Ending Back Pain
Spine surgery through direct-pay specialty care is a new options that many patients are turning to instead of traditional options. Feeling good in your body is an invaluable part of what can make your entire lifestyle feel positive. On the contrary, people struggling with chronic back pain or back injury can feel that their overall lifestyle and wellness are in decline.
Everyone wants to feel healthy and sound in their bodies and for those who have struggled with back pain, chatted with their physician, and even tried a handful of conservative treatment options to mitigate pain, to no avail, it can be frustrating.
When patients get to this point, and conservative or moderate treatment plans are unsuccessful, or only bring mild relief, doctors and specialists can turn to spine surgery options to correct the root of the complication.
Choosing a Healthcare Practice for Spine Surgery
Generally, patients consider reviews, word of mouth, or referrals to spine specialists who can perform the back surgery that they need, but the process is not as straightforward as making an appointment, being seen by a surgeon, and booking your surgery date.
Instead, there is a level of back and forth between your insurance provider and determining cost coverage, different treatments that you may be required to do before the surgery depending on your insurance provider, along with other hidden costs, fees, and roadblocks.
That’s why Smith Medical focuses on a direct specialty care model, removing the elements of insurance that slow down the healthcare process, infringe on patient agency, have skyrocketing costs, and come with fractured doctor-patient relationships.
It’s difficult for patients to decide on the right path for their back surgery, let alone consider the range of factors that will shape their surgical experience. That’s why we have created a patient-care model that has the solution: non-insurance-based specialty care.
What is Direct Specialty Care?
Direct specialty care with Smith Medical allows patients to receive their spine surgery needs without having to battle against the uncertainty of insurance companies that stand in their way.
Spine Surgery Options
Back pain is a common symptom that affects millions of people worldwide. Pain along the spine can develop for many reasons but is often a result of natural degeneration. As we age, our spinal discs wear out over time. Here are a few of the surgeries for back pain that we offer at our facility:
Lumbar Laminectomy: This procedure is typically performed on individuals who have osteoarthritis or another degenerative spine condition. If a spinal bone is affected by a patient’s arthritis, osteophytes also known as bone spurs, may develop.
These can take up significant space in the spinal canal resulting in discomfort due to increased pressure on the spine. In addition to back pain, these osteophytes can manifest pain that radiates down the legs, making it difficult to walk or bend over.
Lumbar Puncture: A lumbar puncture, also referred to as a spinal tap, is a surgical procedure performed to diagnose or treat a condition. The goal of this procedure is to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is the fluid that occupies the space around the brain and spinal cord.
Testing this fluid can provide insight into infections, bacteria, and more. Doctors can use the results to help diagnose conditions affecting the nervous system including meningitis, encephalitis, or multiple sclerosis.
Occipital Nerve Stimulator Removal: An occipital nerve stimulator removal is a surgical procedure to remove a surgically implanted nerve stimulation device. These devices are commonly offered to patients who suffer from chronic back pain. When surgeons implant a spinal cord stimulator, the goal is to achieve a 50% or more reduction in chronic pain.
Quality Care With Direct Pay Specialty Care
For us, quality surgical care starts with removing third-party payors such as insurance and referrals in order to close the gap between patients and their doctors. Wellness is one of the most valuable aspects of life and as a healthcare provider, we are entrusted to care for our patients and provide them with the tools they require to feel their best.
Direct-pay specialty care means that we focus more on specialized surgical procedures, like those mentioned without the use of insurance.
Many patients do not have a employer provided insurance plan, and even when they do, they may have high deductibles. We’ve gotten rid of the insurance middleman and focus on striaghtforward low priced surgeries in Denver.
We also want all of our patients to receive quality, fair pricing. Patient A wants a lumbar puncture procedure and has no health insurance. Patient B has employer provided healthcare (costing over 3k with the use of this insurance) and also needs a lumbar puncture.
What our direct pay model does is cost both patient A and B only $1,295.00 creating a fair and affordable price for both patients. If you or someone you know needs surgery, contact us today.
