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AIMIS is a state of the art surgical facility that brings together the expertise of some
of the world’s best spine surgeons and some of the leading spinal technologies. Despite
the evolution of MIS surgery, the reputation of spine surgery has not evolved. I think
some of our greatest challenge as MIS surgeons is to get the word out to patients that surgery
we do today is much different than surgery that was done a decade ago. For example, we
can relieve pinched nerves, replace discs in the neck and the low back, and even correct
spinal curvature with minimally invasive procedures that require little or no hospitalization
whereas 10 years ago these were lengthy hospitalizations, often ICU admissions, and long, difficult
recoveries.
Any patient can be a candidate for a minimally invasive surgery. Minimally invasive surgery
is a style or a philosophy of surgery that can be applied to almost any surgically treatable
problem. Payers in the United States I think have exploited some misconceptions of minimally
invasive surgery that it is new or experimental in some way and it is absolutely not true.
Facilities like AIMIS offer the opportunity to patients to access advanced technologies
that are not yet available here in the United States. It also brings the surgical expertise
of many of the developing surgeons to that same facility to help provide the care. Delivering
care in a facility like AIMIS out of the United States can be done in a much less costly manner
than here in the United States. The fact that we can deliver higher quality, the use of
advanced techniques, and have the same surgical expertise in those settings makes it a very
attractive opportunity.
I am hoping that I can bring the same thing that I bring my patients here in Medford and
that’s a thorough evaluation, an accurate diagnosis, appropriate counseling for their
treatment options, and then delivering care based purely on their needs not based on some
insurance company’s criteria or policies handed down by the government. Disc replacement
is probably the best example of a technology that is not readily available here in the
United States that can be delivered in Cyprus in the AIMIS facility. Cervical disc replacement
with a device called NeoDisc has a lot of promise and has been providing some great
results. A lateral disc replacement in the lumbar spine similarly is a good treatment
for back pain in some patients and it can be delivered with a minimally invasive surgery
that can be done as an outpatient.
The art of medicine involves careful listening to patients to gain a good thorough understanding
of what is the problem, how difficult is it for this patient to live with that problem,
and if they have reached a point where they simply can’t live with it, what’s the
best solution. There is clearly not one solution for everybody, but the art comes in matching
up the best solution for that individual’s problem.
The techniques that we do today I believe are much better than those done 10 years ago.
Unfortunately despite the evolution of our techniques, the reputation of spine surgery
has not evolved. This requires us speaking with a unified voice, speaking out to representatives
from our government and those involved in insurance companies to help them understand
how we can better treat things today.
AIMIS is a very exciting opportunity to me and my patients. If I have a patient that
has a problem that requires an advanced spinal technology that is not available to me here
in my practice or here in the United States, I can get them to AIMIS where they have access
to this technology in great facilities and surgical expertise to provide them the best
possible care.