Cost and Maintenance Management of Endoscopic Spine Systems

Successful implementation of endoscopic spinal surgery programs hinges on reliable performance and case cost similar to traditional decompression surgeries of the lumbar spine. Spinal endoscopes used during routine lumbar decompression surgeries for herniated disc and spinal stenosis should have an estimated life cycle between 150 to 300 surgeries. However, actual numbers may be substantially lower. Abusive use by surgeons, mishandling by staff, and deviation from prescribed cleaning and sterilization protocols may substantially shorten the life cycle. Contingency protocols should be in place to readily replace a broken spinal endoscope during surgery. More comprehensive implementation of endoscopic spine surgery techniques will hinge on technology advancements to make these high-tech surgical instruments more resistant to the stress of daily use and abuse of expanded clinical indications' surgery. The regulatory burden on endoscope makers is likely to increase, calling for increased reimbursement for facilities to cover the added expense for capital equipment purchase, disposables, and the cost of the endoscopic spine surgery program's maintenance. In this chapter, the authors review such maintenance programs' cornerstones in the current regulatory environment that one should implement when attempting to run an endoscopic spinal surgery program at their healthcare facility. nbsp;