Saturday, May 19, 2012

Weekend Update

Spine Nation:

High altitudes can have a deleterious effect on the human body, witnessed by some of the comments that have been posted regarding the viability of this blog.  One of our readers has been utilizing their crystal ball to aid in their clairvoyance. Unfortunately, when one scales beyond 7,000 feet above sea level the saturation of oxyhemoglobin begins to plummet, and a climber begins approaching the death zone.  Hypobaropathy effects each individual differently. Your vital functions begin to go, you start making poor decisions, and you begin to weaken. Even the sherpa's know their limitations. As our infamous commentator has stated, why don't we discuss innovation? The FDA, The government? Duh?  For as much time that this individual spends following this blog, one must question whether the processor is functioning or is it time for a check up from the neck up? How many times has the TSB blog site asked, what is new? Let me count the ways. He loves TSB, he loves me not! Let's see if the Sir Edmund Hillary of The Spine Blogger blogspot is up for the challenge by identifying what company or companies that this individual works for. What business model is this individual currently building?  Is he selling on features and benefits? Is he a consultant broker? Is he the point guard of a POD or PDP? What better way to invalidate our opinions that there is not anything new in spine. Don't believe TSB? Just look at the winners in the last two Spine Technology Awards and where they are today, they are breaking all types of records. Just kidding. As the call for entrants is made public for this year's spine lalapalooza, well, YAWWWWWWN. Will it be another expandable or cannulated pedicle screw? Will it be a screw an anchor that differentiates one product from another? Will it be another inter body device? God knows we need another interbody device. Another biologic? Perhaps we can increase the number from 50 companies to 51, or maybe 54?  Or, maybe we could find another stem cell company? Even the shill for the industry has been known to pull a rabbit out of his ass every once in awhile. So, what is going to make our person of interest happy? The Machine would like to appease this individual's dissatisfaction with our blog and the many comments that bring some levity to all of our lives, once and for all, or as Meatloaf (that's a singer not a dietary delicacy) parodied, "what's it going to be boy?" Are you up to the challenge?  

Instead of applauding some of the products that people are attempting to bring to the spine market resulting in the continuing saturation and demise of the industry, you the reader have this opportunity to vote on which products suck? Is it the implant? Is it the instruments? Is it the magic dust? Who knows, it could even be the company? What companies are driving down the cost of implants? Who are some of the better known POD's? As the margins continue to diminish and the expectations increase for growth what do those incredibly talented innovators have in store for the spine market? Our hopes are that our readers can shed light on Sir Edmund's plight.

You know what Jimmy Buffet would sing;

It's these changes in latitudes, changes in altitudes
nothing remains quite the same, with all of our
running and all of our cunning, if we couldn't laugh
we would all go insane.

On a side note, TSB received some information from an unnamed source that The House was voting on SB406 which had HB1725 attached to it. HB 1725 it the bill that prohibits healthcare practitioners from self-referrals for medical devices.  If this bill passes it will likely move to a Committee where they would negotiate the passing of the NO POD Bill as a joint group. Obviously, there is big money involved and every effort will be made to fight this, so if you are for the bill, pick up the phone or get on your computer and let your voices be heard.

29 comments:

  1. Any word on Globus going public?

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    1. Yes they are, right after Lanx goes public

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  2. At least Globus brings something of value, unlike Facebook, the rich getting richer

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  3. Which product in this industry sucks the most?

    One vote for this blog.

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. Hey: 7:50 do you have the mentality of the l'il boy sitting on the fence post in Deliverance, TSB is not a product, another genius in the fold

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  4. I'm the best skier on the mountain.

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  5. so, lemme guess, you can see his IP address and its in CO or something?

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  6. Alphatec has helped increase the sleaze factor in the industry.

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  7. An IP address can not only trace to your state and city but directly to you if the person tracking it knows what they are doing....:)

    I personally enjoy the posts about POD's and challenges in the industry unrelated to products. If we ever get back to a world where products come first then I will be interested in technology posts, unfortunately what matters now is how can I keep this job I have and enjoy on most days.

