Q: What do you see as the major challenges currently facing spinal medicine?
Dr. Christian G. Zimmerman: The major challenges currently facing spinal medicine is the shear numbers of surgeries and the lack of substantive criteria to warrant those volumes. Presently, private, local and federally funded insurance programs are applying more appeals and scrutiny to the instrumented spine cases, and further demanding that nationally recognized programs are participated in by surgeons of both specialties.
Q: Is there a specific surgical innovation that is most exciting to you?
CZ: My interests lie in the advent of aging spine products that will allow for innovative methods applied to the ever increasing populace afflicted with weak or osteoporotic bone matrices. I have been working on a number of projects with a number of companies to make a more secure method for fixation of spinal components.
Q: Last year was a challenging financial year for many facilities. What did your organization do to limit the impact of the economic downturn on its operations?
CZ: Our organization, the Idaho Neurological Institute, negotiated with the larger vendors of spinal implant products for best pricing, and actually created a large cost saving measure with the operating rooms. This also triggered other vendors within other specialties the opportunity to investigate and implement cost saving measures in their respective disciplines.
Q: Is there a single initiative your organization has undertaken in the past year that you are particularly proud of?
CZ: Devising a simplistic methodology and strategy of competition and reduced pricing, the end result was immediate and long-term cost saving measure equating to several hundreds of thousands of dollars. These rather acute and brusque measures initiated a windfall of savings and allowed for better service from representatives, which spelled out better operational assist for surgical technicians and focused surgeon satisfaction.
Q: What opportunities exist for your organization to grow and improve efficiency this year?
CZ: As a member of our Operating Room Executive Committee (OREC), and coupled with the Six Sigma group within our medical center, tracking and data collection of start and turnover times have allowed for time saving changes to occur. In our outpatient suites, the average turnover time is 11 minutes, whereby the main operating rooms boast 16 minute turnover time averages, including total joint and complex spinal surgical rooms.
Q: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for spine surgery?
CZ: The largest opportunities reside in re-engagement of patient trust by the establishment and adherence of national guidelines and certification for spinal surgery.
Aging spine volume will also pose larger difficulties from a surgical rehabilitation and return to life quality status.
Q: What factors have been critical to your success, not only as a physician but also chairman?
CZ: Upon arriving at the Idaho Neurological Institute, the ideology of “espirit de corps” has been the mindset of choice, which was borrowed from my training at the Barrow Neurological Institute. In a hospital network system of close to 1,000 beds and five hospitals, chairmanships are positions of service and channeling of administrative and clinical strategies. With our research programs we have enjoyed multiple successes in disciplines outside neurosurgery, including stroke data collection, rural telemedicine delivery and recently closed head injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Q: What are your professional goals this year and for the next few years?
CZ: Professionally, I would like to continue spinal neurosurgery in this community and at the same time, grow our Idaho Neurological Institute’s research efforts to include other neuroscience curriculums.
Q: What is the best professional advice you have received and who was it from?
CZ: Some of the best advice given to me was from my parents, later reiterated by both my in-laws and mentors: Work hard, respect everyone and do the right thing!
Q: What advice would you give younger physicians considering a career in spine?
CZ: Constantly educate and search the available information sources to broaden the treatments of complex spinal disease. Seek help and discourse from peers when available. And do no harm first.
Learn more about the Idaho Neurological Institute.
