director and founder of Synergy Spine Center in Seneca, S.C.
The Orthopaedic Spine Center of the Rockies, in Fort Collins, Colo.,
has come up with several innovative ways to make its presence
known, including sponsoring high school and middle school sporting
events. "We visit the training rooms and work with coaches, trainers
and athletes, offering advice and injury-prevention tips," says Barb
Hardes, RN, MSMHCA, BSN, CNOR, administrator and chief operating
officer. It also conducts an annual "orthopedic symposium" — a series
of lectures by its physicians for other healthcare professionals in the
community and region.
The right surgeons
The outreach to other professionals is extremely important, say deci-
sion-makers, because centers need to find surgeons who have both
the needed skills and the demeanor to flourish in an intensely cost-
conscious environment.
Finding the right surgeons "is a very lengthy and selective process,"
says Ms. Hardes. "Cost containment requires physicians to be fully
engaged."
Physician leadership is a must, says Mark Hood, CEO of Spine Team
Texas, which operates several centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
"Physicians who are already part of the project can be essential in
recruiting other physicians who understand the need to balance hav-
ing the right equipment and meeting a budget."
Dr. McMillan suggests controlling costs by taking an incremental
approach to adding services and making sure established proce-
dures are well supported before introducing anything new. "For
example," he says, "first introduce and support lumbar decompres-
sion surgery for herniated discs and uncomplicated spinal stenosis
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