Other Articles

How to Get the Surgeon’s Attention
Understanding relationship dynamics and having the chutzpah to put your best creative foot forward can garner you real success as a sales rep. Find out how to bring inventiveness to the sales process so as to attract and retain the surgeon’s attention.

Death Spiral
Since January, ReGen Biologic's stock has fallen from $0.95 per share to $0.04 per share. The number of shares outstanding is up 45% in 9 months. In one case, the company paid a $24,000 vendor bill with 68,572 shares of stock. Still, a couple of particularly savvy orthopedics investors have bought roughly 7% of the stock. Can ReGen survive?

Diving in to the Future
Since 1996 total knee procedures have risen 77% to 455,000 annually. A study presented at AAOS estimates that by 2030 that number grows to 3.48 million knee replacements a year! If infection rates continue to rise at current rates, however, that future will not be nearly as rosy for either patients or industry. Read on.

Selling Yourself: Career Advancement for Sales Reps
Are you considering becoming a distributor or do you plan to advance within a company? Either way, you need to be ready. You will want to know how to make product line choices, hire a sales force, and lead others, among other things.

Mission Unaccomplished: Are the Wheels Coming Off at the FDA?
The FDA is no longer able to fulfill its mission and its wheels are coming off. So says the FDA’s own Science Board in a scathing report. We looked under the hood of the report and here’s what we found.

“Back” to the Future Part II: Technology and the Vertebral Compression Fracture Market
In Part I, our inquiring analyst, Matt Menze, highlighted opportunities for spinal implant manufacturers in the vertebral compression fracture (VCF) market. Now he tackles the thorny issue of new and emerging VCF technologies. What’s on the horizon? Read on.

Second Careers for Orthopedic Surgeons
How should you plan for a change in focus later during your career? You may want to continue utilizing your research, managerial, or presentation skills. Find out what Drs. Ray Linovitz and Stephen Hochschuler have to say about how to stay involved in the field at any stage of one’s career.

Finally, Consolidation in the Allograft Industry
So, where’s Adam Smith’s enlightened self interest when you need it? For about the length of the average U.S. Presidency it’s been clear to anyone who could read an income statement that one important market sector was in need of consolidation. That sector is allograft. With RTI and Tutogen merging, it may finally be happening. Read on.

The Smell of Favoritism, Political Interference, and Back-Room Dealing Alleged in Ortho Deferred Prosecution Deal in Jersey
Amid charges of political favoritism, New Jersey Congressmen call for investigation of ortho deferred prosecution agreements. It’s Jersey and the fur’s flying, read about it here.

The Match Process: Let the Courtship Begin
In the first of three articles, two medical students describe their experiences of the residency match process. Learn their thoughts on interviewing, letters of recommendation, and of course, the pressure to match.

A New “Wave” of Extremity Treatment?
Addressing a market of more than a quarter of a million patients annually with a $5-8,000 treatment sounds like the next multi-billion market. FDA approved, but controversial. What is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy and why should we care? Read on.

Avoiding the Perp Walk, or How to Keep the Justice Department From Knocking on Your Door
We’ve all seen the “Perp Walk” on TV. The defendant cuffed and trying to hide his or her face from the cameras. Will Justice Department and congressional investigations of industry and physician relationships result in a doc taking that walk? Read what a federal prosecutor says about avoiding that indignity.

Physicians and other healthcare providers are being subjected to more and more performance measures as payers try to get the healthcare system to be more "efficient." These measures will reward some and punish others.

During the recent NASS meeting, a presentation on new physician performance measure programs by private insurers noted the threat by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to sue Cigna Corporation for its plan to rank physicians.

It looks like Cigna blinked.

In response to Cuomo’s investigation of health insurers alleging that the insurers were directing patients to cheaper doctors, Cuomo's office announced on October 30 that Cigna has agreed to improve its rankings of physicians and will report to the attorney general every six months, as well as use an outside monitor. Looks like device makers aren't the only ones getting outside supervision these days.

Cuomo's office said that programs to rank physicians on quality of care and fees have become more popular as healthcare costs have risen. Cigna offers its rankings of doctors service to policyholders in 28 states. The agreement is the first of its kind between a major insurer and a state attorney general, according to the announcement.

“Accurately measuring physician performance is an evolving and complex practice,” Cuomo said. “Today’s agreement creates greater transparency and accountability, and an oversight mechanism to ensure these principles are enforced.”

Cuomo has said that insurers have a profit motive to recommend doctors who charge less, not necessarily those who are most qualified, and patients who choose not to go to preferred doctors may have to pay more.

“Patients should always be able to trust that the information they receive on physicians is valid and reliable, but the integrity of this information can be undermined by a health insurer’s corporate profit motive,” Nancy H. Nielsen, President-Elect of the American Medical Association, said in a statement.

A statement from Cuomo's office stated that Cigna agreed to standards that include disclosing how doctors are ranked and providing a process for consumers to register complaints about the system. The new program also includes a way for doctors to appeal incorrect ratings.

Cigna's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jeffrey L. Kang, said that Cigna also agreed to contribute as much as $100,000 to an independent organization to develop ways to make it easier for consumers to understand the ranking system.