before you introduce more complicated —
and costly — lumbar spinal fusion proce-
dures."
You can also leverage vendors who are
looking to take advantage of the growing
spine market. Many are willing to provide
introductory trials for both equipment and
instruments, says Dr. McMillan. Ask for a 60-
day trial period before committing to a pur-
chase. And when manufacturers push higher-
profit single-use items? Push back.
"Physicians need to be willing to use high-
quality reusable instruments and surgical sup-
plies."
Additionally, he says, since downtime can
be devastating, look for vendors that offer
service agreements and loaner instruments,
and that have U.S.-based repair facilities.
Getting paid
Reimbursement is challenging when you're
working with payers who are unfamiliar with
outpatient spine, so you have to be proactive,
says Jenny Mishler, revenue manager at the
Orthopaedic Spine Center of the Rockies.
Payers may have different guidelines regard-
ing treatments and implants. If, for example,
conservative treatments are either required —
or contraindicated — you need to carefully
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Call us to inquire about
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513.561.2241
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