As a part of Becker’s Spine‘s ‘Ask Spine Surgeons’ series, Dr. Richard Kube of Prairie Spine and Pain Institute was asked to weigh in on the spine industry trends he expects to see in 2017 and spine care under the Trump Administration. Check out his thoughts on the topic, below.
What are some of the biggest opportunities for spine surgeons under the new administration?
Richard Kube, MD. Founder and CEO of Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): Certainly, there is a bit of uncertainty with any administrative change. However, if the administration pushes the health savings account agenda, I believe there will be opportunity for those independent groups able to provide bundled services. With increasing deductibles, policy changes like those above will create market forces within medicine that bear some similarities to the rest of the world. The consumers (patients) will have more direct interaction with payment for services, and that will motivate them to shop for value. Ambulatory surgical facilities are typically streamlined, which facilitates their ability to compete on value.
Understanding one’s costs and having an ability to become efficient and create a package for patients reflecting those objectives will create a niche that will be increasingly desired by the general public, and the self-insured businesses who are seeing healthcare costs continue to rise. We have been working into that niche for the past couple of years and we are seeing an increased interest from a variety of parties entering that space.
What are the most exciting spine industry trends you expect to see in 2017?
Richard Kube, MD. Founder and CEO, Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): With the election and the nomination of former orthopedic surgeon, Congressman Tom Price, to secretary of HHS hopefully we will see the slowing if not an actual rollback on regulations. This is one of the most time consuming and least rewarding aspects of practicing medicine and management of the business. Only time will tell, but I am currently more optimistic than I have been in a while.
These (1,2) articles were originally posted on BeckersSpine.com.