    March on TSB

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  8. And regarding house bill 1725, it is the New Hampshire bill. I think it will help set a president though so anyone interested in putting regulations on POD's should indeed email and call the bill sponsors which can be found here..... http://legiscan.com/gaits/view/399747?utm_campaign=rss&guid=1edtUz1NthoW0NBSWAMrRY

    And for a list of the emails find them on the list here... http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/housemembersemail.aspx

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    1. Gots to set them presidents! Very important!

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    2. Sorry, was on a mobile device.... ya got me!

      Hence the funky spacing in the last few sentences!!!!

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    3. ACCORDING TO THOSE CAMPS SPINNING THEIR STORIES, THIS COMES OUT OF NH BACK HALLS:

      We are pleased to report that the New Hampshire Senate soundly rejected HB 1725, the physician implant self-referral ban that passed the NH House in late March. With the support of the NH Medical Society, and the assistance of a former NH U.S. Congressman affiliated with our DC consultants, we educated senators as to the anti-competitive motives of the sponsor of the bill (a still-active device rep) and the benefits of our model for hospitals, payors, and patients. Some legacy manufacturers and their reps had already begun to make reference to the legislation as evidence of regulatory hostility to our model to discourage consideration of partnering with PDP. With the defeat of the bill in the Senate, we can respond that it is evidence instead that an educated legislature will recognize the benefits of our model and will reject efforts to protect the legacy manufacturers from competition.

      HB 1725 would have prohibited physicians from referring any patient for a surgical procedure involving an implantable item or device if the physician has an ownership interest in any entity involved in the manufacture or distribution of the device. The bill applied to all implantables regulated by the FDA, from total joints to cardiac devices to intraocular lenses. Moreover, it would have applied to a wide range of financial relationships, and would have precluded any implant supply chain model with physician participation.

      The bill initiated with an active DuPuy sales rep whose territory included several New England States, and was then fast-tracked it to the floor of the House. Health care attorneys immediately suspected that there was an agenda behind the bill, because no one was aware of any effort to create physician-owned implant entities in New Hampshire. The transparent purpose of finding a friendly sponsor in a state with no physician entities on the horizon was to enable the legacy manufacturers to use passage of such a bill as momentum in other states as well as more ammunition to intimidate physicians, hospitals and others from pursuing alternative supply models in other states.

      The bill was at cross purposes to everything that is going on in Washington, where the OIG, the Senate Finance Committee, the GAO, and CMS are working to encourage physician models that contribute to the reduction of costs, whether through supply chain savings or through bundled payment and other innovative reimbursement models, while identifying any models that present regulatory concerns.

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    4. Yet the data is showing POD's raise costs. In many cases they are higher in actual costs, and utilization goes up. My hospital was able to show that my collegues who have unscrupulously started a POD under the guise of "saving money" actually increased costs substantially. They began caging every level where before it was around 47% now it is nearly 100%. They now remove all the old hardware on revisions and reinstrument the fused level and the new level. Shameful and horrifying.

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  9. Number 1: IDET
    Number 2: X-stop and derivatives
    Number 3: Dynesys
    Number 4: Osteocel / Trinity
    Number 5: Nucleotome
    Number 6: Reizayan fixator
    Number 7: Dunn anterior plate
    Number 8: Charite disc and derivatives

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  10. TSB- Sorry to bring to your attention but your last several blog comments are losing ground faster than Gov. Perry running for President months ago. Maybe it's time to start finding another career like possibly as an Executive Prep Chef in Manhattan. Peace My Brother!

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  11. Climber falls 1,000 feet, oops there goes 7:21

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  12. Anyone know anything about these guys? Lowball implant company. Orthoimplantcompany.com

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    1. Yes, they sell plates and screws for ortho trauma and now they are going to sell pedicle screws direct to the hospital. These guys will put the POD's out of business because they will cut to the bone.

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    2. It's surgeon shareholder company. Just a POD of a different color. They don't make the products just move cheap product from a low bidder

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  13. Goodbye POD in the NW as Providence says NO PODS are to be purchased from

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  14. Will dentists still be able to sell implants??

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  15. Can someone please comment on average costs for implants only on a typical scoliosis case? Low, average, and high end would be helpful. Trying to benchmark off variety of trauma cases. Thank you.

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  16. Facebook's IPO turning into a S-storm,, WOW, can't wait to see what happens with Globust's IPO,,

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  17. how much was innotek sold for ?

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  18. when is Globus going public?

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