Viewing it through that prism, you've paid off a $1 million robot in
one year. He estimates that a spinal robot's cost-per-case, including
the amortization of the capital amount as well as disposable instru-
mentation, is about $2,000.
"The risk rate with the robot is less than 1%," says Dr. Lieberman,
director of the scoliosis spine tumor program at Texas Health Plano
and president of the Texas Back Institute, also in Plano.
Robots for spine can be "cost-effective" and result in decreasing
revision surgery and infection rates, reducing length of stay, protect-
ing patients and staff from excessive radiation exposure, and shorten-
ing operative time, according to a September 2018 Neurospine paper,
"A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Integration of Robotic Spine
Technology in Spine Surgery" (osmag.net/Zf9PcB). The authors creat-
ed a live model at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
in Shreveport in which robotic-assisted spine surgery on 557 cases led
to a savings of $608,546 in 1 year.
Co-author and neurosurgeon Richard Menger, MD, MPA, an assis-
tant attending and spine fellow at Columbia University Medical Center
in New York City, says your center can lower your purchase price of a
robot through savvy negotiation and by leveraging increased competi-
tion in the robotics market. Today there are 3 robots available for
spine: Mazor Robotics's Renaissance, Zimmer Biomet's ROSA and
Globus Medical's ExcelsiusGPS.
Let's examine the cost-benefit arguments for a robot purchase.
1. More accurate surgeries, leading to fewer revisions
and complications.
Spinal procedures, as Dr. Lieberman points
out, aren't foolproof. While surgeons have been largely excellent in
placing screws and cutting bone with their own hands over the
decades, the specificity and precision necessary to ensure exact
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