Other Articles

In the Beginning, There Was the End: Manuscripts 101
Dr. Paul Manske, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Hand Surgery, shares his thoughts and experience on the details of shepherding a manuscript through publication.

Did ConMed Get Re-Wired?
Ever hear about the neurosurgeon who used an $80 Bosch power drill to do brain surgery? It really happened. Surgeons like their power tools. Increasingly they also like a particular line of sterilizeable power tools from ConMed’s Linvatec unit. Did ConMed get re-wired? We have the details here.

Rising CMS Orthopedic Payments for 2009
If you treat orthopedic problems in the elderly who have complications and comorbidities, you’re going to like CMS’s proposed payment system for 2009. Read about how to maximize your reimbursements.

Replace or Fuse? Can’t Decide?
An upcoming paper titled “Controversy of Total Ankle Arthroplasty” says the answer should increasingly be “replace.” Certainly as an outpatient procedure and with new technologies like Wright Medical’s new INBONE system, replacement/arthroplasty is on the rise. Using PearlDiver data we map out this very important market.

Implant Retrieval Labs 101
The secret life of…implants? Dr. Joshua Jacobs, Professor and Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, discusses the details of implant retrieval labs. Preclinical testing to predict implant performance, studying components when implants are removed, and the value of observing the pathogenesis of the failure at different time points in the process, are examined here.

Where Intuition Meets Intellect: Recruiting Surgeons
Whether locating new talent via colleagues or advertisements, says Dr. Thomas Einhorn, Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, one must employ one’s instinct and intellect. Dr. Einhorn talks here of how to interview surgeons, how hiring is related to the payer mix, and red flags.

Biomet Reports Strong Knee and Hip Sales for Third Quarter
Despite going private, Biomet keeps the curtain open to the public. Read about a great third quarter and what the company's CEO had to say about going public again to the locals in Warsaw.

The Rising Spinal Implant Market
“A rising tide lifts all boats.” With more than 30 million physician visits each year for back-related symptoms leading to a million plus spine-related surgical procedures, spine care is a $7.1 billion business. The 800-pound gorilla in this market? It’s still instrumentation and interbody fusion devices. What’s driving spinal implant growth? We use PearlDiver’s massive databases to find the answer.

Stryker’s Double-Digit Revenue Machine
Stryker continues its roll of double-digit revenue growth for the 29th straight quarter. Company skipper Stephen MacMillan gives analysts and investors another lesson about thriving in a challenging economic time. Read about his take on the state of orthopedics.

Match Day…the Next Five Years
On March 20, 2008, auditoriums around the country vibrated with excitement as medical students awaited their fate. Read the final article in our series on Match Day as experienced by two future orthopedists.

AAOS Awards Orthopedics This Week and Hofheinz the MORE Award – Again
For the second year in a row, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has awarded its prestigious Media Orthopaedic Reporting Excellence (MORE) Award for journalistic excellence to Orthopedics This Week and senior writer Elizabeth Hofheinz.

Price Increases for Large Joint Implants
According to the patient records in PearlDiver’s database, the average charge for a total knee replacement increased more than 19% from 2004 through June 30, 2007. Hip replacement charges rose 15.7%. That’s an increase of just over $7,500 for a total knee replacement and $6,700 for a total hip in three and a half years. Is this a durable trend? Read on.

The Future of Innovation in Orthopedics Part I: MAKO Surgical
With the Office of Inspector General driving a wedge between surgeon and manufacturer, is the golden age of orthopedic innovation behind us? Could Charnley or Harrington pass muster these days with the OIG, IRB or CMS? This is the first of three articles exploring the future of innovation in orthopedics and we profile one company, MAKO Surgical, that epitomizes, we think, the right way to do it.

DePuy: Taking It to the Streets in ‘08
DePuy’s Group Chair Mike Mahoney met with analysts at the recent AAOS meeting to talk about growth strategies for the franchise. He brought along his chief orthopedic guy, David Floyd. See how the happy warrior and his team plan to take the battle for knees to the streets in 2008.

The Evolving Reimbursement Landscape for Spine Procedures
CMS, AMA, 510(k)…Oi. Cindy Vandenbosch, President of Strategic Reimbursement Consulting talks here about procedure codes, coverage, and the high bar for evidence-based medicine.

Geriatric Orthopedic Surgery – It’s the future, baby!
The number of patients over 65 years of age is increasing 10 times faster than those under 65. Is your practice ready? The average geriatric patient has 1.8x the complications of the non-geriatric patient. Medicare is now paying a small bounty to those surgeons willing to track comorbidities. Read how one orthopedist has made geriatric orthopedics her primary focus.

Chan's Sentence, Industry's Lessons
Dr. Patrick Chan didn't have to go to jail or pay huge fines, but his role as witness for federal prosecutors and the continuing civil lawsuits may affect orthopedic companies for years. Will it change industry and surgeon relationships? Who is still on the hot seat? Read our take here."

How to Start a World-Class Orthopedic Department
Building an orthopedic department means ensuring that you have and can keep the best physicians, can maintain a financially viable entity, and that you know how to collaborate with others. Dr. Richard Gelberman, Chair of Orthopaedics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, shares his thoughts on this process.

An Exquisite Sense of Exploration
“If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." – Sir Isaac Newton. Sir John Charnley had 300 hip surgery failures—consecutively. The polio epidemic struck down a generation of this country’s children and one future president. It became the heart and soul of modern orthopedics. We pay homage this week to that exquisite sense of exploration and the giants upon whose shoulders we all stand. You must read this.

Biopharmaceutical company Unigene Laboratories, Inc. is announcing the publication of results of animal studies confirming the ability of its novel technology to rapidly form and maintain natural bone growth at targeted locations. The paper, entitled "Replacement of Bone Marrow by Bone in Rat Femurs: The Bone Bioreactor," reports on the early stage collaborative work performed by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine and Unigene, and appears in the most recent edition of the journal Tissue Engineering (February 2008).

Researchers evaluated the effect of bone marrow removal from targeted sites followed by different schedules of daily injections of anabolic agents such as parathyroid hormone. As reported by the company, the procedure created new bone tissue that appears structurally and biologically normal and demonstrated improved biomechanical properties. The combination of bone marrow removal and anabolic therapy resulted in new bone formation at a rate and to an extent that could not be achieved with anabolic agents alone. Additional studies that extend the results of this work in different animal models are ongoing. It is hoped that these studies will show further evidence that the newly formed bone can be preserved over a long period of time.

In the news release, Dr. Agnes Vignery, principal investigator at Yale University and senior author of the paper, noted, "This technology could radically change the way patients are currently treated for weakened or fractured hips, vertebrae and acute traumatic long bone fractures. Physicians currently treat such conditions using invasive techniques that require operating room time, utilize artificial materials, and result in imperfect outcomes. The ideal approach would be to create new bone where it is needed and at a faster rate."

Added Dr. Warren Levy, President and CEO of Unigene, "The goal of this program is to develop a simple, minimally invasive outpatient procedure in conjunction with the administration of one or more drugs that can lead to the growth of new, structurally normal bone in precisely targeted locations. If we are successful in the human studies that are planned, patients will have an inexpensive alternative to spinal fusion, vertebroplasty, total joint replacement or the insertion of metal or plastic supports that will strengthen specific bones naturally. These are major commercial opportunities and we have been told by leading experts in the medical community that there is a great need for new approaches to treat these conditions."