Frank Phillips, MD, co-founder of the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Rush in Chicago, lists four big opportunities in spine.
Question: Where do you see spine headed over the next few years?
Dr. Frank Phillips: Clearly less invasive spine surgery is the future. We are seeing the "deconstruction" of traditional hospital structures with a migration of spine surgery to the ASC environment. Opportunities Include:
1. Improving spinal diagnostics to facilitate more accurate patient and procedure selection as we evolve towards precision medicine.
2. Moving away from a narrow "spine widget focus" to procedural innovation optimizing safety and reproducibility.
3. Developing perioperative pain management strategies to facilitate ASC surgery.
4. Manufacturer supply chain innovation to provide implants that are cost feasible in a narrow margin ASC environment.
More articles on spine surgery:
6 key points on spine surgery reoperation for degenerative spondylolisthesis
2 spine surgeons on the mentors who inspired them
5 key findings on cost, length of stay for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing cervical spinal fusion