Outpatient Spine

A drain or injection in a major joint or bursa without an ultrasound is the musculoskeletal procedure with the highest volume in 2021, according to claims data in a June report from Definitive Healthcare. 

Orthopedic surgeons saw a 7.3 percent increase in work relative value units from 2019 to 2021, according to the Medical Group Management Association's 2022 "Datadive Provider Compensation Report."  

Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota (Fla.), an affiliate of United Surgical Partners International, has launched a robotic-assisted surgery program, the center said June 1. 

Christiana Spine Center, a nine-physician group in Newark, Del., was hit by a ransomware attack that could have exposed patients' protected health information.

Outpatient spine is on track to becoming the new normal, and ASCs are on the forefront of the transition. More than 190 ASCs in the U.S. now offer minimally invasive spine surgery, a significant increase in the last decade.

Cleveland Clinic is building a new neurological institute in Cleveland that will provide inpatient and outpatient care, surgical services and research laboratories. 

Gainesville, Ga.-based Southern Pain and Spine Associates opened a surgery center in Jasper, Ga., according to a May 13 LinkedIn post.

National Spine and Pain Centers, a network of minimally invasive spine and pain physicians has added 12 locations and an ASC to its network.

The Surgery Center of Merrimack Valley performed its first outpatient total knee replacement, Shields Health Care Group said May 5. 

There are more than 3,500 orthopedic ASCs in the U.S., according to 2021 CMS figures, but many of them do not offer spine surgery.