched AttraX Putty, the newest addition to its biologics portfolio, in the United States. 2. Implanet's Jazz Claw has been granted 510(k) clear- ance in the United States and the CE Mark in Europe. 3. Medtronic launched Spine Essentials, a platform of spinal implants and instruments, in the United States. 4. SpineGuard launched its PediGuard Threaded device. 5. CoreLink launched the Entasis Sacroiliac Joint Fusion System. 6. Spineology launched its Palisade Pedicular Fixation System in the United States market. 7. Stryker's spine division introduced the Tritanium Poste- rior Lumbar Cage. 8. Wenzel Spine made VariLift-LX available throughout the United States with the full commercial launch. NuVasive launched the following products: 9. AttraX Putty Biotextured Bone Graft, 10. Reline Modular System 11. Reline Power 12. MAS TLIF 2 13. Monolith Corpectomy System 14. RTI Surgical launched the Release Laminoplasty Fixation System. 15. Centric Medical released the TARSA-LINK Stand- Alone Wedge Fixation System. 16. Antibe Therapeutics' subsidiary Citagenix launched the PentOS OI Putty. 17. St. Jude Medical launched the Axium Neurostimu- lator System for dorsal root ganglion stimulation in the United States. 18. Stimwave has begun to market the StimQ Peripheral Nerve Stimulator System. n