Becker's Spine Review

7 SPINE SURGEONS Dr. Arthur Jenkins Leaves Academic Post at Mount Sinai for Independent Practice in 2018: 5 Key Notes By Laura Dyrda M ount Sinai Co-Director of the Neu- rosurgical Spine Program Arthur Jenkins, MD, transitioned into full time private practice at the beginning of 2018. Here are five key notes: 1. On Jan. 1, 2018, Dr. Jenkins le his post at Mount Sinai for private practice but main- tains academic affiliation as faculty as well as surgical and admitting privileges at Mount Sinai. 2. His new practice is known as Jenkins NeuroSpine. In a LinkedIn post, Dr. Jenkins wrote, "rest assured that I will be keeping my practice going at Mount Sinai and CT, but just changing the location where I see pa- tients while I update and improve the way I see patients." 3. Dr. Jenkins plans to "reinvent [his] role as a surgeon, innovator and researcher" with this move aer spending 16 years as a full- time academic physician. "Every day I want to raise the bar more for how we improve the lives of all patients with back and neck prob- lems," he wrote. "is new practice environ- ment will allow me to react and change more easily, getting away from the dogma and old inefficient ways, but keeping the structures that time has shown truly improve treatment and quality of live." 4. e new practice has a foundation in ev- idence-based medicine and technology de- signed to improve quality of care. 5. Dr. Jenkins earned his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia and completed his neurosurgical residency at Mount Sinai. His additional training includes a spine surgery fellowship at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital. n Spine Surgery Will Thrive in the US Healthcare System: 5 Findings Demonstrate Why By Laura Dyrda T he Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery published an article on the impact the Massachusetts healthcare reform law, which went into effect four years before the ACA, had on spine surgery patient and payer mix. Researchers used the Massachusetts State Inpatient Database and spine ICD-9-CM procedure codes to gather information on spine surgery patients from 2001 to 2012. There were 81,821 spine surgeries performed in Massachusetts over that time and 248,757 in New York, which the researchers used as a control group. Study authors found: 1. The Massachusetts healthcare reform law was implemented in 2006, and after 2008 the state reported a decrease in spine surgeries for patients without insurance and those with private insurance. There was a decrease in surgeries for 18-year-olds to 44-year-olds. 2. After 2008, there was an increase in the number of spine surgeries for Medicare patients and those considered in the "other" insurance category. As a result, there was an increase in the number of surgeries for patients aged 65 years old to 84 years old. 3. The New York data showed increases in the number of spine surgeries performed for all insurance categories and age groups. 4. Even though younger patients had greater access to health insurance in Massachu- setts, the data shows the number of young people undergoing surgery decreased. "In a healthcare system that requires insurance, the decrease in private insurance is primarily due to an increasing elderly population," the study authors concluded. 5. Study authors also concluded, "The Massachusetts model continues to show that this type of policy is not causing extreme shifts in the payer mix, and suggests that spine surgery will continue to thrive in the current U.S. healthcare system." n Average Neurosurgeon Salary Totals $543k — Which 5 US Cities Beat the National Average? By Mackenzie Garrity T he average neurosur- geon salary in the U.S. is $543,343, according to Salary Sumo. However, here are five U.S. cities with neuro- surgeon salaries exceeding the national average. 1. San Jose, Calif. — $641,308 2. New York City — $640,656 3. Los Angeles — $595,722 4. Boston — $586,811 5. Chicago — $571,380 n

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