Spine Surgery Survey

 

March 2010

 

A Survey of 100 Spine Surgeons

Deliverables: Survey Data Only

Price: $2500

Please contact Howard.Brick@medpanel.com to purchase

 

 

 

Screening Questions

S1.      What is your primary medical specialty?

ˇ  Orthopedic Surgery

ˇ  Neurosurgery

ˇ  Other, non-spine surgery, specify __________ [Terminate]

 

S2.      Are you board certified in your specialty?

ˇ  Yes

ˇ  No [Terminate]

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S3.      Approximately how many years have you been in practice post-training?

            _____ years (TERMINATE <2 OR >30)

 

S4.      How many lumbar spinal fusion procedures do you perform in a typical year?

¨                  _____ lumbar spinal fusions per year

¨       

S5.      How many cervical spinal fusion procedures do you perform in a typical year?

¨                  _______ cervical spinal fusions per year

terminate if s4_1 = 0 or s5_1 = 0, terminate if s4_1 + s5_1 < 50

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S6.      Which of the following best describes the most common place you perform your spinal fusion cases?

ˇ  Academic Hospital

ˇ  Community Hospital

ˇ  Hospital-Owned ASC

ˇ  Physician-Owned ASC

ˇ  ASC Owned Jointly by Hospital and Physicians

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 (Standard Qualify Text)

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section one

1.         What payer mix are you seeing in your practice for spinal fusions?

¨      Medicare:____

¨      Medicaid:_____

¨      Workers Comp:_______

¨      Private Insurers: ________

¨      Self-Insured:  ________

¨      Other: ________

Force sum = 100%

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2.       What is your average surgical backlog/wait time for spinal procedures (in weeks)?

            _____ weeks: Currently

            _____ weeks: Three Months Ago

[Allow Decimals]

skip to q3 if q2_1 = q2_2

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2a.     Why has your surgical backlog/wait time for spinal procedures changed over the past three months? OPEN-ENDED TEXT BOX

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3.      In 4Q09 (Oct 09 – Dec 09), have you noticed growth in your lumbar spinal fusion procedure volume versus last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)?

ˇ  My lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume was UNCHANGED this quarter (Oct 09 – Dec 09) versus last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)

ˇ  My lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume this quarter (Oct 09 – Dec 09) was GREATER THAN last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)

ˇ  My lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume this quarter (Oct 09 – Dec 09) was LESS THAN last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)

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4.       In full year 2010, what do you expect will be the growth in your lumbar spinal fusion procedure volume versus the same time last year?

ˇ  I expect 0-3% growth in lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect 4-6% growth in lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect 7-9% growth in lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect 10-12% growth in lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect greater than 12% growth in lumbar spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

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5.      In 4Q09 (Oct 09 – Dec 09), have you noticed growth in your cervical spinal fusion procedural volume versus last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)?

ˇ  My cervical spinal fusion procedural volume was UNCHANGED this quarter (Oct 09 – Dec 09) versus last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)

ˇ  My cervical spinal fusion procedural volume this quarter (Oct 09 – Dec 09) was GREATER THAN last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)

ˇ  My cervical spinal fusion procedural volume this quarter (Oct 09 – Dec 09) was LESS THAN last quarter (Jul 09– Sept 09)

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<Page Break>    6.         In full year 2010, what do you expect will be the growth in your cervical spinal fusion procedure volume versus the same time last year?

ˇ  I expect 0-3% growth in cervical spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect 4-6% growth in cervical spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect 7-9% growth in cervical spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect 10-12% growth in cervical spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

ˇ  I expect greater than 12% growth in cervical spinal fusion procedural volume for full year 2010 versus full year 2009

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<Page Break>    7.         If you are familiar with spinal implant pricing, have you noticed any change in the general pricing environment during past six months?

ˇ  I am not familiar with the pricing of implants from spinal manufacturers

ˇ  I have not seen any change in spinal implant pricing over the past six months

ˇ  I have seen a low single digit decline in spinal implant pricing over the past six months

ˇ  I have seen a mid single digits or higher decline in spinal implant pricing over the past six months

ˇ  I have seen an increase in spinal implant pricing over the past six months

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8.       How many XLIF/DLIF and other lateral access procedures do you perform in a typical year?

¨      _________ Number of XLIF procedures per year (NuVasive)

¨      _________ Number of DLIF procedures per year (Medtronic)

_________ Number of other lateral access procedures per year

skip to q13 if q8_1 = 0 and q8_2 = 0

skip to q16 if q8_1 = 0 and q8_2 > 0

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9.       In November 2009, concerns began to surface regarding the impact of several coverage policy decisions on XLIF from various managed care organizations. Specifically, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Aetna, and Humana have declared XLIF as experimental/investigational and do not want to reimburse for this procedure. Have you or your partners experienced any denial of coverage decisions on XLIF from insurers following these policy changes?

ˇ  My partners and I have NOT noticed any denials in the past three to six months relating to stricter enforcement from commercial insurers (skip to 14)

ˇ  My partners and I have noticed an increasing difficulty in getting XLIF procedures reimbursed over the past three to six months

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10.     Approximately how many XLIF procedures in your practice have been denied reimbursement in the past six months due to insurers claiming XLIF as investigational/experimental?

