Dr. Richard Kube of Prairie Spine shares his thoughts on outpatient spine care and how beneficial this practice has become. He expands on how much money outpatient spine can save, as well as its increase in jobs and wages for the employer. Keep reading to learn more about this trend.
Question: What is one trend that excites you as a spine surgeon?
Richard Kube, MD. Prairie Spine (Peoria, Ill.): Though outpatient spine is not new to anyone reading this subscription, I continue to be excited by the increasing numbers of patients, payers, and employers who have come to realize spine can be done in an outpatient setting and can be done at incredible value for the consumer. Having done outpatient spine for over a decade without any location-related complications, it is very hard to argue issues of safety. This is only amplified when considering the generally higher infection rates at large institutions as well as patient satisfaction.
Now that we are able to show outcomes spanning that time frame, we are also compiling cost data. Over the last one to two years, we have found that we save the average self-funded, self-insured employer about $80,000 per spine surgery. We have saved on average $80,000 per spine surgery we have done in our all-inclusive bundles for self-funded self-insured employers. That is money that goes straight to their bottom line, which translates into more jobs, increased wages, increased investment into the company, and greater earnings for the employer. Those resources are then invested into the local communities and economies by all of the aforementioned stakeholders. It provides another pathway for employers to maintain high-quality health benefits for their employees and themselves.
Original article published on beckersspine.com
