Outpatient Spine

When hospitals paused elective surgeries and cut spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, some ASCs chose to invest in technology to facilitate growth.

Spine and total joint surgeries are among the highest-acuity procedures rapidly moving to the outpatient setting, representing a significant financial opportunity for ASCs.

Medtronic received FDA approval for its spinal cord stimulator, Vanta.

Scott Stayner, MD, PhD, in January performed Minnesota's first spinal fusion using the Minuteman Fusion Plate.

A cervical disc replacement and two more spine surgeries debuted at ASCs in the last 30 days:

Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Center for Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics performed its first cervical disc replacement, according to a LinkedIn post. 

Allina Health moves spine procedures to ASCs, and four more key updates on outpatient spine surgery in the last 60 days:

Tampa, Fla.-based Laser Spine Institute founder James St. Louis, DO, claimed in a lawsuit his former lawyers caused him to lose more than $400 million in a judgment by not communicating with him and breaching its fiduciary responsibilities.

Minneapolis-based Allina Health is moving higher-acuity procedures such as spine and orthopedic cases from hospital outpatient departments to newly developed outpatient surgery centers, according to the Star Tribune.

Spine surgeon Mark McFarland, DO, was reportedly the first person to perform an outpatient lumbar fusion in the Peninsula region with Medacta's MySpine patient-specific navigation system.