Author: Alan Condon

Fargo, N.D.-based Northern Neurosurgery & Spine is set to lease space in a $16 million medical facility with a surgery center in Duluth, Minn., according to the Duluth News Tribune.

CMS will use prior authorization to reduce unnecessary increases in the volume of covered outpatient spine services next year.

In October, Raymond Gardocki, MD, joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., where he will help develop the endoscopic spine surgery program.

Awake spinal fusion is a novel approach to spine surgery that fuses minimally invasive or endoscopic surgical techniques with contemporary anesthesia. 

An increasing number of ASCs are adding higher acuity cases such as total joint replacements and spinal procedures, but it takes significant time and resources to develop a successful program.

Competition continues to rise across the healthcare industry as an increasing number of procedures shift away from hospitals toward the outpatient setting, with price transparency expected to amplify this trend when CMS' final rule takes effect on Jan. 1.

For John Polikandriotis, PhD, CEO of Vail-Summit Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery, self-awareness is a cornerstone of any effective leadership strategy. Dr. Polikandriotis' leadership approach seems to be yielding benefits across his organization's practices in Frisco, Vail and Edwards, Colo. 

Improved communication systems, payer contracting and robotic investment are three areas ASCs are anticipated to focus on in the coming years.

Fourteen years after opening, Tampa-based Laser Spine Institute shuttered in March 2019 following a series of financial blows and lawsuits that led to its eventual demise.

Despite significant economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, ValueHealth Executive Chairman John Palumbo insists the digital surgical company has "never been more bullish about growth."