¨      ________ # of XLIF procedures (Force < Q8_1)

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11.     Please specify the insurers for which you have noticed an increase in reimbursement pressures or denials for the XLIF procedure.

          Please select all that apply.

¨  Aetna

¨  Blues plan

¨  Cigna

¨  Humana

¨  United Healthcare

¨  Other, please specify __________

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12.     Has your expected volume of XLIF procedures for all of 2010 declined based on reimbursement concerns surfacing?

ˇ  No. I still expect the same number of XLIF procedures annually as I did prior to reimbursement concerns surfacing

ˇ  I expect  ______ % fewer XLIF procedures annually due to reimbursement concerns or concerns around potential hospital audits of XLIF procedures

skip to q14

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13.     If you do not currently perform the XLIF/DLIF (lateral access) procedure and prefer other approaches (non-lateral ALIF, PLIF, TLIF, AxiaLif, etc), what is the reason?

Please select all that apply.

¨  I have not been trained on XLIF/DLIF procedures

¨  Lack of clinical trial data

¨  Concerned with the side-effects/complications of the procedure

¨  Lack of NuVasive rep presence in my region

¨  Other, please specify _____________

skip to q16

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14.     Currently, what percentage of all of your lumbar procedures and thoracic procedures are XLIF procedures?

¨      ______ % of lumbar procedures

¨      ______ % of thoracic procedures

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15.     What percentage of all of your lumbar procedures and thoracic procedures do you expect will be XLIF procedures in the next two years?

¨      Please note your current response have been included for reference

autofill 0s in current column for those who skipped q14

 

Currently

One Year from Now

Two Years from Now

Penetration of XLIF in lumbar procedures

<pipe 14_1>

_____ %

_____ %

Penetration of XLIF in thoracic procedures

<pipe 14_2>

_____ %

_____ %

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16.     Using a scale from 1-7, please rate the quality of each spinal manufacturer’s cervical product line? (1 = Very low quality cervical product line, 4= Satisfactory cervical product line, 7= Very high quality cervical product line).

 

Manufacturer

1 – Very low quality

2

3

4 – Satisfactory

5

6

7 – Very high quality

Not familiar with manufacturer’s products

Large Manufacturers

Medtronic

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Zimmer/  Abbott Spine

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Stryker

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

J&J/Depuy

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

NuVasive

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Synthes

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Small Manufacturers

Orthofix/ Blackstone

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Globus

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Alphatec

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Integra LifeSciences

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

K2M

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

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17.     Using a scale from 1 to 7, please rate the quality of each spinal manufacturer’s lumbar product line? (1 = Very low quality lumbar product line, 4= Satisfactory lumbar product line, 7= Very high quality lumbar product line).

 

Manufacturer

1 – Very low quality

2

3

4 – Satisfactory

5

6

7 – Very high quality

Not familiar with manufacturer’s products

Large Manufacturers

Medtronic

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Zimmer/  Abbott Spine

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Stryker

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

J&J/Depuy

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

NuVasive

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Synthes

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Small Manufacturers

Orthofix/ Blackstone

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Globus

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Alphatec

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

Integra LifeSciences

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

K2M

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

ˇ

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18.     Please estimate the current percentage of your spinal procedures that utilize products from each of the following manufacturers. Please also estimate what you expect these percentages will be one year from now.

¨      Please note your answers must sum to 100%.

randomize rows, anchor other

Manufacturer

Percentage of All Spinal Procedures

 

Currently

One Year from Now

Medtronic

 

 

Zimmer/Abbott Spine

 

 

Stryker

 

 

J&J/Depuy

 

 

NuVasive

 

 

Synthes

 

 

Orthofix/ Blackstone

 

 

Globus

 

 

Alphatec

 

 

Integra LifeSciences

 

 

K2M

 

 

Other, please specify _________

 

 

Total

MUST SUM TO 100%

MUST SUM TO 100%

<Page Break>     

19.     Two recent studies in the New England Journal of Medicine have questioned the effectiveness of vertebroplasty in treating vertebral compression fractures versus regular pain injections.

 

a.            What trend in vertebroplasty volumes have you seen over the past quarter (Oct 09 – Dec 09)?

ˇ  I have not seen a change in vertebroplasty volumes during the past quarter

ˇ  I have seen a decline in vertebroplasty volumes during the past quarter

ˇ  I have seen an increase in vertebroplasty volumes during the past quarter

 

b. What trend in vertebroplasty volumes do you expect to see over the next 12 months?

ˇ  I do not expect to see a change in vertebroplasty volumes over the next 12 months

ˇ  I expect to see a decline in vertebroplasty volumes over the next 12 months

ˇ  I expect to see an increase in vertebroplasty volumes over the next 12 months

<Page Break>     

20.     What are the three most innovative spinal products or technologies that are either already out on the market or expected in the next two years?

open-end, please force at least one response

Product Name

Manufacturer

 

 

 

 

 

 

end survey

 

 


Print Abstract

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Survey
Orthopedic Surgery
Panel Intelligence, LLC, 150 Cambridgepark Drive, 7th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02140 617 532 5700