Aligning physician and hospital incentives: the approach at hospital for special surgery.

Healthcare administrators and physicians alike are navigating an increasingly complex and highly regulated healthcare environment. Unlike in the past, institutions now require strong collaboration among physician and administrative leaders. As providers and managers are trained and work differently, new methods are needed to provide the infrastructure and resources necessary to create, nurture, and sustain alignment between them. We describe four initiatives by administrators and physicians at Hospital for Special Surgery to work together in mutually beneficial relationships that help us achieve the highest level of patient care, satisfaction and safety. These initiatives include improving management efficiency through an orthopaedic service line structure, helping individual physicians grow their practices through the demand-office-operating room initiative of the Physicians Service Department, controlling costs through the supply effectiveness policy, and promoting teamwork in innovation through the technology transfer program.

Preliminary findings from a prospective, randomized trial of two tongue-base surgeries for sleep-disordered breathing.

OBJECTIVES: This study compares the efficacy of 2 tongue-base surgical procedures in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe sleep-disordered breathing. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a prospective, randomized crossover surgical trial at a university hospital. METHODS: Seventeen patients with moderate to severe sleep-disordered breathing and Fujita type II upper airway collapse for whom conservative treatment failed were enrolled into an institutional review board-approved surgical protocol. They were randomly assigned to undergo palatopharyngoplasty combined with either tongue advancement (mandibular osteotomy) or tongue suspension. Parameters assessed included severity of sleep-disordered breathing (polysomnography), sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), and anatomic changes (upper airway endoscopy), as well as demographic factors. Patients not achieving satisfactory improvement in their condition were offered nonsurgical management or additional surgical treatment that varied based on the postoperative assessment but included crossing over to the other tongue surgical procedure. RESULTS: Nine of the 17 patients were randomized to the tongue suspension group, and 8 to the tongue advancement group. In the 9 tongue suspension patients, Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores fell from 12.1 to 4.1 (P = 0.007). Airway collapse for all 9 patients measured on Müller maneuver improved, by a mean of 64% (P = 0.0006) at the palate and 83% (P = 0.0003) at the base of the tongue. In the 8 tongue advancement patients, Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores fell from a mean of 13.3 to 5.4 (P = 0.004). Airway collapse for 5 of 8 patients measured on Müller maneuver improved by a mean of 31% (P = 0.1) at the palate and 75% (P = 0.03) at the base of the tongue. CONCLUSION: Prospective, randomized trials of tongue-base surgery for sleep-disordered breathing are possible. Preliminary findings from the current protocol reveal a slight advantage of tongue suspension over tongue advancement.

Preliminary findings from a prospective, randomized trial of two palatal operations for sleep-disordered breathing.

OBJECTIVES: We compared the efficacy of 2 palatal surgical procedures in the treatment of patients with mild sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a prospective, randomized, crossover surgical trial at a university hospital. METHODS: Twenty patients with mild SDB for whom conservative treatment failed were identified and consecutively enrolled into an institutional review board-approved surgical protocol. They were randomly assigned to undergo either radiofrequency ablation of the palate (RFAP) for a planned 3-stage treatment or laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP), also for 3 stages of treatment, using a CO(2) laser. Parameters assessed included severity of SDB (polysomnography), subjective and objective loudness of snoring (visual analog scale and SNAP recording), sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), and anatomic changes (upper airway endoscopy), as well as demographic factors. Patients not achieving satisfactory improvement in their condition were crossed over to the alternative surgical therapy for attempted salvage. RESULTS: Seventeen of the enrolled patients have completed the protocol. Ten of these were randomized to the RFAP group, and 7 to the LAUP group. Six of the RFAP patients (60%) achieved a satisfactory resolution of their snoring, and 4 failed and were salvaged with LAUP. Six of the LAUP patients (86%) achieved a satisfactory resolution of their snoring, and 1 patient failed and was salvaged with nasal surgery. One patient who was initially cured had a relapse after 9 months and was successfully salvaged with RFA. CONCLUSION: Prospective, randomized trials of surgery for SDB are possible. Preliminary findings from the current protocol reveal a slight advantage of LAUP over RFAP but with a greater degree of discomfort postoperatively.

Association between degenerative spondylolisthesis and spinous process fracture after interspinous process spacer surgery.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Spinous process fracture is a recognized complication associated with interspinous process spacer (IPS) surgery. Although occasionally identified by plain radiographs, computed tomography (CT) appears to identify a higher rate of such fractures. Although osteoporotic insufficiency fracture is considered a contraindication for IPS surgery, a formal risk factor analysis for this complication has not previously been reported. PURPOSE: To identify risk factor(s) associated with early spinous process fracture after IPS surgery. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: Prospective cohort study of 39 consecutive patients with lumbar stenosis and neurogenic claudication undergoing IPS surgery at a single institution. METHODS: Patients underwent preoperative dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans, lumbar spine CT, and plain radiographs. Postoperatively, patients underwent repeat CT imaging within 6 months of surgery and serial radiographs at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. Preoperative CT scans were analyzed by calculating average Hounsfield units for a 1 cm(2) area of the midsagittal reconstructed image for four separate locations: midvertebral body, subcortical bone subjacent to the superior margin of the midspinous process, subcortical bone above the inferior margin of the midspinous process, and the midspinous process. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients underwent IPS surgery at a total of 50 levels (38 L4-L5, 12 L3-L4; 26 one-level, 12 two-level). One patient underwent laminectomy at index surgery and was excluded from the analysis. Implants included 34 titanium X-STOP (Medtronic, Memphis, TN, USA), 8 polyaryletheretherketone X-STOP (Medtronic, Memphis, TN, USA), and 8 Aspen (Lanx, Broomfield, CO, USA) devices. Eleven spinous process fractures were identified by CT in 11 patients (22.0% of levels). No fractures were apparent on plain radiographs. The rate of spondylolisthesis observed on preoperative radiographs was 100% (11 of 11) among patients with fractures compared with 33.3% (9 of 27) of patients without fracture (p=.0001). Overall, 21 of 39 patients in this series had spondylolisthesis, and the rate of fracture in this group was 52%. Among patients without spondylolisthesis, the fracture rate was 0%. A trend was observed toward decreased DXA lumbar spine and hip T-scores among fracture patients versus nonfracture patients (0.2 ± 1.7 vs. 0.8 ± 1.7; p=.389; -1.1 ± 1.4 vs. -0.3 ± 1.4; p=.201), but these differences were not significant. Similarly, bone density based on CT measurements at four different locations revealed a trend toward decreased density among fracture patients, but these differences were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Degenerative spondylolisthesis appears strongly associated with the occurrence of spinous process fracture after IPS surgery. There is a trend toward increased fracture risk in patients with decreased bone mineral density as measured by both DXA scan and CT-based volume averaging of Hounsfield units, but osteoporosis appears to be a relatively weaker risk factor. The association between spondylolisthesis and fracture observed in this study may account for the relatively poorer outcome of IPS surgery in patients with spondylolisthesis that has been reported in previous series.